Feature Request: API to lookup address balance, total_received via addrIndex

[dan-da]

I am in need of an API that leverages the addrIndex to return summarized address data for multiple addresses in a single call.

Both blockchain.info and blockr provide this capability, but I'm hoping for a solution that can be run privately inhouse.

Here is an example call from bc.info: (docs)

https://blockchain.info/multiaddr?active=$address|$address

{
    "addresses":[
    {
        "hash160":"641ad5051edd97029a003fe9efb29359fcee409d",
        "address":"1A8JiWcwvpY7tAopUkSnGuEYHmzGYfZPiq",
        "n_tx":4,
        "total_received":1401000000,
        "total_sent":1000000,
        "final_balance":1400000000
    },

    {
        "hash160":"ddbeb8b1a5d54975ee5779cf64573081a89710e5",
        "address":"1MDUoxL1bGvMxhuoDYx6i11ePytECAk9QK",
        "n_tx":0,
        "total_received":0,
        "total_sent":0,
        "final_balance":0
    }
}

The blockr api is similar, and docs are here.

If I'm not mistaken, the btcd addrIndex only keeps a list of transactions. So it will still be necessary to loop through all the transactions when performing a lookup. For lookup performance, the index would store total_received, total_sent, final_balance... but I guess that is not presently the case and would require more storage. Also, I know that total_sent is kind of a fuzzy concept given the way bitcoin transactions work.

@Roasbeef would you care to comment on how best to implement? I figured it would basically be a matter of copying the basics of searchrawtransaction API, deserializing all transactions, and summing the amounts. Or is there a more efficient way to do it?

I might work on it myself at some point if/when I find some time. Or if someone else wishes to, all the better!

The particular use case I have in mind is for my HD wallet discovery tool. It's a general purpose api though.

I just added support within the tool to make use of btcd as a data source via searchrawtransactions, but the reports have missing data and the lookups are slow compared to bc.info and blockr. hoping to remedy that!

[jackzampolin]

Can you elaborate on the reports have missing data?

[winteraz]

@dan-da did you find a reliable node to provide that data? I find myself in the same situation, I need to get transaction data in batch for a HD wallet I'm developing.

[dan-da]

@jackzampolin I meant that the reports generated by my tool are presently missing fields for total_received and balance because searchrawtransactions does not provide total_received and total_spent fields per address. Also, for performance reasons I am specifying count=1, such that only a single tx is returned. If I were willing to retrieve list of all tx (possibly thousands per addr) then I could calc these myself, this is true. I may add an option for that.

Regardless it is horribly inefficient to be making a call to retrieve N transactions for a single address vs a call to receive summarized info for multiple addresses, which is what this request is about.

[dan-da]

@winteraz I have notes about different API providers here.