Polygon API method that returns the data stored at a specific storage slot within a smart contract. It can help developers to read a smart contract's internal state, like user data or balances, to inform decisions and build more advanced applications that interact with smart contracts on the blockchain.
eth_getProof requires an archive node.
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Parameters
-
address
β the address of the smart contract to query -
quantity
β the index of the storage position to retrieve the data from -
quantity or tag
β the integer of a block encoded as hexadecimal or the string with:-
latest
β the most recent block in the blockchain and the current state of the blockchain at the most recent block -
earliest
β the earliest available or genesis block. -
pending
β the pending state and transactions block. The current state of transactions that have been broadcast to the network but have not yet been included in a block.See the default block parameter.
-
Response
data
β the data stored in the storage slot. Returned as a hexadecimal string.
eth_getStorageAt
code examples
eth_getStorageAt
code examplesThe following example returns the storage value at slot 0
from the Chainlink VRFCoordinatorV2 on the Polygon mainnet. In this case, this is the address owning the smart contract.
This method can retrieve the different storage values in time by querying different blocks in the past. Note that to query a state in the past, you need an archive node.
curl needs a
HEX String
starting with0x
to identify the block if you want to use a hex integer block number as a parameter.
For example, block number14000000
will be0xD59F80
.
const Web3 = require("web3");
const NODE_URL = "CHAINSTACK_NODE_URL";
const web3 = new Web3(NODE_URL);
async function getstorage(address, slot, block) {
const storage = await web3.eth.getStorageAt(address, slot, block)
console.log(storage)
}
getstorage("0xAE975071Be8F8eE67addBC1A82488F1C24858067", 0, "latest" )
const ethers = require('ethers');
const NODE_URL = "CHAINSTACK_NODE_URL";
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider(NODE_URL);
const getstorage = async (address, slot, block) => {
const storage = await provider.send("eth_getStorageAt", [address, slot, block]);
console.log(storage);
};
getstorage("0xAE975071Be8F8eE67addBC1A82488F1C24858067", "0", "latest" )
from web3 import Web3
node_url = "CHAINSTACK_NODE_URL"
storage = web3.eth.get_storage_at("0xAE975071Be8F8eE67addBC1A82488F1C24858067", 0, "latest")
print(web3.to_hex(storage))
Use case
One use case for eth_getStorageAt
is analyzing how the value stored at a specific storage slot of a smart contract changes over time. For example, a developer may want to track the change in a specific variable of a smart contract, such as the total supply of a token, and perform some analysis on it.
Here's an example implementation of this use case using web3.js.
The following program analyzes the Wrapped Ether smart contract on the Polygon chain to track how the total supply changes over time.
The storage slot matches the position of the variable in the smart contract; the following code snippet shows the top of the WETH smart contract where the variables used in this program are declared.
contract ERC20 is Context, IERC20 {
using SafeMath for uint256;
using Address for address;
// Variables declared
mapping (address => uint256) private _balances; // Storage slot 0x0
mapping (address => mapping (address => uint256)) private _allowances; // Storage slot 0x1
uint256 private _totalSupply; // Storage slot 0x2
string private _name; // Storage slot 0x3
string private _symbol; // Storage slot 0x4
uint8 private _decimals; // Storage slot 0x5
.
.
.
Here's an example implementation of this use case using web3.js:
const Web3 = require("web3");
const NODE_URL = "CHAINSTACK_NODE_URL";
const web3 = new Web3(NODE_URL);
// You need an archive node is going more than 127 blocks in the past.
async function getStorageValueOverTime() {
// The address of the WETH smart contract
const wethAddress = '0x7ceB23fD6bC0adD59E62ac25578270cFf1b9f619';
// The index of the storage slots where the total supply and name data are stored
const totalSupplySlot = 2;
const nameSlot = 3;
// The range of blocks to analyze
const startBlock = 16000000;
const endBlock = await web3.eth.getBlockNumber();
for (let blockNumber = startBlock; blockNumber <= endBlock; blockNumber++) {
// Retrieve the name and total supply from the smart contract storage at each block
const [name, supply] = await Promise.all([
web3.eth.getStorageAt(wethAddress, nameSlot, blockNumber),
web3.eth.getStorageAt(wethAddress, totalSupplySlot, blockNumber)
]);
// Decode the name and total supply from hexadecimal format to their original values
const decodedName = web3.utils.hexToUtf8(name);
const decodedSupply = web3.utils.toBN(supply);
// Convert the total supply from Wei to Ether and round to 4 decimal places
const convertedSupply = web3.utils.fromWei(decodedSupply, 'ether');
const adjustedSupply = Number(convertedSupply).toFixed(4);
// Output the block number, name, and total supply for each block
console.log(`Block ${blockNumber}: Name = ${decodedName}, Total supply = ${adjustedSupply}`);
}
}
async function main() {
try {
await getStorageValueOverTime();
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
}
}
main();
The bulk of the program is the getStorageValueOverTime
function.
The getStorageValueOverTime
function retrieves and outputs the name and total supply of the WETH smart contract at each block height between a specified start block and the current block height.
The function begins by declaring constants for the WETH contract address, the storage slot indices for the name and total supply data, the starting block height, and the current block height.
Next, the function enters a for
loop that iterates over every block between the start block and the current block height. Within the loop, the function retrieves the name and total supply from the smart contract storage at the current block height using the web3.eth.getStorageAt
method.
The Promise.all
method is used to retrieve the name and total supply in parallel for improved efficiency. The web3.utils.hexToUtf8
method is then used to convert the name from hexadecimal format to its original string value.
The web3.utils.toBN
method is used to convert the total supply from hexadecimal format to a BigNumber object
, which can be used for mathematical operations. The web3.utils.fromWei
method is then used to convert the total supply from wei to ether.
Finally, the Number
and toFixed
methods are used to round the total supply to four decimal places and output the block number, name, and total supply for each block; note that this is for readability, and you should use the raw wei data to make calculations.
Overall, the getStorageValueOverTime
function provides a way to monitor changes in the state of a smart contract over time, which can be useful for understanding the contract's behavior and performance.
Try the eth_getStorageAt
RPC method yourself
eth_getStorageAt
RPC method yourself