---
title: Query Account Information with SDKs
description: Learn how to query account information using five popular SDKs—Polkadot API (PAPI), Polkadot.js API, Dedot, Python Substrate Interface, and Subxt.
categories:
- Chain Interactions
- Tooling
url: https://docs.polkadot.com/chain-interactions/accounts/query-accounts/
word_count: 2617
token_estimate: 6038
version_hash: sha256:983883c7bd9121fc1447d4d282816496106d2e0a75c72d9d06590cc74e9a5498
last_updated: '2026-06-04T16:08:37+00:00'
---
# Query Account Information with SDKs
## Introduction
Querying account information is a fundamental operation when interacting with Polkadot SDK-based blockchains. Account queries allow you to retrieve balances, nonces, account data, and other state information stored on-chain. Each SDK provides different methods for accessing this data efficiently.
This guide demonstrates how to query account information using five popular SDKs:
- **[Polkadot API (PAPI)](/reference/tools/papi/)**: Modern TypeScript library with type-safe APIs
- **[Polkadot.js API](/reference/tools/polkadot-js-api/)**: Comprehensive JavaScript library (maintenance mode)
- **[Dedot](/reference/tools/dedot/)**: Lightweight TypeScript library optimized for performance
- **[Python Substrate Interface](/reference/tools/py-substrate-interface/)**: Python library for Substrate chains
- **[Subxt](/reference/tools/subxt/)**: Rust library with compile-time type safety
Select your preferred SDK below to see complete, runnable examples that query account information on Polkadot Hub.
## Prerequisites
- Access to a Polkadot SDK-compatible blockchain endpoint (WebSocket URL)
- An account address to query (can be any valid SS58 address)
## Query Account Information
=== "PAPI"
**Prerequisites**
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v18 or higher
- npm, pnpm, or yarn package manager
**Environment Setup**
1. Create and initialize a new project:
```bash
mkdir papi-query-account-example && cd papi-query-account-example && \
npm init -y && npm pkg set type=module
```
2. Install dependencies:
```bash
npm install polkadot-api && \
npm install --save-dev @types/node tsx typescript
```
3. Generate types for Polkadot Hub:
```bash
npx papi add polkadotTestNet -w wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network
```
**Query Account Data**
The following example queries account information including balance, nonce, and other account data.
Create a file named `query-account.ts` and add the following code to it:
```typescript title="query-account.ts"
import { createClient } from 'polkadot-api';
import { getWsProvider } from 'polkadot-api/ws';
import { polkadotTestNet } from '@polkadot-api/descriptors';
const POLKADOT_HUB_RPC = 'INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT';
const ACCOUNT_ADDRESS = 'INSERT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS';
const PAS_UNITS = 10_000_000_000;
async function main()\n`);
// Query account information
const accountInfo = await api.query.System.Account.getValue(
ACCOUNT_ADDRESS
);
// Display account information
console.log('Account Information:');
console.log('===================');
console.log(`Nonce: ${accountInfo.nonce}`);
console.log(`Consumers: ${accountInfo.consumers}`);
console.log(`Providers: ${accountInfo.providers}`);
console.log(`Sufficients: ${accountInfo.sufficients}`);
console.log('\nBalance Details:');
console.log('================');
console.log(
`Free Balance: ${accountInfo.data.free} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.free) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Reserved Balance: ${accountInfo.data.reserved} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.reserved) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Frozen Balance: ${accountInfo.data.frozen} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.frozen) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
const total =
Number(accountInfo.data.free) + Number(accountInfo.data.reserved);
console.log(`\nTotal Balance: ${total} (${total / PAS_UNITS} PAS)`);
await client.destroy();
console.log('\nDisconnected');
} catch (error)
}
main();
```
!!! note
Ensure to replace `INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT` with a valid WebSocket endpoint (e.g., `wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network`) and `INSERT_ADDRESS` with the account address you want to query.
Run the script:
```bash
npx tsx query-account.ts
```
You should see output similar to:
npx tsx query-account.ts
Connected to Polkadot Hub
Querying account: 5GgbDVeKZwCmMHzn58iFSgSZDTojRMM52arXnuNXto28R7mg
Account Information:
===================
Nonce: 15
Consumers: 0
Providers: 1
Sufficients: 0
Balance Details:
================
Free Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Reserved Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Frozen Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Total Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Disconnected
=== "Polkadot.js"
!!! warning "Maintenance Mode Only"
The Polkadot.js API is no longer actively developed. New projects should use [PAPI](/reference/tools/papi/) or [Dedot](/reference/tools/dedot/) as actively maintained alternatives.
**Prerequisites**
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v18 or higher
- npm, pnpm, or yarn package manager
**Environment Setup**
1. Create and initialize a new project:
```bash
mkdir pjs-query-account-example && cd pjs-query-account-example && \
npm init -y && npm pkg set type=module
```
2. Install dependencies:
```bash
npm install @polkadot/api
```
**Query Account Data**
The following example queries account information including balance, nonce, and other account data.
Create a file named `query-account.js` and add the following code to it:
```javascript title="query-account.js"
import { ApiPromise, WsProvider } from '@polkadot/api';
const POLKADOT_HUB_RPC = 'INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT';
const ACCOUNT_ADDRESS = 'INSERT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS';
const PAS_UNITS = 10_000_000_000;
async function main());
console.log('Connected to Polkadot Hub');
console.log(`\nQuerying account: ${ACCOUNT_ADDRESS}\n`);
// Query account information
const accountInfo = await api.query.system.account(ACCOUNT_ADDRESS);
// Display account information
console.log('Account Information:');
console.log('===================');
console.log(`Nonce: ${accountInfo.nonce.toString()}`);
console.log(`Consumers: ${accountInfo.consumers.toString()}`);
console.log(`Providers: ${accountInfo.providers.toString()}`);
console.log(`Sufficients: ${accountInfo.sufficients.toString()}`);
console.log('\nBalance Details:');
console.log('================');
console.log(
`Free Balance: ${accountInfo.data.free.toString()} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.free.toBigInt()) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Reserved Balance: ${accountInfo.data.reserved.toString()} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.reserved.toBigInt()) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Frozen Balance: ${accountInfo.data.frozen.toString()} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.frozen.toBigInt()) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
const total =
Number(accountInfo.data.free.toBigInt()) +
Number(accountInfo.data.reserved.toBigInt());
console.log(`\nTotal Balance: ${total} (${total / PAS_UNITS} PAS)`);
// Disconnect from the node
await api.disconnect();
console.log('\nDisconnected');
}
main().catch(console.error);
```
!!! note
Ensure to replace `INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT` with a valid WebSocket endpoint (e.g., `wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network`) and `INSERT_ADDRESS` with the account address you want to query.
Run the script:
```bash
node query-account.js
```
You should see output similar to:
node query-account.js
Connected to Polkadot Hub
Querying account: 5GgbDVeKZwCmMHzn58iFSgSZDTojRMM52arXnuNXto28R7mg
Account Information:
===================
Nonce: 15
Consumers: 0
Providers: 1
Sufficients: 0
Balance Details:
================
Free Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Reserved Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Frozen Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Total Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Disconnected
=== "Dedot"
**Prerequisites**
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) v18 or higher
- npm, pnpm, or yarn package manager
**Environment Setup**
1. Create and initialize a new project:
```bash
mkdir dedot-query-account-example && cd dedot-query-account-example && \
npm init -y && npm pkg set type=module
```
2. Install dependencies:
```bash
npm install dedot && \
npm install --save-dev @dedot/chaintypes @types/node tsx typescript
```
**Query Account Data**
The following example queries account information including balance, nonce, and other account data.
Create a file named `query-account.ts` and add the following code to it:
```typescript title="query-account.ts"
import { DedotClient, WsProvider } from 'dedot';
import type { PolkadotAssetHubApi } from '@dedot/chaintypes';
const POLKADOT_HUB_RPC = 'INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT';
const ACCOUNT_ADDRESS = 'INSERT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS';
const PAS_UNITS = 10_000_000_000;
async function main()\n`);
// Query account information
const accountInfo = await client.query.system.account(ACCOUNT_ADDRESS);
// Display account information
console.log('Account Information:');
console.log('===================');
console.log(`Nonce: ${accountInfo.nonce}`);
console.log(`Consumers: ${accountInfo.consumers}`);
console.log(`Providers: ${accountInfo.providers}`);
console.log(`Sufficients: ${accountInfo.sufficients}`);
console.log('\nBalance Details:');
console.log('================');
console.log(
`Free Balance: ${accountInfo.data.free} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.free) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Reserved Balance: ${accountInfo.data.reserved} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.reserved) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
console.log(
`Frozen Balance: ${accountInfo.data.frozen} (${
Number(accountInfo.data.frozen) / PAS_UNITS
} PAS)`
);
const total =
Number(accountInfo.data.free) + Number(accountInfo.data.reserved);
console.log(`\nTotal Balance: ${total} (${total / PAS_UNITS} PAS)`);
// Disconnect the client
await client.disconnect();
console.log('\nDisconnected from Polkadot Hub');
}
main().catch(console.error);
```
!!! note
Ensure to replace `INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT` with a valid WebSocket endpoint (e.g., `wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network`) and `INSERT_ADDRESS` with the account address you want to query.
Run the script:
```bash
npx tsx query-account.ts
```
You should see output similar to:
npx tsx query-account.ts
Connected to Polkadot Hub
Querying account: 5GgbDVeKZwCmMHzn58iFSgSZDTojRMM52arXnuNXto28R7mg
Account Information:
===================
Nonce: 15
Consumers: 0
Providers: 1
Sufficients: 0
Balance Details:
================
Free Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Reserved Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Frozen Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Total Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Disconnected from Polkadot Hub
=== "Python Substrate Interface"
**Prerequisites**
- [Python](https://www.python.org/) 3.8 or higher
- pip package manager
**Environment Setup**
1. Create a new project directory and set up a virtual environment:
```bash
mkdir psi-query-account-example && cd psi-query-account-example && \
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
```
2. Install the substrate-interface package:
```bash
pip install substrate-interface
```
**Query Account Data**
The following example queries account information including balance, nonce, and other account data.
Create a file named `query_account.py` and add the following code to it:
```python title="query_account.py"
from substrateinterface import SubstrateInterface
POLKADOT_HUB_RPC = "INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT"
ACCOUNT_ADDRESS = "INSERT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS"
PAS_UNITS = 10_000_000_000
def main():
# Connect to Polkadot Hub
substrate = SubstrateInterface(url=POLKADOT_HUB_RPC)
print("Connected to Polkadot Hub")
print(f"\nQuerying account: {ACCOUNT_ADDRESS}\n")
# Query account information
account_info = substrate.query(
module="System", storage_function="Account", params=[ACCOUNT_ADDRESS]
)
# Display account information
print("Account Information:")
print("===================")
print(f"Nonce: {account_info.value['nonce']}")
print(f"Consumers: {account_info.value['consumers']}")
print(f"Providers: {account_info.value['providers']}")
print(f"Sufficients: {account_info.value['sufficients']}")
print("\nBalance Details:")
print("================")
free_balance = account_info.value["data"]["free"]
reserved_balance = account_info.value["data"]["reserved"]
frozen_balance = account_info.value["data"]["frozen"]
print(f"Free Balance: {free_balance} ({free_balance / PAS_UNITS} PAS)")
print(
f"Reserved Balance: {reserved_balance} ({reserved_balance / PAS_UNITS} PAS)"
)
print(f"Frozen Balance: {frozen_balance} ({frozen_balance / PAS_UNITS} PAS)")
total = free_balance + reserved_balance
print(f"\nTotal Balance: {total} ({total / PAS_UNITS} PAS)")
# Close connection
substrate.close()
print("\nDisconnected")
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
```
!!! note
Ensure to replace `INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT` with a valid WebSocket endpoint (e.g., `wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network`) and `INSERT_ADDRESS` with the account address you want to query.
Run the script:
```bash
python query_account.py
```
You should see output similar to:
python3 query_account.py
Connected to Polkadot Hub
Querying account: 5GgbDVeKZwCmMHzn58iFSgSZDTojRMM52arXnuNXto28R7mg
Account Information:
===================
Nonce: 15
Consumers: 0
Providers: 1
Sufficients: 0
Balance Details:
================
Free Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Reserved Balance: 0 (0.0 PAS)
Frozen Balance: 0 (0.0 PAS)
Total Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Disconnected
=== "Subxt"
**Prerequisites**
- [Rust](https://rustup.rs/) toolchain (latest stable)
- Cargo package manager
**Environment Setup**
1. Create a new Rust project:
```bash
cargo new subxt-query-account-example && cd subxt-query-account-example
```
2. Install the Subxt CLI:
```bash
cargo install subxt-cli@0.50.0
```
3. Download the Polkadot Hub metadata:
```bash
subxt metadata --url INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT -o polkadot_testnet_metadata.scale
```
4. Update `Cargo.toml` with the required dependencies:
```toml title="Cargo.toml"
[package]
name = "subxt-query-account-example"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"
[[bin]]
name = "query_account"
path = "src/bin/query_account.rs"
[dependencies]
subxt = { version = "0.50.0" }
tokio = { version = "1.36.0", features = ["macros", "rt"] }
```
**Query Account Data**
The following example queries account information including balance, nonce, and other account data.
Create a file at `src/bin/query_account.rs` and add the following code to it:
```rust title="src/bin/query_account.rs"
use std::str::FromStr;
use subxt::utils::AccountId32;
use subxt::{OnlineClient, PolkadotConfig};
// Generate an interface from the node's metadata
#[subxt::subxt(runtime_metadata_path = "polkadot_testnet_metadata.scale")]
pub mod polkadot_testnet {}
const POLKADOT_TESTNET_RPC: &str = "INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT";
const ACCOUNT_ADDRESS: &str = "INSERT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS";
const PAS_UNITS: u128 = 10_000_000_000;
#[tokio::main(flavor = "current_thread")]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box> {
// Initialize the Subxt client
let api = OnlineClient::::from_url(POLKADOT_TESTNET_RPC).await?;
// Anchor to the current block
let at_block = api.at_current_block().await?;
println!("Connected to Polkadot Hub");
// Convert the account address into an AccountId32
let account = AccountId32::from_str(ACCOUNT_ADDRESS)?;
println!("\nQuerying account: {}\n", account);
// Query account information
let account_storage = at_block
.storage()
.entry(polkadot_testnet::storage().system().account())?;
let info = account_storage
.fetch((account,))
.await?
.decode()?;
// Display account information
println!("Account Information:");
println!("===================");
println!("Nonce: {}", info.nonce);
println!("Consumers: {}", info.consumers);
println!("Providers: {}", info.providers);
println!("Sufficients: {}", info.sufficients);
println!("\nBalance Details:");
println!("================");
println!(
"Free Balance: {} ({} PAS)",
info.data.free,
info.data.free as f64 / PAS_UNITS as f64
);
println!(
"Reserved Balance: {} ({} PAS)",
info.data.reserved,
info.data.reserved as f64 / PAS_UNITS as f64
);
println!(
"Frozen Balance: {} ({} PAS)",
info.data.frozen,
info.data.frozen as f64 / PAS_UNITS as f64
);
let total = info.data.free + info.data.reserved;
println!(
"\nTotal Balance: {} ({} PAS)",
total,
total as f64 / PAS_UNITS as f64
);
println!("\nDisconnected");
Ok(())
}
```
!!! note
Ensure to replace `INSERT_WS_ENDPOINT` with a valid WebSocket endpoint (e.g., `wss://asset-hub-paseo.dotters.network`) and `INSERT_ADDRESS` with the account address you want to query.
Run the script:
```bash
cargo run --bin query_account
```
You should see output similar to:
cargo run --bin query_account
Connected to Polkadot Hub
Querying account: 5GgbDVeKZwCmMHzn58iFSgSZDTojRMM52arXnuNXto28R7mg
Account Information:
===================
Nonce: 15
Consumers: 0
Providers: 1
Sufficients: 0
Balance Details:
================
Free Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Reserved Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Frozen Balance: 0 (0 PAS)
Total Balance: 59781317040 (5.978131704 PAS)
Disconnected
## Understanding Account Data
When querying account information, you'll receive several key fields:
- **Nonce**: The number of transactions sent from this account, used to prevent replay attacks.
- **Consumers**: The number of modules depending on this account's existence.
- **Providers**: The number of modules providing for this account's existence.
- **Sufficients**: The number of modules that allow this account to exist on its own.
- **Free Balance**: The transferable balance available for transactions.
- **Reserved Balance**: Balance that is locked for specific purposes (staking, governance, etc.).
- **Frozen Balance**: Balance that cannot be used for transfers but may be used for other operations.
The total balance is the sum of free and reserved balances.
## Where to Go Next
- Guide **Query On-Chain State**
---
Explore other types of storage queries.
[:octicons-arrow-right-24: Get Started](/chain-interactions/query-data/query-sdks/)
- Guide **Send Transactions**
---
Learn how to construct and submit transactions.
[:octicons-arrow-right-24: Get Started](/chain-interactions/send-transactions/with-sdks/)