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bitcoinrpc Reference

The reference consists of two parts: ABI and API.

ABI

Much from the libcurl ABI description applies here too, see libcurl ABI.

ABI stands for Application Binary Interface and it determines such details as how functions are called and in which binary format information should be passed from one program component to the next (Wikipedia has it all).

Upgrades

The code is currently in beta stage and some updates could break ABI. You are advised to follow the development and upgrade your code from time to time until the project goes into a stable phase.

Version number

The version numbers of the library follow Semantic versioning scheme, i.e. each version consists of three numbers: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. The major version 0 denotes beta stage. Except for major version 0, only major version updates could (and usually do) break backwards compatibility. In the beta stage also minor version updates could break ABI, whereas in the usual case they are reserved for extensions and major bug fixes. See Changelog.md for the detailed history and changes introduced by each version.

Soname bumps

Whenever there are changes done to the library that will cause an ABI breakage, a soname major number of the library is bumped to a higher one. Again, except for beta. In fact, the soname number and the major version number should stay the same in the future. The history of soname bumps looks as follows:

  • libbitcoinrpc.so.0, January 2016

API

The library API consists of five segments:

  • bitcoinrpc_global
  • bitcoinrpc_cl
  • bitcoinrpc_method
  • bitcoinrpc_resp
  • bitcoinrpc_err

Additionally, there is one function called bitcoinrpc_call(). See design document for a general overview.

The whole user interface is contained in the main header, so to use the library it is enough to

#include <bitcoinrpc.h>

What follows is a detailed description of each method and data structure within the library. For a quick and easy introduction to typical use cases, see tutorial and examples.

Defined constants

The following is the list of preprocessor constants defined in the bitcoinrpc.h header.

  • BITCOINRPC_LIBNAME = "bitcoinrpc"

  • BITCOINRPC_VERSION

    Version string: "BITCOINRPC_VERSION_MAJOR.BITCOINRPC_VERSION_MINOR.BITCOINRPC_VERSION_PATCH" like: "0.1.0" or "2.31.11"

  • BITCOINTPC_VERSION_MAJOR

  • BITCOINTPC_VERSION_MINOR

  • BITCOINTPC_VERSION_PATCH

    Integers specifying the major, minor version number and patch, respectively.

  • BITCOINRPC_VERSION_HEX

    A 3-byte hexadecimal representation of the version, e.g. 0x000100 for version 0.1.0 and 0x010300 for version 1.3. This is useful in numeric comparisons, e.g.:


    #if BITCOIN_VERSION_HEX >= 0x020100
    /* Code specific to version 2.1 and above */
    #endif

  • BITCOINRPC_USER_DEFAULT = ""

  • BITCOINRPC_PASS_DEFAULT = ""

  • BITCOINRPC_ADDR_DEFAULT = "127.0.0.1"

  • BITCOINRPC_PORT_DEFAULT = 8332

    Defalut parameters of a RPC client.

  • BITCOINRPC_PARAM_MAXLEN = 65 (64 bytes + '\0')

    Maximal length of a string that holds a client's parameter (user name, password or address), including the terminating '\0' character. The default value: 64 bytes, holds any SHA256 hash, so it is more than enough.

  • BITCOINRPC_URL_MAXLEN

    Maximal length of the server url: "http://%s:%d" = 2*BITCOINRPC_PARAM_MAXLEN + 13

  • BITCOINRPC_ERRMSG_MAXLEN

    Maximal length of error message reported via bitcoinrpc_err_t

bitcoinrpc_satoshi_t

To handle bitcoin amounts correctly, it is advisable to operate internally only on satoshi units (one hunder millionth of a bitcoin), and avoid floating point arithmetic completely. Therefore, many functions in this library take an argument that is of the type: bitcoinrpc_satoshi_t, defined as

    typedef unsigned long long int bitcoinrpc_satoshi_t;

Please, see: Proper Money Handling article at Bitcoin wiki.

Error codes and bitcoinrpc_err

The error codes are defined as enum type BITCOINRPCEcode:


    typedef enum {

    BITCOINRPCE_OK,                 /* Success */
    BITCOINRPCE_ALLOC,              /* cannot allocate more memory */
    BITCOINRPCE_ARG,                /* wrong argument, e.g. NULL */
    BITCOINRPCE_BUG,                /* a bug in the library (please report) */
    BITCOINRPCE_CHECK,              /* see: bitcoinrpc_resp_check() */
    BITCOINRPCE_CON,                /* connection error */
    BITCOINRPCE_CURLE,              /* libcurl returned some error */
    BITCOINRPCE_ERR,                /* unspecific error */
    BITCOINRPCE_JSON,               /* error parsing json data */
    BITCOINRPCE_SERV                /* Bitcoin server returned error */

    } BITCOINRPCEcode;

The data structure handling custom error messages has typedef: bitcoinrpc_err_t and its internals are visible to the user:


    struct bitcoinrpc_err
    {
      BITCOINRPCEcode code;
      char msg[BITCOINRPC_ERRMSG_MAXLEN];
    };

    typedef
      struct bitcoinrpc_err
    bitcoinrpc_err_t;

If code == BITCOINRPCE_OK after calling a function that takes pointer to bitcoinrpc_err_t as an argument, then the error message msg is irrelevant (usually set to NULL). On the other hand, if code != BITCOINRPCE_OK, then msg contains some custom error message of length at most BITCOINRPC_ERRMSG_MAXLEN. If code == BITCOINRPCE_SERV then the error message is a string containing the error message returned by the server, i.e. the call was successful, but the server could not process the call, (e.g. due to wrong parameters or the wallet being locked).

bitcoinrpc_global

Routines to initialise the global state of the library and to clean up the library's internal garbage at the end of the program.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_global_init (void)

    The global initialisation function. Please call this function from your main thread before any other call.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK in case of success.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_global_cleanup (void)

    The global cleanup function. Please call this function at the end of your program to collect library's internal garbage.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_global_set_allocfunc ( void* (* const f) (size_t size) )

    Set a memory allocating function for the library routines (the default is just standard malloc). If f == NULL he function does nothing.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_ARG, if f == NULL.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_global_set_freefunc ( void (* const f) (void *ptr) )

    Set a memory freeing function for the library routines (the default is just standard free). If f == NULL he function does nothing.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_ARG, if f == NULL.

bitcoinrpc_cl

Routines to handle RPC client.

  • bitcoinrpc_cl_t

    Type definition of the RPC client data structure.

  • bitcoinrpc_cl_t* bitcoinrpc_cl_init (void)

    Initialise a new RPC client with default values: BITCOINRPC_USER_DEFAULT, BITCOINRPC_PASS_DEFAULT etc.
    Return: a newly allocated handle or NULL in case of error.

  • bitcoinrpc_cl_t* bitcoinrpc_cl_init_params (const char *user, const char *pass, const char *addr, const unsigned int port )

    Initialise a new RPC client and set some parameters (may not be NULL; in that case the function returns NULL as well). The parameter values are copied, so the original pointers are no longer needed. At most BITCOINRPC_PARAM_MAXLEN chars are copied to store a parameter.
    Return: a newly allocated handle or NULL in case of error.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_free (bitcoinrpc_cl_t *cl)

    Free the handle. The pointer cl is set to NULL after the function call.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_get_user (bitcoinrpc_cl_t *cl, char *buf)

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_get_pass (bitcoinrpc_cl_t *cl, char *buf)

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_get_addr (bitcoinrpc_cl_t *cl, char *buf)

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_get_port (bitcoinrpc_cl_t *cl, unsigned int *bufi)

    Copy a value of the client cl parameter to buf. The buffer is assumed to contain at least BITCOINRPC_PARAM_MAXLEN chars. At most BITCOINRPC_PARAM_MAXLEN chars are copied.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_ARG in case of wrong arguments.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_cl_get_url (bitcoinrpc_cl_t \*cl, char \*buf)

    Copy value to buf. The buffer is assumed to contain at least BITCOINRPC_URL_MAXLEN chars. At most BITCOINRPC_URL_MAXLEN chars are copied.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_ARG in case of wrong arguments.

bitcoinrpc_method

Routines to handle an RPC method.

The argument json_t *params to functions below is always copied to library internals and the original pointer is no longer needed after the function returns. It is the obligation of the user to free the original pointer by decreasing its reference count: json_decref(params).

  • bitcoinrpc_method_t

    Type definition of a method object.

  • BITCOINRPC_METHOD

    The enum type storing RPC method names. See Bitcoin RPC reference.


    typedef enum {

    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_NONSTANDARD,           /* reserved for possible */
                                             /* user extensions       */

    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBESTBLOCKHASH,      /* getbestblockhash */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBLOCK,              /* getblock */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBLOCKCHAININFO,     /* getblockchaininfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBLOCKCOUNT,         /* getblockcount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBLOCKHASH,          /* getblockhash */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETCHAINTIPS,          /* getchaintips */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETDIFFICULTY,         /* getdifficulty */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETMEMPOOLINFO,        /* getmempoolinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETRAWMEMPOOL,         /* getrawmempool */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETTXOUT,              /* gettxout */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETTXOUTPROOF,         /* gettxoutproof */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETTXOUTSETINFO,       /* gettxoutsetinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_VERIFYCHAIN,           /* verifychain */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_VERIFYTXOUTPROOF,      /* verifytxoutproof */

      /* Control RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETINFO,               /* getinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_HELP,                  /* help */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_STOP,                  /* stop */

      /* Generating RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GENERATE,              /* generate */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETGENERATE,           /* getgenerate */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SETGENERATE,           /* setgenerate */

      /* Mining RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBLOCKTEMPLATE,      /* getblocktemplate */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETMININGINFO,         /* getmininginfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETNETWORKHASHPS,      /* getnetworkhashps */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_PRIORITISETRANSACTION, /* prioritisetransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SUBMITBLOCK,           /* submitblock */

      /* Network RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_ADDNODE,               /* addnode */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETADDEDNODEINFO,      /* getaddednodeinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETCONNECTIONCOUNT,    /* getconnectioncount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETNETTOTALS,          /* getnettotals */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETNETWORKINFO,        /* getnetworkinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETPEERINFO,           /* getpeerinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_PING,                  /* ping */

      /* Raw transaction RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_CREATERAWTRANSACTION,  /* createrawtransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_DECODERAWTRANSACTION,  /* decoderawtransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_DECODESCRIPT,          /* decodescript */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETRAWTRANSACTION,     /* getrawtransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SENDRAWTRANSACTION,    /* sendrawtransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SIGNRAWTRANSACTION,    /* signrawtransaction */

      /* Utility RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_CREATEMULTISIG,        /* createmultisig */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_ESTIMATEFEE,           /* estimatefee */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_ESTIMATEPRIORITY,      /* estimatepriority */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_VALIDATEADDRESS,       /* validateaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_VERIFYMESSAGE,         /* verifymessage */

      /* Wallet RPCs */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_ADDMULTISIGADDRESS,    /* addmultisigaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_BACKUPWALLET,          /* backupwallet */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_DUMPPRIVKEY,           /* dumpprivkey */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_DUMPWALLET,            /* dumpwallet */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_ENCRYPTWALLET,         /* encryptwallet */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETACCOUNTADDRESS,     /* getaccountaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETACCOUNT,            /* getaccount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETADDRESSESBYACCOUNT, /* getaddressesbyaccount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETBALANCE,            /* getbalance */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETNEWADDRESS,         /* getnewaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETRAWCHANGEADDRESS,   /* getrawchangeaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETRECEIVEDBYACCOUNT,  /* getreceivedbyaccount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETRECEIVEDBYADDRESS,  /* getreceivedbyaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETTRANSACTION,        /* gettransaction */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETUNCONFIRMEDBALANCE, /* getunconfirmedbalance */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_GETWALLETINFO,         /* getwalletinfo */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_IMPORTADDRESS,         /* importaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_IMPORTPRIVKEY,         /* importprivkey */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_IMPORTWALLET,          /* importwallet */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_KEYPOOLREFILL,         /* keypoolrefill */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTACCOUNTS,          /* listaccounts */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTADDRESSGROUPINGS,  /* listaddressgroupings */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTLOCKUNSPENT,       /* listlockunspent */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTRECEIVEDBYACCOUNT, /* listreceivedbyaccount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTRECEIVEDBYADDRESS, /* listreceivedbyaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTSINCEBLOCK,        /* listsinceblock */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTTRANSACTIONS,      /* listtransactions */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LISTUNSPENT,           /* listunspent */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_LOCKUNSPENT,           /* lockunspent */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_MOVE,                  /* move */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SENDFROM,              /* sendfrom */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SENDMANY,              /* sendmany */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SENDTOADDRESS,         /* sendtoaddress */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SETACCOUNT,            /* setaccount */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SETTXFEE,              /* settxfee */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_SIGNMESSAGE,           /* signmessage */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_WALLETLOCK,            /* walletlock */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_WALLETPASSPHRASE,      /* walletpassphrase */
    BITCOINRPC_METHOD_WALLETPASSPHRASECHANGE /* walletpassphrasechange */

    } BITCOINRPC_METHOD;

  • bitcoinrpc_method_t * bitcoinrpc_method_init (const BITCOINRPC_METHOD m)

    Initialise a new bare method.
    Return: a newly allocated method or NULL in case of error.

  • bitcoinrpc_method_t * bitcoinrpc_method_init_params (const BITCOINRPC_METHOD m, json_t * const params)

    Initialise a new method with json_t array: params. If params == NULL, this is the same as bitcoinrpc_method_init().
    Return: a newly allocated method or NULL in case of error.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_method_free (bitcoinrpc_method_t *method)

    Destroy the method and set the pointer method to NULL. Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_method_set_params (bitcoinrpc_method_t *method, json_t *params)

    Set a new json_t object as method parameters.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK, or BITCOINRPCE_JSON if params cannot be parsed.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_method_get_params (bitcoinrpc_method_t *method, json_t **params)

    Get a deep copy of the method's parameters and store it in params.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK, or BITCOINRPCE_JSON if params cannot be copied by libjansson.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_method_setname (bitcoinrpc_method_t *method, char *name)

    Set a custom name for the method. Works only if method is initialised with BITCOINRPC_METHOD_NONSTANDARD, otherwise returns BITCOINRPCE_ERR. The pointer to str is copied, not the string itself. It is the obligation of the user, to keep the str available and free it, when no longer needed. Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_ERR.

bitcoinrpc_resp

Store JSON responses from the server.

  • bitcoinrpc_resp_t

    Type definition of the response struct.

  • bitcoinrpc_resp_t * bitcoinrpc_resp_init (void)

    Initialise a new bare response.
    Return: a newly allocated response or NULL in case of error.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_resp_free (bitcoinrpc_resp_t *resp)

    Destroy the response resp and set the pointer to NULL.
    Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK.

  • json_t * bitcoinrpc_resp_get (bitcoinrpc_resp_t *resp)

    Get a deep copy of the JSON object representing the response from the server.
    Return: a newly allocated json_t object or NULL in case of error.

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_resp_check (bitcoinrpc_resp_t *resp, bitcoinrpc_method_t *method)

    Check, if the resp comes as a result of calling method. This check is already performed by bitcoinrpc_call().
    Returns: BITCOINRPCE_OK or BITCOINRPCE_CHECK, if check fails.

bitcoinrpc_call()

  • BITCOINRPCEcode bitcoinrpc_call (bitcoinrpc_cl_t * cl, bitcoinrpc_method_t * method, bitcoinrpc_resp_t *resp, bitcoinrpc_err_t *e)

Use client cl to call the server with method. Save response in resp and report errors. If e == NULL, it is ignored.
Return: BITCOINRPCE_OK in case of success, or other error code.

last updated: 2016-02-06