Getting Started with Axol API

Get up and running with Axol API in 5 minutes. This guide covers signup, authentication, making your first request, and exploring key features.

Step 1: Sign Up and Get Your API Key

1.1 Create Account

Visit app.axol.io and sign up:

• No credit card required for Free tier
• Instant access to 150M compute units per month
• Access to all 23+ supported blockchains

1.2 Get Your API Key

After signup:

1. Navigate to Dashboard → API Keys
2. Click "Generate New Key"
3. Give it a name (e.g., "Production", "Development")
4. Copy your API key - it starts with axol_

Security Best Practice: Never commit API keys to git or share them publicly.

# Store in environment variable
export AXOL_API_KEY="axol_your_key_here"

---

Step 2: Make Your First Request

2.1 Test with cURL

The simplest way to test:

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/gas/ethereum

Response:

{
  "chain": "ethereum",
  "slow": 20,
  "standard": 25,
  "fast": 30,
  "instant": 35,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "unit": "gwei"
}

2.2 Check Your Usage

Every response includes usage headers:

X-RateLimit-CU-Limit: 150000000
X-RateLimit-CU-Remaining: 149999995
X-RateLimit-CU-Reset: 1704153600
X-RateLimit-CU-Used: 5

What this means:

• Your monthly limit: 150M CUs
• Remaining this month: 149,999,995 CUs
• This request used: 5 CUs
• Limit resets on: Your next billing date (unix timestamp)

---

Step 3: Explore Core Features

3.1 Get Blockchain Data

Ethereum Balance

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/blockchain/ethereum/balance/0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb8

Response:

{
  "address": "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb8",
  "balance": "12.5 ETH",
  "balance_wei": "12500000000000000000",
  "chain": "ethereum"
}

CU Cost: 15 CUs

Solana Balance

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/blockchain/solana/balance/7xKXtg2CW87d97TXJSDpbD5jBkheTqA83TZRuJosgAsU

Response:

{
  "address": "7xKXtg2CW87d97TXJSDpbD5jBkheTqA83TZRuJosgAsU",
  "balance": "10.5 SOL",
  "balance_lamports": "10500000000",
  "chain": "solana"
}

CU Cost: 15 CUs

3.2 Gas Price API (Built-in Value-Add)

Current Gas Prices

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/gas/ethereum

CU Cost: 5 CUs (10x cheaper than blockchain calls!)

Multi-Chain Gas Comparison

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/gas/compare?chains=ethereum,polygon,arbitrum

Response:

{
  "comparison": [
    { "chain": "ethereum", "standard": 25 },
    { "chain": "polygon", "standard": 80 },
    { "chain": "arbitrum", "standard": 0.1 }
  ],
  "cheapest": "arbitrum",
  "timestamp": "2025-10-12T10:30:00Z"
}

CU Cost: 10 CUs

Historical Gas Data

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.axol.io/api/v1/gas/ethereum/history?days=7"

CU Cost: 20 CUs per day requested

3.3 Price API (Built-in Value-Add)

Token Price

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  https://api.axol.io/api/v1/price/ethereum/USDC

Response:

{
  "symbol": "USDC",
  "price_usd": 0.9998,
  "price_change_24h": -0.02,
  "volume_24h": 5000000000,
  "market_cap": 24000000000,
  "timestamp": "2025-10-12T10:30:00Z"
}

CU Cost: 5 CUs

Historical Prices

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AXOL_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.axol.io/api/v1/price/ethereum/ETH/history?days=30"

CU Cost: 15 CUs per day requested

---

Step 4: Use SDKs for Easier Integration

4.1 Python SDK

Install

pip install axol-api-client

Basic Usage

from axol import AxolClient

# Initialize client
client = AxolClient(api_key="your_api_key")

# Get gas prices
gas = client.gas.get_prices("ethereum")
print(f"Standard gas price: {gas.standard} gwei")

# Get balance
balance = client.blockchain.get_balance(
    chain="ethereum",
    address="0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb8"
)
print(f"Balance: {balance.balance_eth} ETH")

# Get token price
price = client.price.get_token_price(
    chain="ethereum",
    symbol="USDC"
)
print(f"USDC price: ${price.price_usd}")

Python SDK docs →

4.2 TypeScript/JavaScript SDK

Install

npm install @axol/api-client
# or
yarn add @axol/api-client

Basic Usage

import { AxolClient } from '@axol/api-client';

// Initialize client
const client = new AxolClient({ apiKey: 'your_api_key' });

// Get gas prices
const gas = await client.gas.getPrices('ethereum');
console.log(`Standard gas: ${gas.standard} gwei`);

// Get balance
const balance = await client.blockchain.getBalance({
  chain: 'ethereum',
  address: '0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb8'
});
console.log(`Balance: ${balance.balanceEth} ETH`);

// Get token price
const price = await client.price.getTokenPrice({
  chain: 'ethereum',
  symbol: 'USDC'
});
console.log(`USDC price: $${price.priceUsd}`);

TypeScript SDK docs →

---

Step 5: Monitor Your Usage

5.1 Dashboard

Visit app.axol.io/dashboard to see:

• Current month CU usage (standard + trace)
• Projected overage cost (if applicable)
• Historical usage charts
• Cost breakdown by method
• Chain-by-chain analysis

5.2 Set Up Alerts

Configure alerts at 80%, 90%, and 95% of your monthly limit:

1. Navigate to Dashboard → Alerts
2. Click "Create Alert"
3. Choose trigger percentage
4. Add email or webhook destination

5.3 Usage Headers

Check usage on every response:

response = client.gas.get_prices("ethereum")

# Access usage info
print(f"CU used: {response.headers['X-RateLimit-CU-Used']}")
print(f"CU remaining: {response.headers['X-RateLimit-CU-Remaining']}")

---

Step 6: Optimize Your Usage

6.1 Choose the Right Method

Use the cheapest method that meets your needs:

Need	Use	CU Cost	Don't Use	CU Cost
Latest block	eth_blockNumber	10	eth_getBlockByNumber	21-36
Current gas	Gas API	5	eth_gasPrice	10
Token price	Price API	5	On-chain oracle call	26+

Savings Example:

• 1M gas queries via eth_gasPrice = 10M CUs
• 1M gas queries via Gas API = 5M CUs
• Save 5M CUs (50%)

6.2 Cache When Possible

Cache responses that don't change frequently:

import time

class GasCache:
    def __init__(self, ttl=60):
        self.cache = {}
        self.ttl = ttl

    def get_gas(self, chain):
        now = time.time()
        if chain in self.cache:
            data, timestamp = self.cache[chain]
            if now - timestamp < self.ttl:
                return data  # Cache hit - no CU cost!

        # Cache miss - fetch from API
        data = client.gas.get_prices(chain)
        self.cache[chain] = (data, now)
        return data

6.3 Batch Requests

Use multi-chain endpoints when querying multiple chains:

# Instead of 3 separate calls (15 CUs)
curl /api/v1/gas/ethereum  # 5 CUs
curl /api/v1/gas/polygon   # 5 CUs
curl /api/v1/gas/arbitrum  # 5 CUs

# Use comparison endpoint (10 CUs)
curl /api/v1/gas/compare?chains=ethereum,polygon,arbitrum  # 10 CUs

# Save 5 CUs (33%)

---

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Gas-Optimized Transaction

# 1. Check gas prices (5 CUs)
gas = client.gas.get_prices("ethereum")

# 2. Use appropriate tier based on urgency
if urgent:
    gas_price = gas.fast
else:
    gas_price = gas.standard

# 3. Estimate gas (87 CUs)
estimate = client.blockchain.estimate_gas(
    chain="ethereum",
    to="0x...",
    data="0x..."
)

# 4. Send transaction
tx = send_transaction(gas_price, estimate)

# Total: 92 CUs

Pattern 2: Multi-Chain Portfolio Tracker

chains = ["ethereum", "polygon", "arbitrum", "optimism"]
address = "0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb8"

portfolio = {}
for chain in chains:
    # Get balance (15 CUs each)
    balance = client.blockchain.get_balance(chain, address)

    # Get token price (5 CUs each)
    price = client.price.get_token_price(chain, "ETH")

    portfolio[chain] = {
        "balance": balance.balance,
        "value_usd": balance.balance * price.price_usd
    }

# Total: 80 CUs for 4-chain portfolio

Pattern 3: Real-Time Gas Monitoring

def monitor_gas(threshold_gwei=20):
    """Alert when gas drops below threshold."""
    while True:
        gas = client.gas.get_prices("ethereum")

        if gas.standard <= threshold_gwei:
            send_alert(f"Gas at {gas.standard} gwei!")
            return

        time.sleep(60)  # Check every minute (5 CUs/check)

# Cost: ~7,200 CUs/day (5 CUs × 60 checks/hr × 24 hrs)

---

Next Steps

Learn More

• API Endpoints Reference →
• Compute Units Explained →
• Rate Limits →
• Supported Chains →

Explore Features

• WebSocket Subscriptions →
• Webhook Integration →
• Error Handling →

Upgrade Your Plan

• View Pricing Tiers →
• Compare Plans →
• Contact Sales →

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Getting Help

Documentation Issues?

• Troubleshooting Guide →
• API Reference →
• Glossary →

Community & Support:

• Discord: https://discord.gg/d8H8QHhK
• GitHub: https://github.com/axol-io/axol-api
• Docs: https://docs.axol.io

Technical Support:

• Free tier: Community support via Discord
• Paid tiers: Email hello@axol.io

Sales Questions:

• Email: hello@axol.io