Quick Start

TheRPC is a managed JSON-RPC provider that gives you fast, authenticated access to Base (chain ID 8453) — Coinbase's OP Stack rollup — without running your own node. Base developers use it to power apps across Aerodrome, Uniswap, and the chain's large consumer and social ecosystem, with a single endpoint that scales from a hobby project to production traffic. This guide takes you from zero to a working JSON-RPC call in just a few minutes: get a key, point it at the Base endpoint, and run your first request in curl, JavaScript, or Python.

Step 1: Get an API Key

Sign up for a free account at TheRPC.io, then open the Dashboard and go to the API Keys section to create a new key or copy an existing one. The key is a single secret string that you place directly in your Base endpoint URL (https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY) and in the Authorization: Bearer header. The same key works across every network TheRPC supports, so you only need one to start building on Base.

Step 2: Choose Your Network

TheRPC serves many networks, and you select one purely by its endpoint host. For Base, use https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY. Set the endpoint and your key as environment variables (as shown below) so the rest of your code stays clean and you never hardcode secrets — to target a different network later, you only change the host.

Step 2: Choose Your Network

1API_ENDPOINT="https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY"
2API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Step 3: Make Your First Call

Now make your first call against Base. The examples below show the same eth_blockNumber request three ways — curl, JavaScript, and Python — so you can pick whichever fits your stack; each returns the latest block height from the sequencer. For other languages and full client setup, see the Tools & SDKs reference.

Using Curl

1curl --request POST https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY \
2  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
4  --data '{
5    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
6    "method": "eth_blockNumber",
7    "params": [],
8    "id": 1
9  }'

Using JavaScript

1const axios = require('axios');
2 
3const config = {
4  url: 'https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY',
5  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
6};
7 
8async function getBlockNumber() {
9  const response = await axios.post(
10    config.url,
11    {
12      jsonrpc: '2.0',
13      method: 'eth_blockNumber',
14      params: [],
15      id: 1,
16    },
17    {
18      headers: {
19        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
20        Authorization: `Bearer ${config.apiKey}`,
21      },
22    },
23  );
24 
25  console.log('Latest Block Number:', response.data.result);
26}

Using Python

1import requests
2 
3config = {
4    'url': 'https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY',
5    'api_key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
6}
7 
8def get_block_number():
9    response = requests.post(
10        config['url'],
11        headers={
12            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
13            'Authorization': f"Bearer {config['api_key']}"
14        },
15        json={
16            'jsonrpc': '2.0',
17            'method': 'eth_blockNumber',
18            'params': [],
19            'id': 1
20        }
21    )
22    return response.json()['result']

Step 4: Using Web3 Libraries

For anything beyond simple reads, a Web3 library beats hand-rolling HTTP requests: it handles ABI encoding and decoding, transaction signing, gas estimation, event log parsing, and retries for you — so interacting with Base contracts like Aerodrome or Uniswap stays readable. The examples below show web3.js and web3.py pointed at the Base endpoint; for full, language-specific coverage see the Tools & SDKs documentation.

Web3.js (JavaScript)

1const Web3 = require('web3');
2const web3 = new Web3('https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY');
3 
4// Add API key to requests
5web3.setHeader('Authorization', 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY');
6 
7async function getBalance(address) {
8  const balance = await web3.eth.getBalance(address);
9  return web3.utils.fromWei(balance, 'ether');
10}

Web3.py (Python)

1from web3 import Web3
2from web3.middleware import http_retry_request_middleware
3 
4w3 = Web3(Web3.HTTPProvider(
5    'https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY',
6    request_kwargs={
7        'headers': {'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'}
8    }
9))
10 
11# Add retry middleware
12w3.middleware_onion.add(http_retry_request_middleware)

Available Methods

For the full set of calls available on Base, see the All Methods page. It lists every supported method across the eth_, debug_, trace_, net_, txpool_, and web3_ namespaces, and each method's page includes a description, request and response formats, runnable code examples, and common use cases.

Network Selection

Each network on TheRPC has its own endpoint, selected by the host in the URL. The Base endpoint looks like https://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY for HTTP and wss://base.therpc.io/YOUR_API_KEY for WebSocket — swap in your real key and you are connected to Base mainnet (chain ID 8453).

Next Steps

• All Methods — browse every Base JSON-RPC method you can call.
• Tools & SDKs — set up your language's client against the Base endpoint.
• Authentication — secure your API key and handle auth errors.
• Rate Limits — understand quotas and how to stay within them.
• Basic Operations — copy-paste examples for the most common Base tasks.