The getEpochSchedule RPC method returns the epoch schedule information from the cluster’s genesis configuration. This data defines how epochs are structured, including their length and how the leader schedule is determined relative to an epoch’s start. Understanding the epoch schedule is crucial for applications that need to align with network events, predict epoch boundaries, or understand the leader rotation mechanism.

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Common Use Cases

  • Predicting Epoch Boundaries: Determine the number of slots in an epoch to estimate when the current epoch will end and the next will begin.
  • Leader Schedule Calculation: Understand the leaderScheduleSlotOffset to know how far in advance leader schedules are generated for an upcoming epoch.
  • Analyzing Network Initialization: Observe warmup, firstNormalEpoch, and firstNormalSlot to understand the initial ramp-up phase of the cluster’s epoch lengths if applicable.
  • Building Network Monitoring Tools: Use this information to display epoch timing and progression accurately.

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Request Parameters

This method does not take any parameters.

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Response Structure

The result field of the JSON-RPC response will be an object containing the following fields:
  • slotsPerEpoch (u64): The maximum number of slots in each epoch (after the warmup period, if any).
  • leaderScheduleSlotOffset (u64): The number of slots before the start of an epoch for which the leader schedule for that epoch is generated.
  • warmup (boolean): A boolean indicating whether the cluster has a warmup period where epochs start shorter and gradually increase in length.
  • firstNormalEpoch (u64): The first epoch number that has the full slotsPerEpoch length. This is relevant if warmup is true.
  • firstNormalSlot (u64): The slot index of the first slot in the firstNormalEpoch. This is relevant if warmup is true.

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Examples

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1. Get the Epoch Schedule for the Cluster

This example fetches the epoch schedule. 
curl https://mainnet.helius-rpc.com/?api-key=<api-key> -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d \
  '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "getEpochSchedule"
  }'

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Developer Tips

  • Static Information: The epoch schedule is determined by the genesis configuration of the cluster and generally does not change unless there is a significant network upgrade or a new cluster launch with different parameters.
  • Mainnet vs. Testnet/Devnet: The epoch schedule, particularly slotsPerEpoch and warmup parameters, can differ significantly between Mainnet Beta, Testnet, and Devnet. Always query the specific cluster you are interested in.
  • Warmup Period: If warmup is true, epochs before firstNormalEpoch will have fewer slots than slotsPerEpoch. The exact calculation for warmup epoch lengths is 2^N * MINIMUM_SLOTS_PER_EPOCH where N is the epoch number (starting from 0) up until firstNormalEpoch is reached. The MINIMUM_SLOTS_PER_EPOCH is typically 32.
This guide provides the necessary information to use the getEpochSchedule RPC method to understand the fundamental timing and structure of epochs within a Solana cluster.