eth_getCode

Overview

The eth_getCode method is part of the Ethereum JSON-RPC API and is used to retrieve the contract code (bytecode) of an account at a specific block number. This method is particularly useful for developers who need to examine the bytecode of a deployed contract, verify the integrity of a deployed contract, analyze contract bytecode for security vulnerabilities, or debug a smart contract.

Parameters

The eth_getCode method accepts two parameters:

1. address(string): The address of the contract whose bytecode you want to retrieve. This should be a 20-byte Ethereum address, formatted as a hex string with a 0x prefix.
   • Example: "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e"
2. block(string): The block number at which you want to retrieve the contract code. This can be specified as a hex string or one of the following special keywords:
   • "earliest": The first block in the blockchain
   • "latest": The most recent block in the blockchain
   • "pending": The upcoming block that is being mined
     • Example: "0x1" or "latest"

Returns

The eth_getCode method returns a string representing the contract bytecode. The returned value is a hex string with a 0x prefix.

• If the account has contract code, the returned string will contain the bytecode.
• If the account is not a contract or does not exist, the returned string will be 0x.

Request

curl --location 'https://api.tatum.io/v3/blockchain/node/ethereum-mainnet/' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'x-api-key: {API_KEY}' \
--data '{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_getCode",
  "params": [
    "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e",
    "latest"
  ]
}'

// yarn add @tatumio/tatum

import { TatumSDK, Ethereum, Network } from '@tatumio/tatum'

const tatum = await TatumSDK.init<Ethereum>({ network: Network.ETHEREUM })

const code = await tatum.rpc.getCode('0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e')

await tatum.destroy() // Destroy Tatum SDK - needed for stopping background jobs