The getClusterNodes RPC method returns a list of all known nodes currently participating in the Solana cluster. This information can be useful for network analysis, discovering alternative RPC endpoints, or understanding the current topology of the network from the perspective of the queried node.

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Common Use Cases

  • Network Topology Analysis: Get a snapshot of the known nodes in the cluster, including their public keys and network addresses (gossip, TPU, RPC).
  • Discovering RPC Endpoints: Identify other potential RPC servers within the cluster (though availability and rate limits might vary).
  • Monitoring Node Versions: Observe the software versions being run by different nodes in the cluster.

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Request Parameters

This method does not take any parameters.

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Response Structure

The result field of the JSON-RPC response will be an array of objects. Each object represents a node and contains the following fields:

  • pubkey (string): The public key (identity) of the node, base58 encoded.
  • gossip (string | null): The IP address and port for the node’s gossip service. Can be null if not available.
  • tpu (string | null): The IP address and port for the node’s Transaction Processing Unit (TPU). This is used for submitting transactions directly. Can be null.
  • rpc (string | null): The IP address and port for the node’s JSON-RPC service. Can be null if the RPC service is not enabled or advertised by this node.
  • version (string | null): The software version of the node. Can be null if version information is not available.
  • featureSet (u32 | null): The unique identifier of the node’s feature set. Can be null.
  • shredVersion (u16 | null): The version of the data structure used by this node to store and transmit blocks (shreds). Can be null.

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Examples

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1. Get All Known Cluster Nodes

This example fetches the list of all nodes known to the queried RPC endpoint.

curl https://mainnet.helius-rpc.com/?api-key=<api-key> -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d \
  '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "getClusterNodes"
  }'

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Developer Tips

  • Node’s Perspective: The returned list reflects the nodes known to the specific RPC node you are querying. Different RPC nodes might have slightly different views of the cluster, especially during network changes.
  • RPC Availability: Not all nodes listed will necessarily have their RPC ports open or publicly accessible. The rpc field being non-null indicates an advertised RPC endpoint, but it doesn’t guarantee accessibility or performance.
  • Dynamic List: The cluster topology is dynamic. Nodes can join and leave, so the list can change over time.
  • Large Response: On a large network like Mainnet Beta, the response can be quite extensive, listing many nodes.

This guide provides the necessary information to use the getClusterNodes RPC method for discovering and understanding the nodes within a Solana cluster.