14 KiB
description: Using RPC Pub/Sub with WebSockets
RPC Pub/Sub over WebSockets
Introduction
Use RPC Pub/Sub over WebSockets to wait for events instead of polling for them. For example, a Dapp can subscribe to logs to be notified when a specific event has occurred.
Methods specific to RPC Pub/Sub are:
eth_subscribe
- create a subscription for specific events.eth_unsubscribe
- cancel a subscription.
!!!important
Unlike other Pantheon API methods,
the RPC Pub/Sub methods cannot be called over HTTP. Use the --rpc-ws-enabled
option to enable
the WebSockets JSON-RPC service.
Using RPC Pub/Sub
The RPC Pub/Sub API is supported on WebSockets.
Use eth_subscribe
to create subscriptions. Once subscribed, notifications are published by the API using eth_subscription
.
!!!note
Notifications are published by eth_subscription
; you do not need to call eth_subscription
.
Subscriptions are coupled to a connection. If the connection is closed, all subscriptions created over this connection are removed.
Subscription ID
eth_subscribe
returns a subscription ID for each subscription created. Notifications include the subscription ID.
!!!example For example, to create a synchonizing subscription
```json
{"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["syncing"]}
```
The result includes the subscription ID of `"0x1"`:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x1"}
```
The notifications also include the subscription ID of `"0x1"`:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_subscription","params":{"subscription":"0x1","result":{"startingBlock":"0x0","currentBlock":"0x50","highestBlock":"0x343c19"}}}
```
Notifications when Synchronizing
Subscribing to some events (for example, logs) can cause a flood of notifications while the node is synchronizing.
Subscribing
Use eth_subscribe
to create subscriptions for the following event types:
New Headers
Use the newHeads
parameter with eth_subscribe
to be notified each time a block is added to the blockchain.
If a chain reorganization occurs, the subscription publishes notifications for blocks in the new chain. This means the subscription can publish notifications for multiple blocks at the same height on the blockchain.
The new headers notification returns block objects. The second parameter is optional. If specified, whole transaction objects are included in the notifications. Otherwise, the transaction hashes are included.
!!!example To subscribe to new header notifications:
```json
{"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["newHeads", {"includeTransactions": true}]}
```
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":"0x1"}
```
Example notification without the `{"includeTransactions": true}` parameter included:
```json
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x1",
"result": {
"number":"0x40c22",
"hash":"0x16af2ee1672203c7ac13ff280822008be0f38e1e5bdc675760015ae3192c0e3a",
"parentHash":"0x1fcf5dadfaf2ab4d985eb05d40eaa23605b0db25d736610c4b87173bfe438f91",
"nonce":"0x0000000000000000",
"sha3Uncles":"0x1dcc4de8dec75d7aab85b567b6ccd41ad312451b948a7413f0a142fd40d49347",
"logsBloom":"0x00008000000000080000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000040000000000000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000000000000040000000000000000000000000000000000000400000000010000000000000000100000000000020000000000000000000000000000000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"transactionsRoot":"0x5b2e3c1a49352f1ca9fb5dfe74b7ffbbb6d70e23a12693444e26058d8a8e6296",
"stateRoot":"0xbe8d3bc58bd982421a3ea8b66753404502df0f464ae78a17661d157c406dd38b",
"receiptsRoot":"0x81b175ec1f4d44fbbd6ba08f1bd3950663b307b7cb35751c067b535cc0b58f12",
"miner":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"difficulty":"0x1",
"totalDifficulty":"0x7c16e",
"extraData":"0xd783010600846765746887676f312e372e33856c696e757800000000000000002160f780bb1f61eda045c67cdb1297ba37d8349df8035533cb0cf82a7e45f23f3d72bbec125a9f499b3eb110b7d1918d466cb2ede90b38296cfe2aaf452c513f00",
"size":"0x3a1",
"gasLimit":"0x47e7c4",
"gasUsed":"0x11ac3a",
"timestamp":"0x592afc24",
"uncles":[],
"transactions":["0x419c69d21b14e2e8f911def22bb6d0156c876c0e1c61067de836713043364d6c","0x70a5b2cb2cee6e0b199232a1757fc2a9d6053a4691a7afef8508fd88aeeec703","0x4b3035f1d32339fe1a4f88147dc197a0fe5bbd63d3b9dec2dad96a3b46e4fddd"],
},
}
}
```
Example notification with the `{"includeTransactions": true}` parameter included:
```json
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x1",
"result": {
....
"transactions":[
{
"blockHash":"0xa30ee4d7c271ae5150aec494131c5f1f34089c7aa8fb58bd8bb916a55275bb90",
"blockNumber":"0x63",
"from":"0xfe3b557e8fb62b89f4916b721be55ceb828dbd73",
"gas":"0x5208",
"gasPrice":"0x3b9aca00",
"hash":"0x11f66c3e96a92e3c14c1c33ad77381221bf8b58a887b4fed6aee456fc6f39b24",
"input":"0x",
"nonce":"0x1",
"to":"0x627306090abab3a6e1400e9345bc60c78a8bef57",
"transactionIndex":"0x0",
"value":"0x56bc75e2d63100000",
"v":"0xfe8",
"r":"0x4b57d179c74885ef5f9326fd000665ea7fae44095c1e2016a2817fc671beb8cc",
"s":"0x7ec060b115746dda392777df07ae1feacc0b83b3646f0a3de9a5fc3615af9bb8",
}
],
},
}
}
```
Logs
Use the logs
parameter with eth_subscribe
to be notified of logs included in new blocks. You can
specify a filter object to receive notifications only for logs matching your filter.
Logs subscriptions have an filter object parameter with the following fields:
address
- (optional) Either an address or an array of addresses. Returns only logs created from these addresses.topics
- (optional) Returns only logs that match the specified topics.
If a chain reorganization occurs, the subscription publishes notifications for logs from the old chain
with the removed
property in the log object set to true
.
This means the subscription can publish notifications for multiple logs for the same transaction.
The logs subscription returns log objects.
!!!example
To subscribe to all logs notifications:
json {"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["logs",{}]}
To subscribe to logs for a specific address and topic:
json {"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["logs", {"address": "0x8320fe7702b96808f7bbc0d4a888ed1468216cfd", "topics": ["0xd78a0cb8bb633d06981248b816e7bd33c2a35a6089241d099fa519e361cab902"]}]}
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x2"}
```
Example notification:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x2",
"result":{
"logIndex":"0x0",
"removed":false,
"blockNumber":"0x2174",
"blockHash":"0x7bc83837534aa13df55ff7db77784b1d1ba666d4c4bdd223cae9fe09c7c37eba",
"transactionHash":"0x942179373e413824c6bc7045e92295aff91b679215446549b4aeb084da46495b",
"transactionIndex":"0x0",
"address":"0x9b8397f1b0fecd3a1a40cdd5e8221fa461898517",
"data":"0x",
"topics":["0x199cd93e851e4c78c437891155e2112093f8f15394aa89dab09e38d6ca072787","0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000005"]
}
}
}
```
Pending Transactions
Use the newPendingTransactions
parameter with eth_subscribe
to be notified of pending transactions
added to the transaction pool for the node.
The pending transactions subscription returns the transaction hashes or transaction details of the pending transactions.
If the includeTransactions
parameter is not included, the default is transaction hashes only.
If a chain reorganization occurs, transactions are resubmitted to be included in the new canonical chain. This means the subscription can publish notifications for the same pending transaction more than once.
!!!example "Transaction Hashes" To subscribe to pending transaction notifications and receive transaction hashes only:
```json
{"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["newPendingTransactions", {"includeTransactions":false}]}
```
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x1"}
```
Example notification:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x1",
"result":"0x5705bc8bf875ff03e98adb98489428835892dc6ba6a6b139fee1becbc26db0b8"
}
}
```
!!!example "Transaction Details" To subscribe to pending transaction notifications and receive transaction details:
```json
{"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["newPendingTransactions", {"includeTransactions":true}]}
```
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x2"}
```
Example notification:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x2",
"result":{
"from":"0xfe3b557e8fb62b89f4916b721be55ceb828dbd73",
"gas":"0x5208",
"gasPrice":"0x2540be400",
"hash":"0x7a4185f40ee93cb27eb132f301d0a5414c1f871051f166fc8804c376aab3ffec",
"input":"0x",
"nonce":"0x13",
"to":"0x9d8f8572f345e1ae53db1dfa4a7fce49b467bd7f",
"value":"0x8ac7230489e80000",
"v":"0xfe7",
"r":"0xdd9013c67469d2fe79afdc61777c55bdced33c90fa6f9b83d8f9b7e445085123",
"s":"0x45823a1ab22ae9c83876ea435dc5ecc4fe3a83c1bfbc340a5f57df2f5a474fa5"
}
}
}
```
Dropped Transactions
Use the droppedPendingTransactions
parameter with eth_subscribe
to be notified of transactions
dropped from the transaction pool for the node.
The dropped transactions subscription returns the transaction hashes of the dropped transactions.
Transactions can be re-added to the transaction pool from a variety of sources after being dropped. For example, receiving a previously dropped transaction from a peer. As a result it's possible to receive multiple dropped transaction notifications for the same transaction.
!!!example To subscribe to dropped transaction notifications:
```json
{"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["droppedPendingTransactions"]}
```
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x1"}
```
Example notification:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x1",
"result":"0xf57d6a90a7fb30880cfbdf6b432b487d0e94a3b55b34dc4b45e3b0b237ecab4c"
}
}
```
Synchronizing
Use the syncing
parameter with eth_subscribe
to be notified about synchronization progress.
When behind the chain head, the synchronizing subscription returns an object indicating the synchronization progress. When fully synchronized, returns false.
!!!example
To subscribe to synchronizing notifications:
json {"id": 1, "method": "eth_subscribe", "params": ["syncing"]}
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x4"}
```
Example notification while synchronizing:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x4",
"result":{
"startingBlock":"0x0",
"currentBlock":"0x3e80",
"highestBlock":"0x67b93c"
}
}
}
```
Example notification when synchronized with chain head:
```json
{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"method":"eth_subscription",
"params":{
"subscription":"0x4",
"result":false
}
}
```
Unsubscribing
Use the subscription ID with eth_unsubscribe
to cancel a subscription. Only the
connection that created a subscription can unsubscribe from it.
eth_unsubscribe
returns true
if subscription succuessfully unsubscribed; otherwise, an error is returned.
!!!example
To unsubscribe from a subsciption with subscription ID of 0x1
:
json {"id": 1, "method": "eth_unsubscribe", "params": ["0x1"]}
Example result:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":true}
```