ic-query 0.86.0

Internet Computer query library for CloudEngine, NNS, SNS, ICRC, system canisters, and public network metadata
Documentation

CI docs.rs License MSRV

IC Query makes it easy to find answers about any part of the Internet Computer blockchain.

You give it a question—such as which computers run part of the network, what a token ledger reports, or how a project is governed—and its icq command gathers the answer from the relevant public source.

Each report says where its information came from, when it was retrieved, and what checks were possible. You can read the result in a terminal or save the complete data as JSON for further analysis.

IC Query never changes anything on the network. It cannot submit proposals, move tokens, manage neurons, deploy software, or modify applications.

Rust consumers use ic-query for typed reports, JSON, collection and cache policy, and ic-query-text for human-facing report strings. The presentation package and ic-query-cli release together; library releases advance independently. See the release groups and changelogs.

A few IC terms

  • A node is a computer that participates in the Internet Computer network.
  • A Subnet is a group of nodes that work together to run applications.
  • A canister is an application or service, together with its stored data, running on a Subnet.
  • The Registry is the network's official configuration record.
  • The NNS is the Network Nervous System, which governs and configures the overall network.
  • An SNS is a governance system for an individual decentralized project.
  • A neuron represents staked tokens used to participate in NNS or SNS governance.
  • A ledger records a token's balances and transactions. ICRC names standards used by many IC token ledgers.
  • Cycles are the units applications spend for computation and storage on the IC.

You do not need to memorize these terms before using the tool. Start with a question that interests you and follow the matching command family.

When is it useful?

ic-query can help you:

  • check what is publicly known about an application;
  • see which nodes and providers support part of the network;
  • follow governance proposals, voting activity, economics, and rewards;
  • inspect a token's supply, balances, or transaction history;
  • compare the network's official records with operational observations;
  • save a dated report for research, auditing, or monitoring; or
  • build another read-only tool from the same validated reports.

Different questions are answered by different sources. ic-query identifies the source, retrieval time, and important limitations instead of presenting every answer as equally authoritative or equally current.

How it works

  1. Start with something you want to learn about an application, project, token, or the network itself.
  2. Run the matching icq command. It contacts the specific public source that owns or observes that information.
  3. ic-query checks the response, applies safety limits, and records where and when the information was obtained.
  4. It presents a readable answer in the terminal. Add --json when you need the complete data for another tool.

Some larger reports keep a local copy so they do not have to download the same information every time. Commands always state when they use or refresh one of these cached copies.

What can you investigate?

You want to… What ic-query can show Try
Learn about an application Its name, Subnet, managing accounts, software details, and recorded upgrades icq ic canister info <canister-id>
See how the network is changing Node counts and other network measurements over time icq ic metrics ic-node-count
Understand who supports the network Nodes, providers, locations, capacity, software versions, and missing information icq nns topology summary
Follow network governance Recent proposals and their status, plus public neuron, economics, and reward reports icq nns proposal list --limit 25
Explore governed projects Deployed SNS projects, their applications, settings, proposals, neurons, and upgrades icq sns list
Inspect a token Its name, symbol, fees, supply, balances, transactions, and available history icq icrc ledger token <ledger-canister-id>
Check the ICP/XDR conversion rate The current certified rate used by the IC to price cycles icq system xdr
Explore public CloudEngine infrastructure Subnets, operators, providers, nodes, and published prices icq cloud-engine list

In the example commands, <canister-id> and <ledger-canister-id> are placeholders. Replace them with the identifier you want to inspect.

Install

You do not need to write a program to use icq, but you do need to be comfortable running commands in a terminal. The published installation currently uses Cargo, the package manager included with the Rust toolchain. Once Rust and Cargo are installed, run:

cargo install ic-query-cli

This installs the icq command. Confirm it is available with:

icq --version

Contributors working from a repository checkout can instead use:

make install

The local install replaces an existing icq binary. Canister-adapter contributors should also read the Governance canister smoke harness.

Your first session

After installation, try a report that does not require you to know an id:

icq ic metrics ic-node-count

The report contains both the answer and context about where it came from. A shortened response has this shape; counts and timestamps change over time:

network: ic
authority: official_ic_dashboard_api
metric: ic-node-count
returned_series_count: 2
certified: no
fetched_at: 2026-10-05T12:00:00Z

total_nodes:
  1791201600  1234

up_nodes:
  1791201600  1230

Here, authority identifies the source, fetched_at says when the report was collected, and certified states whether this particular source supplied cryptographic proof. The two sections contain the reported total and available node counts.

Next, list deployed SNS-governed projects:

icq sns list

Text output is designed for reading in a terminal. Add --json when you want to save, filter, or process the complete raw report:

icq sns list --json

Every report command explains where it gets its data and whether it uses live network access or a local cache:

icq sns list --help

The CLI Usage guide contains the complete command map. The living Roadmap to 1.0 records current coverage and remaining work.

If you only want to explore the IC from the terminal, the sections above and the CLI Usage guide are the best places to start. The linked references below cover advanced commands, evidence, caching, and use as a Rust library.

Technical reference

Guide Contents
Command and evidence reference Command gallery, evidence guarantees, command families, collection and cache behavior
Rust API reference Features, report builders, source adapters and reusable collection contracts
Library usage Complete Rust integration examples

Documentation

Scope

ic-query is read-only metadata and evidence tooling. It does not replace dfx, expose arbitrary Candid invocation, or perform canister, governance, ledger, or network mutations.

Deployment and orchestration projects can call the CLI or use the Rust library when they need these reporting contracts. One downstream integration is Canic.