To use the Polygon zkEVM API you'll need to create a free Alchemy account first!

Introduction

Polygon zkEVM is a decentralized Ethereum Layer 2 network that uses cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs to offer validity and quick finality to off-chain transactions. Emulating the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), zkEVM allows for transparent deployment of existing Ethereum smart contracts while enhancing scalability, security, and transaction throughput. By utilizing zkEVM, developers can build decentralized applications with quick finality and improved performance, all within the Ethereum ecosystem.

What is Polygon zkEVM API?

The Polygon zkEVM API is a collection of JSON-RPC methods that enable developers to interact with the Polygon zkEVM network. Using the endpoints provided by the API, developers can access up-to-date network data and submit transactions to it.

Getting Started Instructions

1. Choose a Package Manager (npm or yarn)

Before you begin, you'll need to choose a package manager to manage dependencies in your project. The two most popular package managers for Node.js are npm and yarn. You can choose the one you're most comfortable with.

npm

To get started with npm, follow the documentation to install Node.js and npm for your operating system: https://docs.npmjs.com/downloading-and-installing-node-js-and-npm

yarn

To get started with yarn, follow these steps: https://classic.yarnpkg.com/lang/en/docs/install

2. Set up your project (npm or yarn)

Let's start by setting up a simple Node.js project. Open your terminal and run the following commands:

mkdir alchemy-polygon-zkevm-api
cd alchemy-polygon-zkevm-api
npm init --yes

mkdir alchemy-polygon-zkevm-api
cd alchemy-polygon-zkevm-api
yarn init --yes

This will create a new directory called alchemy-polygon-zkevm-api and initialize a new Node.js project in it.

3. Make Your First Request

To make requests to the Polygon zkEVM API, you'll need to use an HTTP client. In this guide, we'll use Axios, a popular HTTP client for Node.js. Install Axios as a dependency in your project with the command below:

npm install axios

yarn add axios

Next, let's create a script that will make a request to the eth_blockNumber JSON-RPC method on Polygon zkEVM. Create a new file called index.js in your project directory and add the following code:

const axios = require('axios');

const apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY'; // Replace with your Alchemy API key
const url = `https://polygonzkevm-mainnet.g.alchemy.com/v2/${apiKey}`;

const payload = {
  jsonrpc: '2.0',
  id: 1,
  method: 'eth_blockNumber',
  params: []
};

axios.post(url, payload)
  .then(response => {
    console.log('Block Number:', response.data.result);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
  });

Remember to replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual Alchemy API key that you can get from your Alchemy dashboard.

4. Run Script

To run the script and make the request to the Polygon zkEVM API, execute the following command in your terminal:

node index.js

As a result, should see the current block number on Polygon zkEVM (in hex format) printed to the console:

Block Number: 0x6d68e

Next Steps

Congratulations! You've successfully made your first request to the Polygon zkEVM API using Alchemy. From here, you can explore the various JSON-RPC methods available on Polygon zkEVM and start building your decentralized applications on it!