SubRPC

Intro

SubRPC helps maintaining and managing a local list of RPC Endpoints. Using the subrpc, the user can aggregate data from several public or private registries of RPC endpoints and maintain their local database fresh.

While the subrpc cli allows using the data in a terminal, the subrpc-core crate helps any third party app fetching and maintainging a list of RPC endpoints.

This helps your apps no longer having to provide a flag such as your-cli --url wss://rpc.polkadot.io but instead use your-cli --chain polkadot and be sure to connect to a quality RPC endpoint.

Quick start

cargo install subrpc

# `reg` is an alias for `registry`
subrpc reg add https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chevdor/subrpc/master/registry/subrpc.json
subrpc reg add https://paritytech.github.io/polkadot_network_directory/registry.json
subrpc reg add https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chevdor/subrpc/master/registry/parity.json
subrpc reg up
subrpc system info

# `ep` is an alias for `endpoints`
subrpc ep ls
subrpc ep get polkadot

Tips

If you work with many chains, the following function can be added to your .bashrc or .zshrc.

You need to have fzf installed and subrpc v0.0.4+ installed.

# A function to interactively open a chain in your Browser
# Simply call `sub` or `sub <pattern>`
function sub() {
    chains=$(subrpc reg chains)

    if [ ! -z "$1" ]; then
        query="$1"
        echo "Searching for chains matching: $query"
        chain=$(echo "$chains" | sort -r | fzf -1 -q "$query" --prompt="Select the chain to open in your browser > ")
    else
        chain=$(echo "$chains" | sort -r | fzf -1 --prompt="Select the chain to open in your browser > ")
    fi
    subrpc endpoints open "$chain"
}

Call the function invoking simply subopen. Type the name of a chain, it can be approximate, for instance river, then press enter.

Click the image below or click here to see this tip in action:

Registries

Registries are mainly a list of RPC endpoints, stored into a json file and available via a web server (public or not).

You can find below a list of public registries:

Polkadot Network Directory Registry: The Polkadot Network Directory project is aware of many chains and projects and provides a registry that is automatically updated and based on the data available to the directory
SubRPC Registry: A small basic registry to get started and show an example
Add your registry with Pull Request

Usage

Help

`subrpc` allows managing a set of registry providing rpc nodes

Usage: subrpc <COMMAND>

Commands:
  registry   Manage your registries
  system     System
  endpoints  Endpoints
  config     Config
  help       Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help information
  -V, --version  Print version information

Config

Config

Usage: subrpc config <COMMAND>

Commands:
  list  Config list
  edit  Config edit
  help  Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help information
  -V, --version  Print version information

Registry

Manage your registries

Usage: subrpc registry <COMMAND>

Commands:
  list    List currently known registries
  show    Show the list of registries and some of the content
  add     Add a new registry. It will be enabled by default
  update  Fetch the latest data from the registries and update the list of endpoints
  help    Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help information
  -V, --version  Print version information

Endpoints

Endpoints

Usage: subrpc endpoints <COMMAND>

Commands:
  list  Show the list of all endpoints
  get   Get one or some endpoints
  ping  Ping endpoints
  help  Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help information
  -V, --version  Print version information

System

System

Usage: subrpc system <COMMAND>

Commands:
  info  Show general system information such as the location of relevant files
  init  Reset your local database
  help  Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help information
  -V, --version  Print version information

FAQ

Is SubRPC a registry ?

No. While SubRPC provides a very basic default list of RPC endpoints, this list will remain small and rather unmaintained. It will contain only a few of the core RPC Enpoints of the network and will surely miss many important ones.

Can I use a private registry ?

Sure! And this is the idea behind SubRPC. You can tap into both public and private registry to build up your very own database of RPC Endpoints.

How can I be sure that my list is up to date ?

The subrpc can help you refresh/update your endpoints in 2 ways: first it will check the registries for new endpoints and add them to your list, but it will also test the endpoints in order to ensure that your local endpoints list remains of quality.

Using the subrpc-core crate also gather (locally) some information about the RPC Endpoints you are connecting to. This is done to allow you skipping poor quality Endpoints over time, while keeping a list of quality RPC Endpoints up to date. This is all local and 100% opinionated: an endpoint you may see as bad may work great for someone else, moreover, the config (will) allow customizing the list of endpoints.

Can I host my own registry ?

Absolutely and that would be great. If you make a public one, please open a PR in this repo so we can document the list of public registries.

How does SubRPC decides whether an RPC Endpoint is good or bad ?

Eveytime you connect (or ask for a refresh), SubRPC checks whether an endpoint is reachable and if it is, gathers a few metrics about it. This allows maintaining a list of the best endpoints for you. This list is personal and remains on your machine.

PierreBesson/subrpc