# create\_public\_client Create a synchronous `Web3` instance with public (read-only) Seismic access. ## Overview `create_public_client()` creates a client for read-only operations on the Seismic network. No private key is required. The [`w3.seismic`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/seismic-public-namespace) namespace provides only public read operations: [`get_tee_public_key()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-tee-public-key), [`get_deposit_root()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-deposit-root), [`get_deposit_count()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-deposit-count), and [`contract()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/contract) (with `.tread` only). This is useful for applications that only need to query chain state without submitting transactions, such as block explorers, analytics dashboards, or read-only dApps. ## Signature ```python def create_public_client(rpc_url: str) -> Web3 ``` ## Parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Description | | --------- | ----- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `rpc_url` | `str` | Yes | HTTP(S) URL of the Seismic node (e.g., `"https://gcp-1.seismictest.net/rpc"`). WebSocket URLs are not supported — see note below | ## Returns | Type | Description | | ------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Web3` | A `Web3` instance with `w3.seismic` namespace attached ([`SeismicPublicNamespace`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/seismic-public-namespace)) | ## Examples ### Basic Usage ```python from seismic_web3 import create_public_client # Create public client w3 = create_public_client("https://gcp-1.seismictest.net/rpc") # Query TEE public key tee_pk = w3.seismic.get_tee_public_key() print(f"TEE public key: {tee_pk.to_0x_hex()}") # Query deposit info root = w3.seismic.get_deposit_root() count = w3.seismic.get_deposit_count() print(f"Deposit root: {root.to_0x_hex()}, count: {count}") ``` ### Using Chain Configuration ```python from seismic_web3 import SEISMIC_TESTNET # Recommended: use chain config instead of raw URL w3 = SEISMIC_TESTNET.public_client() # Equivalent to: # w3 = create_public_client(SEISMIC_TESTNET.rpc_url) ``` ### Read-Only Contract Access ```python from seismic_web3 import create_public_client w3 = create_public_client("https://gcp-1.seismictest.net/rpc") # Create contract wrapper (read-only) contract = w3.seismic.contract( address="0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266", abi=contract_abi, ) # Only transparent reads are available result = contract.tread.balanceOf("0x1234...") # Shielded operations are NOT available # contract.swrite.transfer(...) # AttributeError: no swrite on public client # contract.sread.getBalance(...) # AttributeError: no sread on public client ``` ### Standard Web3 Operations ```python from seismic_web3 import create_public_client w3 = create_public_client("https://gcp-1.seismictest.net/rpc") # All standard web3.py read operations work block = w3.eth.get_block("latest") print(f"Latest block: {block['number']}") balance = w3.eth.get_balance("0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266") print(f"Balance: {w3.from_wei(balance, 'ether')} ETH") chain_id = w3.eth.chain_id print(f"Chain ID: {chain_id}") ``` ### Block Explorer Pattern ```python from seismic_web3 import create_public_client def get_chain_stats(rpc_url: str): w3 = create_public_client(rpc_url) # Get latest block block = w3.eth.get_block("latest") # Get deposit info deposit_root = w3.seismic.get_deposit_root() deposit_count = w3.seismic.get_deposit_count() # Get TEE info tee_pk = w3.seismic.get_tee_public_key() return { "block_number": block["number"], "block_hash": block["hash"].to_0x_hex(), "deposit_root": deposit_root.to_0x_hex(), "deposit_count": deposit_count, "tee_public_key": tee_pk.to_0x_hex(), } stats = get_chain_stats("https://gcp-1.seismictest.net/rpc") print(stats) ``` ## How It Works The function performs two steps: 1. **Create Web3 instance** ```python w3 = Web3(Web3.HTTPProvider(rpc_url)) ``` 2. **Attach public Seismic namespace** ```python w3.seismic = SeismicPublicNamespace(w3) ``` No TEE public key fetching or encryption setup is performed since the client cannot perform shielded operations. ## Client Capabilities ### Standard Web3 Methods (e.g. `w3.eth`, `w3.net`) * `get_block()`, `get_transaction()`, `get_balance()` * `get_code()`, `call()`, `estimate_gas()` * All other standard read-only `web3.py` functionality ### Public Seismic Methods (`w3.seismic`) * [`get_tee_public_key()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-tee-public-key) - Get TEE public key * [`get_deposit_root()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-deposit-root) - Query deposit merkle root * [`get_deposit_count()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/get-deposit-count) - Query deposit count * [`contract()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/contract) - Create contract wrappers (`.tread` only) ### NOT Available * [`send_shielded_transaction()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/send-shielded-transaction) - Requires private key * [`debug_send_shielded_transaction()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/debug-send-shielded-transaction) - Requires private key * [`signed_call()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/signed-call) - Requires private key and encryption * [`deposit()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/methods/deposit) - Requires private key * Contract `.swrite` and `.sread` methods - Require private key ## Public vs Wallet Client | Feature | Public Client | Wallet Client | | --------------------- | ------------------- | -------------- | | **Private key** | Not required | Required | | **Shielded writes** | No | Yes | | **Signed reads** | No | Yes | | **Transparent reads** | Yes | Yes | | **Deposits** | No | Yes | | **TEE queries** | Yes | Yes | | **Standard Web3** | All read operations | All operations | ## Notes * **HTTP only** — Sync clients use `Web3` with `HTTPProvider`, which does not support WebSocket connections. This is a limitation of the underlying `web3.py` library (`WebSocketProvider` is async-only). If you need WebSocket support (persistent connections, subscriptions), use [`create_async_public_client()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/client/create-async-public-client) with `ws=True` * No private key required or accepted * No encryption setup performed * No RPC calls during client creation (lightweight) * Cannot perform any write operations or shielded reads * Contract wrappers only expose `.tread` (transparent read) * For write operations, use [`create_wallet_client()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/client/create-wallet-client) * For async operations, use [`create_async_public_client()`](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/client/create-async-public-client) ## Use Cases * Block explorers and chain analytics * Read-only dApps that display public data * Monitoring and alerting systems * Price oracles and data aggregators * Public dashboards and visualizations * Testing and validation tools ## See Also * [create\_async\_public\_client](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/client/create-async-public-client) - Async variant with WebSocket support * [create\_wallet\_client](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/client/create-wallet-client) - Full-featured client with private key * [SeismicPublicNamespace](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/namespaces/seismic-public-namespace) - The public `w3.seismic` namespace * [Chains Configuration](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/chains) - Pre-configured chain constants * [Contract Instances](https://docs.seismic.systems/clients/python/contract) - Working with contract wrappers