NEAR JSON-RPC Skill#

Use this skill to run NEAR JSON-RPC operations through uxc + JSON-RPC.

Reuse the uxc skill for shared execution and error-handling guidance.

Prerequisites#

• uxc is installed and available in PATH.
• Network access to a working NEAR RPC provider.
• This skill defaults to https://free.rpc.fastnear.com, which is listed on the official NEAR RPC providers page.
• Access to the curated NEAR OpenRPC schema URL:
  • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/holon-run/uxc/main/skills/near-jsonrpc-skill/references/near-public.openrpc.json

Scope#

This skill covers a safe read-first NEAR RPC surface:

• chain status
• account state query
• finalized block lookup
• chunk lookup by chunk hash
• gas price lookup
• validator set lookup

This skill does not cover:

• transaction submission methods
• signing or wallet flows
• archival assumptions for very old blocks or chunks
• deprecated near.org or pagoda.co public RPC endpoints

Endpoint And Schema#

This skill uses the public FastNear mainnet RPC by default:

• https://free.rpc.fastnear.com

The operation surface comes from the curated NEAR OpenRPC schema in this repo:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/holon-run/uxc/main/skills/near-jsonrpc-skill/references/near-public.openrpc.json

uxc JSON-RPC discovery depends on OpenRPC or rpc.discover. FastNear does not expose a discoverable method surface that UXC can consume directly, so this skill uses a fixed --schema-url link and request flow.

The official NEAR docs now treat near.org and pagoda.co RPC endpoints as deprecated. Do not use those old hosts as the default for new automation.

If the user already has a preferred provider from the official NEAR providers page, relink the same command to that provider instead of reusing the deprecated endpoints.

Authentication#

The default FastNear public RPC used by this skill does not require authentication.

If the user switches to a private NEAR provider, verify its auth model before reusing this skill unchanged.

Core Workflow#

1. Use the fixed link command by default:
   • command -v near-jsonrpc-cli
   • If missing, create it: uxc link near-jsonrpc-cli https://free.rpc.fastnear.com --schema-url https://raw.githubusercontent.com/holon-run/uxc/main/skills/near-jsonrpc-skill/references/near-public.openrpc.json
   • near-jsonrpc-cli -h
2. Inspect operation help first, then run known read methods:
   • near-jsonrpc-cli -h
   • near-jsonrpc-cli query -h
   • near-jsonrpc-cli gas_price -h
   • near-jsonrpc-cli status
   • near-jsonrpc-cli gas_price --input-json '{"block_id":null}'
3. Prefer narrow validation before deeper queries:
   • near-jsonrpc-cli status
   • near-jsonrpc-cli block '{"finality":"final"}'
   • near-jsonrpc-cli query '{"request_type":"view_account","finality":"final","account_id":"near"}'
4. Use object JSON for request objects, and --input-json when a method expects positional null/default params:
   • object request: near-jsonrpc-cli chunk '{"chunk_id":"75cewvnKFLrJshoUft1tiUC9GriuxWTc4bWezjy2MoPR"}'
   • positional null/default encoded from an object payload: near-jsonrpc-cli gas_price --input-json '{"block_id":null}' near-jsonrpc-cli validators --input-json '{"epoch_reference":null}'

Recommended Read Operations#

• status
• query
• block
• chunk
• gas_price
• validators

Guardrails#

• Keep automation on the JSON output envelope; do not use --text.
• Parse stable fields first: ok, kind, protocol, data, error.
• Stay on the read-only method surface by default.
• The fixed schema is required because FastNear is not directly discoverable by UXC; do not drop --schema-url from the linked command unless the provider proves it exposes usable OpenRPC or rpc.discover.
• Do not use this skill for transaction submission, signing, or wallet-authenticated flows.
• The official NEAR docs mark the old near.org and pagoda.co public RPC endpoints as deprecated. Prefer providers from the official RPC providers page instead.
• Public providers can differ in archival retention and rate limits. If chunk or older block lookups fail with unknown or garbage-collected errors, switch to a provider that explicitly supports the needed history.
• For methods such as gas_price and validators that expect positional params, use --input-json '{"...":null}' instead of array payloads; UXC CLI positional JSON accepts objects, not arrays.
• near-jsonrpc-cli <operation> ... is equivalent to uxc https://free.rpc.fastnear.com --schema-url <near_openrpc_schema> <operation> ....

References#

• Usage patterns: references/usage-patterns.md
• Curated OpenRPC schema: references/near-public.openrpc.json
• NEAR RPC introduction: https://docs.near.org/api/rpc/introduction
• NEAR RPC providers: https://docs.near.org/api/rpc/providers