Kusama

Kusama is the permissionless, unaudited canary network of the Polkadot ecosystem, running the same Polkadot SDK (Substrate/FRAME) runtime as Polkadot but with faster governance, lower barriers to entry, and real economic conditions — it is where runtime upgrades, parachain/coretime mechanics, and governance changes ship first before reaching Polkadot. Its developer surface is a chain interface rather than a hosted SaaS API: a public Substrate JSON-RPC 2.0 endpoint at kusama-rpc.polkadot.io exposing 130 live methods (chain, state, author, system, payment, plus the newer chainHead/archive/transaction v1 families) over HTTP and WebSocket, and a REST projection of the same chain state via Substrate API Sidecar at kusama-public-sidecar.parity-chains.parity.io, documented by a 119-operation OpenAPI 3.0 specification. Access is unauthenticated and public-read; write access happens by submitting SCALE-encoded, key-signed extrinsics. The native token is KSM (12 decimals, SS58 prefix 2).

Kusama publishes 21 APIs on the APIs.io network, including JSON-RPC API, accounts API, ahm API, and 18 more. Tagged areas include Company, Crypto, Blockchain, Web3, and Polkadot.

The Kusama catalog on APIs.io includes 1 event-driven AsyncAPI specification.

Kusama’s developer surface includes documentation, API reference, getting-started guide, support, CLI, authentication, changelog, and 23 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

50.0/100 developing ▬ flat Agent 40/100 agent ready Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-08-20 · rubric v0.12.0

AccessOpen

21 APIs 1 MCP Servers

CompanyCryptoBlockchainWeb3PolkadotSubstrateJSON-RPCBlockchain DataStakingGovernance

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-08-20 · rubric v0.12.0

Composite quality — 50.0/100 · developing

Contract Quality 14.2 / 25

Developer Ergonomics 15.6 / 20

Access Clarity 4.2 / 20

Operational Transparency 5.8 / 13

Contract Governance 2.0 / 12

Discoverability 8.2 / 10

Agent readiness — 40/100 · agent ready

Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 0 / 10

Documented Reversibility 0 / 6

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10

Idempotency 9 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 8 / 8

Request/Response Examples 7 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 0 / 7

Typed Event Surface 6 / 6

Agent Skills 5 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

A2A Agent Card 0 / 8

Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/kusama: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 21

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Open Collections 21

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

MCP Servers 1

Model Context Protocol servers that expose these APIs to AI agents.

Examples 2

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Get Started 3

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

DeveloperPortal

DeveloperPortal

GettingStarted

GettingStarted

Sandbox

Sandbox

Documentation 2

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation

Documentation

APIReference

APIReference

Agent Surfaces 4

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

MCPServer

LLMsTxt

AgentSkill

WellKnown

Design & Contract 5

Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events

Conventions

Idempotency

Conformance

Lifecycle

Webhooks

Build 4

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization

Packages

SDKs

CLI

Access & Security 4

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

Authentication

Authentication

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

VulnerabilityDisclosure

VulnerabilityDisclosure

Security

Security

Operate 4

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

Support

Community

Deprecation

ChangeLog

Commercial 2

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

TermsOfService

TermsOfService

PrivacyPolicy

PrivacyPolicy

Company 1

The organization behind the API

Website

Website

Other 1

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

Overlay

Overlay

Source (apis.yml)

aid: kusama
name: Kusama
description: 'Kusama is the permissionless, unaudited canary network of the Polkadot ecosystem, running the same Polkadot
  SDK (Substrate/FRAME) runtime as Polkadot but with faster governance, lower barriers to entry, and real economic conditions
  — it is where runtime upgrades, parachain/coretime mechanics, and governance changes ship first before reaching Polkadot.
  Its developer surface is a chain interface rather than a hosted SaaS API: a public Substrate JSON-RPC 2.0 endpoint at kusama-rpc.polkadot.io
  exposing 130 live methods (chain, state, author, system, payment, plus the newer chainHead/archive/transaction v1 families)
  over HTTP and WebSocket, and a REST projection of the same chain state via Substrate API Sidecar at kusama-public-sidecar.parity-chains.parity.io,
  documented by a 119-operation OpenAPI 3.0 specification. Access is unauthenticated and public-read; write access happens
  by submitting SCALE-encoded, key-signed extrinsics. The native token is KSM (12 decimals, SS58 prefix 2).'
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: open
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: true
  label: Open access
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kusama.network/images/kusama-logo-canary-white.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/kusama/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
x-type: company
x-source: vc-portfolio
x-backed-by:
- pantera-capital
x-tier: profiled
x-tier-reason: enriched-from-public-surface
specificationVersion: '0.23'
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-19'
tags:
- Company
- Crypto
- Blockchain
- Web3
- Polkadot
- Substrate
- JSON-RPC
- Blockchain Data
- Staking
- Governance
apis:
- aid: kusama:json-rpc
  name: Kusama JSON-RPC API
  description: 'The public Substrate JSON-RPC 2.0 interface to the Kusama relay chain. Probed live on 2026-07-19: 130 methods
    are advertised by rpc_methods, spanning chain (blocks/headers), state (storage, metadata, runtime version), author (extrinsic
    submission), system (health, properties, peers), payment (fee queries), and the newer spec-versioned chainHead_v1 / archive_v1
    / transaction_v1 / transactionWatch_v1 families defined by the Polkadot JSON-RPC interface specification. Available over
    HTTPS (request/response) and WSS (subscriptions). No authentication.'
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - JSON-RPC
  - Blockchain
  - Substrate
  properties:
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/kusama-jsonrpc-examples.json
  - type: AsyncAPI
    url: asyncapi/kusama-jsonrpc-asyncapi.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-accounts-api
  name: Kusama accounts API
  description: The accounts API from Kusama — 11 operation(s) for accounts.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Account
  tags_raw:
  - accounts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-accounts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-ahm-api
  name: Kusama ahm API
  description: Asset Hub Migration information
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - ahm
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-ahm-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-blocks-api
  name: Kusama blocks API
  description: The blocks API from Kusama — 8 operation(s) for blocks.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Blocks
  tags_raw:
  - blocks
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-blocks-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-contracts-api
  name: Kusama contracts API
  description: The contracts API from Kusama — 1 operation(s) for contracts.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Contracts
  tags_raw:
  - contracts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-contracts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-coretime-api
  name: Kusama coretime API
  description: The coretime API from Kusama — 6 operation(s) for coretime.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - coretime
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-coretime-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-node-api
  name: Kusama node API
  description: node connected to sidecar
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Node
  tags_raw:
  - node
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-node-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-pallets-api
  name: Kusama pallets API
  description: pallets employed in the runtime
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - pallets
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-pallets-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-paras-api
  name: Kusama paras API
  description: The paras API from Kusama — 9 operation(s) for paras.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - paras
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-paras-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-accounts-api
  name: Kusama rc accounts API
  description: The rc accounts API from Kusama — 5 operation(s) for rc accounts.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc accounts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-accounts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-api
  name: Kusama rc API
  description: relay chain specific endpoints for asset hub
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-blocks-api
  name: Kusama rc blocks API
  description: The rc blocks API from Kusama — 8 operation(s) for rc blocks.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc blocks
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-blocks-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-node-api
  name: Kusama rc node API
  description: The rc node API from Kusama — 3 operation(s) for rc node.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc node
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-node-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-pallets-api
  name: Kusama rc pallets API
  description: The rc pallets API from Kusama — 13 operation(s) for rc pallets.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc pallets
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-pallets-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-runtime-api
  name: Kusama rc runtime API
  description: The rc runtime API from Kusama — 5 operation(s) for rc runtime.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc runtime
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-runtime-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-staking-api
  name: Kusama rc staking API
  description: The rc staking API from Kusama — 4 operation(s) for rc staking.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc staking
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-staking-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-rc-transaction-api
  name: Kusama rc transaction API
  description: The rc transaction API from Kusama — 5 operation(s) for rc transaction.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - rc transaction
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-rc-transaction-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-runtime-api
  name: Kusama runtime API
  description: The runtime API from Kusama — 5 operation(s) for runtime.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Runtime
  tags_raw:
  - runtime
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-runtime-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-staking-api
  name: Kusama staking API
  description: The staking API from Kusama — 4 operation(s) for staking.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Staking
  tags_raw:
  - staking
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-staking-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-trace-api
  name: Kusama trace API
  description: The trace API from Kusama — 4 operation(s) for trace.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Trace
  tags_raw:
  - trace
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-trace-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
- aid: kusama:kusama-transaction-api
  name: Kusama transaction API
  description: The transaction API from Kusama — 6 operation(s) for transaction.
  humanURL: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
  baseURL: https://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io/
  tags:
  - Transaction
  tags_raw:
  - transaction
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/kusama-transaction-api-openapi.yml
  - type: ErrorCatalog
    url: errors/kusama-problem-types.yml
  - type: DataModel
    url: data-model/kusama-data-model.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
- FN: APIs.json
  email: info@apis.io
common:
- type: Overlay
  url: overlays/kusama-sidecar-overlay.yaml
- type: Website
  url: https://kusama.network/
- type: DeveloperPortal
  url: https://docs.polkadot.com/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.polkadot.com/chain-interactions/
- type: APIReference
  url: https://paritytech.github.io/json-rpc-interface-spec/
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://wiki.polkadot.com/kusama/kusama-getting-started/
- type: Support
  url: https://docs.polkadot.com/get-support/
- type: Community
  url: https://forum.polkadot.network/tag/kusama
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/paritytech
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://kusama.network/terms
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://kusama.network/privacy
- type: Packages
  url: packages/kusama-packages.yml
- type: SDKs
  url: packages/kusama-packages.yml
- type: CLI
  url: cli/kusama-cli.yml
- type: MCPServer
  url: mcp/kusama-mcp.yml
- type: LLMsTxt
  url: llms/kusama-llms.txt
- type: AgentSkill
  url: skills/_index.yml
- type: WellKnown
  url: well-known/kusama-well-known.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/kusama-authentication.yml
- type: Conventions
  url: conventions/kusama-conventions.yml
- type: Idempotency
  url: conventions/kusama-conventions.yml
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/kusama-conformance.yml
- type: Lifecycle
  url: lifecycle/kusama-lifecycle.yml
- type: Deprecation
  url: lifecycle/kusama-lifecycle.yml
- type: ChangeLog
  url: changelog/kusama-changelog.yml
- type: Sandbox
  url: sandbox/kusama-sandbox.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/kusama-domain-security.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/kusama-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: Security
  url: security/kusama-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: Webhooks
  url: asyncapi/kusama-jsonrpc-asyncapi.yml
x-enrichment:
  date: '2026-07-19'
  status: backfilled
  pass: local-v1
  note: backfilled from .gitignore signal + verified work evidence