The quickest way to start building on Aleo with Quicknode is by sending a REST API request to your endpoint. In this guide, you'll create an endpoint, copy its provider URL, and make your first request. Code samples are available in cURL as well as popular SDKs and programming languages.
Get Your Aleo Endpoint
Create a Quicknode account
Sign up here if you haven't already.
Go to your dashboard
Open the Endpoints dashboard from the left sidebar menu to manage all your blockchain endpoints
Create a new endpoint
Click Create an Endpoint in the top-right corner, select Aleo as your blockchain, then select your preferred network
Copy your provider URLs
Keep the HTTP URL handy. You'll use it in your requests below.
For a detailed walkthrough of the Quicknode dashboard, check out our guide
Send Your First Request
Your endpoint is ready. Now, let's make your first call to the Aleo blockchain. We'll use the /block/height/latest endpoint, which returns the latest block height. Select your preferred language or SDK and follow the steps below to send your first request.
- cURL
- Node.js
- Python
- Ruby
Check cURL installation
Most *nix based systems have cURL support out of the box. Open your terminal and check the cURL version by running the command below:
curl --version
Send a REST API request
In your terminal, copy and paste the following cURL command to retrieve the latest block height:
curl -X GET YOUR_QUICKNODE_ENDPOINT_URL/v2/mainnet/block/height/latest \
-H 'Accept: application/json'
Sample Response
17473599
Set up your project
First, verify Node.js is installed with node --version. If not installed, download it from https://nodejs.org. Then create a new directory and initialize a Node.js project:
mkdir aleo-api-quickstart
cd aleo-api-quickstart
npm init -y
Create your main file
Create an index.js file for your code:
touch index.js
Add this code to your index.js file
Copy and paste this code into your index.js file to get the latest block height:
const https = require('https');
const options = {
hostname: '{your-endpoint-name}.quiknode.pro',
path: '/{your-token}/v2/mainnet/block/height/latest',
method: 'GET',
headers: {
'Accept': 'application/json'
}
};
const req = https.request(options, (res) => {
let result = '';
res.on('data', (chunk) => {
result += chunk;
});
res.on('end', () => {
console.log('Latest block height:', result);
});
});
req.on('error', (error) => {
console.error('Error:', error);
});
req.end();
Run your code
Save the file and run it in your terminal:
node index.js
Check Python installation
Verify Python is installed on your system. Open your terminal and run:
python --version
Install required packages
Install the requests library if you haven't already:
pip install requests
Create your Python script
Create a new Python file and add the following code to get the latest block height:
import requests
url = "YOUR_QUICKNODE_ENDPOINT_URL/v2/mainnet/block/height/latest"
headers = {
'Accept': 'application/json'
}
response = requests.request("GET", url, headers=headers)
print("Latest block height:", response.text)
Run your script
Save the file as aleo_block_height.py and run it:
python aleo_block_height.py
Check Ruby installation
Verify Ruby is installed on your system. Open your terminal and run:
ruby --version
Create your Ruby script
Create a new Ruby file and add the following code to get the latest block height:
require 'net/http'
require 'json'
uri = URI('YOUR_QUICKNODE_ENDPOINT_URL/v2/mainnet/block/height/latest')
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
request['Accept'] = 'application/json'
response = http.request(request)
puts "Latest block height: #{response.body}"
Run your script
Save the file as aleo_block_height.rb and run it:
ruby aleo_block_height.rb
If you want to continue learning about making API requests, check out our guides and sample apps.
We ❤️ Feedback!
If you have any feedback or questions about this documentation, let us know. We'd love to hear from you!