Author: Michael Hendricks 2013-07-22 22:06:15
Published on: 2013-07-22T22:06:15+00:00
A recent pull request on Github for Bitcoin proposes the addition of an HTTP REST API for bitcoind. This would allow easy external access to transaction, address, and block indices that are maintained by the blockchain. The API will provide decentralized block explorer capabilities, and the first two implemented API calls allow for simple queries based on block or transaction hash. The output formats available include binary, hex, and JSON, which can be selected via a "bitcoin-format" header. The aim of this HTTP REST interface is to provide unauthenticated, public blockchain information, with no plans to add wallet interfacing or manipulation via this API. The proposal has received positive feedback from Michael, who has prototyped a couple of different Bitcoin projects that would benefit from this API. He suggests adding Accept and Accept-Encoding headers, as well as an API version number in the URL. Furthermore, he notes that having APIs corresponding to Bitcoin addr and version messages would be helpful for his use cases, as metadata about the network and the peer, respectively, are valuable.
Updated on: 2023-06-07T14:15:09.347577+00:00