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LLM Integration Guide

GoldRush API - LLM Integration Guide (Condensed)

Purpose: Quick reference for LLMs and AI agents to correctly use the GoldRush API, focusing on error prevention and critical validation rules.

Quick Reference

Rate Limits:
  • Free 14 day trial: 25,000 API credits/month, 4 requests/second, no overages
  • Vibe Coding tier: 10/monthfor10,000includedAPIcredits,4requests/second,overagesat10/month for 10,000 included API credits, 4 requests/second, overages at 0.001/credit
  • Professional: 250/monthfor300,000includedAPIcredits,50requests/second,overagesat250/month for 300,000 included API credits, 50 requests/second, overages at 0.00077/credit
  • x402 (Pay-Per-Request): No subscription required, 100 requests/minute per wallet, pay with stablecoins on Base

Chain Names (CRITICAL)

Chain names use the format: {network}-{environment}. These are case-sensitive and must match exactly.

Supported Chain Names Table

Note: Always use the “Chain Name (API Parameter)” value in API calls. Using common names will result in errors. Chain Support Levels: Chains are categorized into four support levels. See Chain Documentation for complete definitions.
  • Foundational (6 chains) - Full feature parity including historical balances, token holders at any block, and DEX spot prices
  • Frontier (28 chains) - Core features with expanding coverage; includes all non-EVM chains
  • Community (14 chains) - Growing integration with all core onchain data
  • Archived (5 chains) - Limited data availability, no live data

Parameter Naming Convention

GoldRush uses different naming conventions depending on the context:

Parameter Mapping (SDK ↔ REST API)


Input Validation Rules

Ethereum Addresses

  • Format: 0x followed by 40 hexadecimal characters
  • Regex: ^0x[a-fA-F0-9]{40}$
  • Case: Insensitive (both 0xabc... and 0xABC... are valid)
  • Special Values: Also accepts ENS names (e.g., vitalik.eth), RNS, Lens Handles, Unstoppable Domains
Examples:
  • ✅ Valid: 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045
  • ✅ Valid: vitalik.eth
  • ❌ Invalid: d8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045 (missing 0x)
  • ❌ Invalid: 0xd8dA6BF (too short)

Chain Names

  • Format: Exact match from supported chains table (case-sensitive)
Examples:
  • ✅ Valid: eth-mainnet
  • ❌ Invalid: ethereum (use eth-mainnet)
  • ❌ Invalid: Eth-Mainnet (case-sensitive)
  • ❌ Invalid: eth_mainnet (use hyphen, not underscore)

Block Heights

  • Type: Integer ≥ 0
  • Special Value: "latest" for current block
  • Maximum: Current chain height (varies by chain)
Examples:
  • ✅ Valid: 12345678
  • ✅ Valid: latest
  • ❌ Invalid: -1

Quote Currency

  • Type: String (case-insensitive)
  • Supported Values: USD, CAD, EUR, SGD, INR, JPY, VND, CNY, KRW, RUB, TRY, NGN, ARS, AUD, CHF, GBP
  • Default: USD

Pagination

  • Page Numbers: 0-indexed (first page is 0)
  • Page Size: 100 items per page (default, not configurable for most endpoints)
  • End Detection:
    • If returned page has < 100 items, it’s the last page
    • Check has_more field in response (where available)
    • Use links.next for next page URL (where available)

Understanding Balance Fields

Field Explanations:
  • balance: Raw token amount as string (to handle large numbers/BigInt). This is NOT the human-readable value.
  • contract_decimals: Number of decimal places for this token
  • quote_rate: Current price of 1 token in quote currency (e.g., USD)
  • quote: Total value of this token holding in quote currency
  • pretty_quote: Formatted currency string for display
To get human-readable balance:

Understanding Transaction Fields

Field Explanations:
  • successful: Boolean indicating if transaction succeeded
  • value: Amount of native token transferred (as string, in wei for EVM chains)
  • gas_spent: Actual gas units consumed
  • gas_price: Gas price in wei (for EVM chains)
  • fees_paid: Total fee in wei (gas_spent × gas_price)
  • gas_quote: Total fee in quote currency (e.g., USD)
  • gas_quote_rate: Native token price used for conversion

Error Responses

All error responses follow this schema:

Common Error Codes


Best Practices for LLMs

1. Always Validate Chain Names

2. Handle BigInt Balance Values Correctly

3. Implement Pagination Properly

4. Use Appropriate Error Handling


Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Using Wrong Chain Name Format

❌ Treating Balance as Number

❌ Forgetting to Check Error Response

❌ Not Handling Pagination

❌ Missing Bearer Prefix in Authorization

❌ Using HTTP Instead of HTTPS


Frequently Asked Questions (LLM-Specific)

Q: How do I convert balance to human-readable format?

A: Divide the balance string by 10^contract_decimals:

Q: What’s the difference between quote and quote_rate?

A:
  • quote_rate: Price of 1 token in quote currency (e.g., $2,500.50 per ETH)
  • quote: Total value of the balance in quote currency (balance × quote_rate)

Q: How do I know which chains support internal transactions?

A: Only Foundational chains support tracing features (with-internal, with-state, with-input-data). Currently, only eth-mainnet fully supports all tracing features. Check the endpoint documentation for “Foundational Chains” support.

Q: How do I handle ENS names?

A: Just pass the ENS name directly as the wallet address. GoldRush automatically resolves it:

Q: What’s the difference between balances_v2 and balances_native?

A:
  • balances_v2: Returns ALL tokens (native + ERC20 + NFTs)
  • balances_native: Returns ONLY the native token (ETH, MATIC, etc.)
Use balances_native for lightweight queries when you only need the native token balance.

Q: How do I filter out spam tokens?

A: Use the no-spam query parameter:

Q: When should I use the SDK vs direct REST calls?

A:
  • Use SDK: TypeScript/JavaScript projects, automatic pagination, type safety
  • Use REST: Python, Go, or any other language; curl testing; maximum flexibility

Q: How often does data update?

A:
  • Real-time endpoints: 30 seconds or 2 blocks (whichever is faster)
  • Historical data: Indexed from genesis block
  • NFT metadata: Cached, use with-uncached=true to force refresh

Quick Reference: Endpoint URL Patterns


Additional Resources


System Prompt Suggestion for AI Agents

When building AI agents that use GoldRush API, include this in your system prompt:

Last Updated: January 2025 API Version: v1 Documentation Version: 2.0 (LLM-Optimized Condensed)

Error Handling & Troubleshooting

The GoldRush Foundational API (REST) returns structured errors when something goes wrong. This page is the single reference for understanding error codes, handling rate limits, implementing retries, and debugging common issues.

Foundational API (REST) Errors

The Foundational API returns standard HTTP status codes along with a JSON error body. Example error responses:
401 Unauthorized
429 Rate Limited

Rate Limits

The Foundational API enforces rate limits based on your plan tier: Rate limits are enforced per API key and IP address. When you exceed your limit, you’ll receive a 429 Too Many Requests response. Back off and retry using the strategies below.

Retry Strategies

Exponential Backoff with Jitter

For transient errors (429, 500, 503), implement exponential backoff with random jitter to avoid thundering herd problems.
TypeScript
Python

SDK Built-in Retries

The GoldRush TypeScript Client SDK handles retries and rate limiting automatically - no manual retry logic needed when using the SDK.

Debugging Tips

Verify your API key format

GoldRush API keys follow the pattern cqt_wF... or cqt_rQ... (26 base58 characters after the prefix). Double-check for trailing whitespace or truncation.

Check supported chains

A 404 error often means the chain is unsupported. See Supported Chains for the full list.

Inspect the full error body

Don’t rely on the HTTP status code alone. The JSON response body contains an error_message field with specific details about what went wrong.

Test with curl

Isolate issues from your application code by testing directly:

Monitor credit usage

Track your API credit consumption on the GoldRush Platform dashboard to avoid unexpected 402 errors.

Contact support for persistent 500/503 errors

If you’re consistently hitting 500 or 503 errors, reach out to support@covalenthq.com with your API key prefix, the endpoint, and timestamps of the failures.

Quick Reference

Foundational API Auth

API key setup, authentication methods, and SDK usage.

FAQ

Common questions about plans, rate limits, and features.

Supported Chains

Full list of supported blockchains and endpoints.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

What is the GoldRush API?

GoldRush offers the most comprehensive Blockchain Data API suite for developers, analysts, and enterprises.

What can I do with the GoldRush API?

The GoldRush API provides fast, accurate, and developer-friendly access to the essential onchain data for building DeFi dashboards, wallets, trading bots, AI Agents, tax and compliance platforms.

Do I need API keys to use GoldRush?

Yes. The credential you need depends on the product:
  • API key (read-only) - covers the Foundational API, CLI, and x402.
It’s available on the GoldRush platform once you sign up.

If a client asks how to verify that GoldRush API is real-time or low-latency, how can we demonstrate or prove that?

You can demonstrate real-time or low-latency capabilities through:
  • Timestamp validation: Pull /v1/{chain_id}/block_v2/latest/ and compare the block timestamp with the current time (should be sub-second to a few seconds behind depending on chain).
  • Latency benchmarks: Use tools like curl or Postman to measure API response time.

Besides the common 401, 402, and 429 error codes, are there any other error responses we should be aware of?

Yes. Additional error codes include:
  • 400 Bad Request – Invalid parameters or malformed request.
  • 402 Payment Required – Alloted credits exceeded and need to enable Flex Credits or upgrade subscription tier.
  • 403 Forbidden – API key is valid but not authorized for the resource.
  • 404 Not Found – Endpoint or data not available (e.g. unsupported chain).
  • 500 Internal Server Error – Unexpected failure on GoldRush’s side.
  • 503 Service Unavailable – Maintenance or backend issue.
Each error includes a descriptive JSON body for debugging. For a complete guide to error codes, retry strategies, and debugging tips, see Error Handling & Troubleshooting.

Foundational API Questions

What is the rate limit for API calls?

The GoldRush Foundational API enforces rate limits based on the user’s plan:
  • 14-day Free Trial: 4 requests per second (RPS), 25,000 API credits.
  • Vibe Coding Plan ($10/mo): 4 RPS, 10,000 API credits.
  • Professional Plan ($250/mo): 50 RPS, 300,000 API credits.
  • Inner Circle: Custom limits, typically up to 100 RPS or higher, based on SLAs.
Rate limits are enforced per API key and IP, and requests exceeding limits receive a 429 Too Many Requests error. For a complete guide to error codes, retry strategies, and debugging tips, see Error Handling & Troubleshooting.

Which plan is right for me?

Vibe Coding Plan ($10/mo) is built for:
  • Solo founders and indie hackers shipping fast
  • Hackathon teams and weekend projects
  • AI-native builders using Cursor, Windsurf, or Claude
  • Prototyping and validating ideas before scaling
Professional Plan ($250/mo) is built for:
  • Teams building production applications
  • Apps that need higher rate limits (50 RPS)
  • Projects requiring priority support
  • Companies with compliance or reliability requirements
You can start with Vibe Coding and upgrade to Professional as your project scales.

Can I upgrade from Vibe Coding to Professional?

Yes. You can upgrade at any time from the GoldRush platform. Your API key stays the same, so no code changes are needed.

Does GoldRush support Hyperliquid?

Yes. GoldRush supports Hyperliquid’s native chain (HyperCore) with zero rate limits. You can stream real-time fills, liquidations, funding rates, vault actions, delegations, deposits, withdrawals, and OHLCV pricing data for all Hyperliquid markets - including data not available through the public Hyperliquid API. GoldRush runs dedicated Hyperliquid nodes in Tokyo with a private backbone for low-latency data ingestion. See the HyperCore chain page for full details and code examples.

What are Redstone Bolt price feeds?

Redstone Bolt provides ultra-low-latency CEX price data for 9 major tokens on MegaETH, including BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP, ADA, DOGE, USDT, and USDC. Prices are updated every 2.4 ms (~400 updates/sec), sourced from Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Bitget, and Kraken via Bolt nodes co-located with MegaETH sequencer infrastructure. Bolt-powered feeds use the REDSTONE- prefix (e.g. REDSTONE-BTC, REDSTONE-ETH).

Not finding answers?

  • Error Handling & Troubleshooting — Debug issues and retry strategies
  • What is GoldRush — Understand the core platform
  • GoldRush SDKs & CLI — Get started with code
  • Powered by GoldRush — See real-world examples