Wallet RPC Methods

Manage Bitcoin wallets, addresses, and transactions using Bitcoin Core wallet RPC methods

Wallet RPC Methods

Wallet RPCs provide functionality for managing wallets, creating and signing transactions, address management, and balance queries.

Wallet RPCs require the wallet component to be compiled in and at least one wallet to be loaded. Use the /wallet/<walletname>/ endpoint when multiple wallets are loaded.

Wallet Management

createwallet

Creates a new wallet.

# Create standard descriptor wallet
bitcoin-cli createwallet "mywallet"

# Create encrypted watch-only wallet
bitcoin-cli -named createwallet wallet_name="watchonly" disable_private_keys=true passphrase="secret"

name · string

Wallet name

warning · string

Warning messages (if any)

loadwallet

Loads an existing wallet.

bitcoin-cli loadwallet "mywallet"

unloadwallet

Unloads a wallet from memory.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" unloadwallet

listwallets

Returns a list of currently loaded wallets.

bitcoin-cli listwallets

result · array

Array of wallet names (strings)

getwalletinfo

Returns information about the wallet.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getwalletinfo

walletname · string

Wallet name

walletversion · number

Wallet version

format · string

Database format (bdb, sqlite)

balance · number

Total confirmed balance in BTC

unconfirmed_balance · number

Unconfirmed balance in BTC

immature_balance · number

Immature coinbase balance

txcount · number

Total number of transactions

keypoolsize · number

Number of keys in keypool

unlocked_until · number

Timestamp wallet is unlocked until (encrypted wallets only)

descriptors · boolean

Whether wallet uses descriptors

Balance and UTXO Queries

getbalance

Returns the total available balance.

# Get total balance
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getbalance

# Get balance with at least 6 confirmations
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getbalance "*" 6

result · number

Total balance in BTC

getbalances

Returns detailed balance information.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getbalances

mine · object

Balances from outputs the wallet can sign

• trusted: Confirmed balance
• untrusted_pending: Unconfirmed balance
• immature: Immature coinbase balance

watchonly · object

Watch-only balances (same structure as mine)

listunspent

Returns array of unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs).

# List all UTXOs with at least 6 confirmations
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" listunspent 6

# List UTXOs for specific address
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" listunspent 1 9999999 '["bc1q..."]'

txid · string

Transaction ID

vout · number

Output index

address · string

Bitcoin address

amount · number

Amount in BTC

confirmations · number

Number of confirmations

spendable · boolean

Whether output is spendable

solvable · boolean

Whether output is solvable

safe · boolean

Whether output is safe to spend

Address Management

getnewaddress

Generates a new receiving address.

# Generate bech32 address
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getnewaddress

# Generate with label
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getnewaddress "payment1"

result · string

New Bitcoin address

getrawchangeaddress

Generates a new address for receiving change.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getrawchangeaddress

getaddressinfo

Returns information about a given address.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" getaddressinfo "bc1q..."

address · string

The bitcoin address

ismine · boolean

Whether address belongs to wallet

iswatchonly · boolean

Whether address is watch-only

isscript · boolean

Whether address is a script

pubkey · string

Public key for address

label · string

Address label

hdkeypath · string

HD keypath (if address is from HD wallet)

Sending Transactions

sendtoaddress

Sends bitcoin to a given address.

# Send 0.1 BTC
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" sendtoaddress "bc1q..." 0.1

# Send with fee subtracted from amount
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" sendtoaddress "bc1q..." 0.1 "" "" true

result · string

Transaction ID

sendmany

Sends bitcoin to multiple addresses in one transaction.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" sendmany "" '{"bc1q...":0.1,"bc1p...":0.2}'

result · string

Transaction ID

send

Experimental RPC for creating and sending transactions with advanced options.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" send '[{"bc1q...":0.1}]' null "economical"

Transaction History

listtransactions

Returns list of transactions for the wallet.

# List last 100 transactions
bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" listtransactions "*" 100

gettransaction

Returns detailed information about an in-wallet transaction.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" gettransaction "txid"

amount · number

Amount in BTC (negative for sends)

fee · number

Transaction fee (negative, only for sends)

confirmations · number

Number of confirmations

blockhash · string

Block hash containing transaction

txid · string

Transaction ID

time · number

Transaction time

hex · string

Raw transaction hex

Wallet Encryption

encryptwallet

Encrypts wallet with a passphrase. This is a one-time operation.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" encryptwallet "mypassphrase"

After encryption, the wallet will shut down. You must restart bitcoind to use the encrypted wallet.

walletpassphrase

Unlocks wallet for a period of time.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" walletpassphrase "mypassphrase" 60

walletpassphrasechange

Changes wallet passphrase.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" walletpassphrasechange "old" "new"

walletlock

Locks an encrypted wallet.

bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet="mywallet" walletlock