IC Dashboard APIs

What This Is

These public REST APIs power dashboard.internetcomputer.org. They expose read-only access to canister metadata, ICRC ledgers, SNS data, the ICP ledger, and network metrics via OpenAPI specs and Swagger UI. Agents and scripts can call them over HTTPS from off-chain (no canister deployment or cycles required). Prefer v2 or higher API versions where available; they provide cursor-based pagination (after, before, limit) and are the same surface the dashboard uses.

Prerequisites

• Any HTTP client: curl, fetch, axios, or the language’s native HTTP library.
• No icp-cli or canister deployment needed for read-only API access.
• For OpenAPI-based codegen: optional use of the openapi.json URLs with your preferred OpenAPI tooling.

API Base URLs and Docs

Full URLs for specs and UI:

• IC API: https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/openapi.json — https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/swagger
• ICRC API: https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json — https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/docs
• SNS API: https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json — https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/docs
• Ledger API: https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json — https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/swagger-ui/
• Metrics API: https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/openapi.json — https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/docs

How It Works

1. Prefer v2+ APIs with cursor pagination. IC API v4 (/api/v4/canisters, /api/v4/subnets), ICRC API v2 (/api/v2/ledgers, /api/v2/ledgers/{id}/transactions, etc.), and SNS API v2 (/api/v2/snses, /api/v2/snses/{id}/proposals, /api/v2/snses/{id}/neurons) use after, before, and limit for stable, efficient paging. Avoid v1/offset-based endpoints when a v2+ alternative exists.
2. Choose the right API for the data you need: IC API (canisters, subnets, NNS neurons/proposals), Ledger API for mainnet ICP (accounts, transactions, supply), ICRC API for other ICRC ledgers only (ckBTC, SNS tokens, testicp — ICRC API does not expose mainnet ICP), SNS API (SNS list, neurons, proposals), Metrics API (governance, cycles, Bitcoin, etc.).
3. Use the OpenAPI spec to get exact path, query, and body schemas and response shapes; prefer the spec over hand-written docs to avoid drift.
4. Call over HTTPS with GET (or documented method). Use the cursor fields from v2+ responses to request the next or previous page. The names are not uniform: IC, ICRC and SNS APIs return next_cursor / previous_cursor, but Ledger API returns next_cursor / prev_cursor and names the row array after the resource (accounts, blocks, …) rather than a uniform data. Read the field names from the response (or the OpenAPI spec) rather than assuming.

Mistakes That Break Your Build

1. Wrong base URL or API version. IC API uses /api/v3/ (and v4 for canisters/subnets); ICRC has /api/v1/ and /api/v2/ (ICRC API does not serve mainnet ICP — use Ledger API). Ledger API uses unversioned paths for some endpoints (e.g. /accounts, /supply/total/latest) and /v2/ for cursor-paginated lists. Metrics API uses /api/v1/. Using the wrong prefix returns 404 or wrong schema.

2. Canister ID format. Canister IDs in paths and queries are principal text: lowercase Base32 of CRC32(blob) · blob, split into 5-character groups where only the last group may be shorter (1–5 characters). A mainnet canister ID is 27 characters — four groups of five plus a final three, e.g. ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai. Principals are not fixed-length: subnet IDs reach the 63-character maximum (ten groups of five plus a final three), and short ones such as the management canister aaaaa-aa are also valid principals. Sending a raw principal string in the wrong encoding or length causes 422 or 400.

3. Using ICRC API for mainnet ICP. ICRC API exposes test ICP (TestICP) only, not mainnet ICP. For mainnet ICP token data (accounts, transactions, supply) use Ledger API (ledger-api.internetcomputer.org). Use ICRC API for other ICRC ledgers (e.g. ckBTC, SNS tokens) and for TestICP.

4. ICRC API: ledger_canister_id in path. ICRC endpoints require ledger_canister_id in the path (e.g. /api/v2/ledgers/{ledger_canister_id}/transactions). Use the canister ID of the ledger you want (e.g. ckBTC mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai). Do not use ICRC API for mainnet ICP — use Ledger API instead.

5. Using v1 or offset-based pagination when v2+ exists. Always prefer v2 or higher endpoints that support cursor pagination (after, before, limit). IC API v4 (canisters, subnets), ICRC API v2 (ledgers, accounts, transactions), and SNS API v2 (snses, proposals, neurons) return next_cursor/previous_cursor and accept cursor query params — Ledger API v2 also paginates by cursor but names the field prev_cursor. Older v1/offset/max_*_index endpoints are legacy; using the wrong pagination model returns empty or incorrect pages.

6. Timestamps. Most time-range query params (start, end) expect Unix seconds (integer). Sending milliseconds or ISO strings causes validation errors (422).

7. Account identifier format. Ledger API and ICRC/ICP endpoints use account identifiers (hex hashes), not raw principals, for account-specific paths. Use the same encoding the API documents (e.g. 64-char hex for account_identifier where required).

8. Assuming authentication. These public dashboard APIs do not require API keys or auth for the documented read endpoints. If you get 401/403, confirm you are not hitting a different environment or a write endpoint that requires auth.

Implementation

IC API — Canisters and subnets (prefer v4 with cursor pagination)

# List canisters (v4: cursor pagination, next_cursor/previous_cursor in response)
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v4/canisters?limit=5"

# Next page: use after= from previous response's next_cursor (see OpenAPI for cursor format)
# curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v4/canisters?limit=5&after=..."

# Get one canister by ID (v3; no v4 single-canister endpoint)
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/canisters/ryjl3-tyaaa-aaaaa-aaaba-cai"

# List subnets (v4: cursor pagination)
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v4/subnets?limit=10"

# List NNS proposals (v3; use limit)
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/proposals?limit=5"

ICRC API — Other ICRC ledgers only (v2 with cursor pagination)

ICRC API exposes TestICP and other ICRC ledgers (e.g. ckBTC, SNS tokens), not mainnet ICP. For mainnet ICP use Ledger API.

# List ledgers (v2: after/before/limit, next_cursor/previous_cursor in response)
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers?limit=10"

# Get one ledger (e.g. ckBTC — mainnet ICP is not on ICRC API)
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers/mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai"

# List transactions for a ledger (v2: cursor pagination)
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers/mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai/transactions?limit=5"

# List accounts for a ledger (v2: after/before/limit)
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers/mxzaz-hqaaa-aaaar-qaada-cai/accounts?limit=10"

SNS API — SNS list and proposals (prefer v2 with cursor pagination)

# List SNSes (v2: after/before/limit, next_cursor/previous_cursor)
curl -s "https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/snses?limit=10"

# List proposals for an SNS root canister (v2: cursor pagination)
# Replace ROOT_CANISTER_ID with a real SNS root canister ID
curl -s "https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/snses/ROOT_CANISTER_ID/proposals?limit=5"

# List neurons for an SNS (v2: after/before/limit)
curl -s "https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/snses/ROOT_CANISTER_ID/neurons?limit=10"

Ledger API — Mainnet ICP token (prefer v2 for cursor pagination)

# List accounts (v2: after/before/limit). Note this API's own naming:
# rows come back under `accounts` (not `data`), and the back-cursor is
# `prev_cursor` (not `previous_cursor` as on the IC/ICRC/SNS APIs).
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/v2/accounts?limit=10"

# Get account by account_identifier (64-char hex)
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/accounts/ACCOUNT_IDENTIFIER"

# List transactions (v2: cursor pagination)
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/v2/transactions?limit=10"

# Total supply (latest)
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/supply/total/latest"

Metrics API

# Average cycle burn rate
curl -s "https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/average-cycle-burn-rate"

# Governance metrics
curl -s "https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/governance-metrics"

# ICP/XDR conversion rates (with optional start/end/step)
curl -s "https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/icp-xdr-conversion-rates?start=1700000000&end=1700086400&step=86400"

Fetching OpenAPI spec (for codegen or validation)

# IC API v3
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/openapi.json" -o ic-api-v3.json

# ICRC API
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json" -o icrc-api.json

# SNS API
curl -s "https://sns-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json" -o sns-api.json

# Ledger API
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/openapi.json" -o ledger-api.json

# Metrics API v1
curl -s "https://metrics-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v1/openapi.json" -o metrics-api-v1.json

Deploy & Test

No canister deployment is required. These are external HTTP APIs. Test from the shell or your app:

# Smoke test: IC API root
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/"
# Expected: 200

# Smoke test: ICRC ledgers list
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers?limit=1"
# Expected: 200

Verify It Works

# 1. IC API returns canister list with data array (v4 — the preferred list endpoint)
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v4/canisters?limit=1" | head -c 200
# Expected: JSON with "data", "next_cursor" and "previous_cursor" keys, and one canister

# 2. ICRC API returns ledger list
curl -s "https://icrc-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v2/ledgers?limit=1" | head -c 200
# Expected: JSON with "data" and ledger entries

# 3. Ledger API returns supply (array of [timestamp, value])
curl -s "https://ledger-api.internetcomputer.org/supply/total/latest"
# Expected: JSON array with two elements (timestamp and supply string)

# 4. OpenAPI specs are valid JSON
curl -s "https://ic-api.internetcomputer.org/api/v3/openapi.json" | python3 -c "import sys,json; json.load(sys.stdin); print('OK')"
# Expected: OK