Practical overview
When it fits
Use the collection when a Polkadot or Substrate development workflow calls for a focused CLI utility to query a running node, monitor RPC health, separate transaction generation from signing, expose selected query results as JSON, or generate a pattern-matched address.
Who it is for
- Polkadot and Substrate developers who need CLI access to a running node's API.
- Operators who want to check a remote node's health over RPC.
- Users who need to prepare a transaction in one terminal and sign it in another terminal or on another computer.
- Developers who need selected node-query results served as JSON or want to generate addresses matching a pattern.
Documented uses
- Make API calls to a running Polkadot or Substrate node.
- Check a remote node's health through RPC.
- Serve JSON outputs for specific queries.
- Generate transactions separately from signing them.
- Generate vanity addresses matching a chosen pattern.
Requirements & limits
- API calls and RPC monitoring require a running node to connect to.
- For Docker access to a local node at the default 127.0.0.1 host, the README says to use --network=host and configure the node to allow connections.
- The repository is public, uses TypeScript and specifies the Apache-2.0 license.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Install a polkadot-js CLI package with npm
Install a selected package globally so its command-line utility can be invoked.
Before you start
- npm
Steps
Choose a package such as @polkadot/api-cli or @polkadot/monitor-rpc.
Install the selected package globally with npm, for example: npm install -g @polkadot/api-cli.
Invoke the installed utility; the README gives polkadot-js-api and polkadot-js-monitor as command examples.
Expected outcome
The selected package is installed globally and its documented CLI command can be invoked.
Guide limitations
- API calls and monitoring connect to running nodes; the README does not provide task-specific command options in this installation example.
Connect a Docker-run utility to a local node
Run a listed utility in Docker with host networking for a local-node connection.
Before you start
- Docker
- A local node configured to allow the required connections
Steps
Choose a documented Docker utility name, such as api or monitor.
Run the polkadot-js tools image with --network=host and the selected utility name.
Pass the appropriate flags to the node to allow Docker connections.
Expected outcome
The utility is launched with host networking, the documented approach for connecting to a local node at the default 127.0.0.1 host.
Guide limitations
- The README specifies this networking guidance for local-node connections using the default host; it does not give the node flags needed for a particular setup.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 10 October 2026
- Original website title
- polkadot-js/tools · Official homepage title · retained in its source language