Queried by: validatorsdevelopersanalytics
The Big Picture
In Aura consensus, time is divided into slots. Each slot has a designated authority who should produce a block. CurrentSlot tells you which slot the chain is currently in. Combined with Authorities and SlotDuration, you can determine who should be producing blocks now.
Why This Matters
Which authority should produce the next block? (CurrentSlot % len(Authorities)) gives you the index. This is how Aura coordinates block production without explicit communication.
Example Scenario
Query CurrentSlot() returns 7891234. If there are 4 authorities, authority at index (7891234 % 4) = 2 should produce this slot's block.
Common Questions
- How fast do slots advance?
- One slot per SlotDuration milliseconds. At 12000ms (12 seconds), that's one slot per 12 seconds.
- What if the expected authority doesn't produce?
- The slot passes empty and the next slot begins. The chain continues with the next authority.
- Is slot number the same as block number?
- Not necessarily. If blocks are missed (empty slots), slot number advances faster than block number. Slot is time-based; block number counts actual blocks.
Use Cases
- Determine which authority should produce the current block
- Monitor block production timing
- Debug consensus synchronization issues
- Build block production monitoring tools
- Research consensus behavior
From Chain Metadata
The current slot of this block. This will be set in `on_initialize`.
Purpose & Usage
Purpose
Track which slot we're in for Aura consensus - determines which authority should produce the current block.
Common Query Patterns
- Query current slot
- Calculate expected block producer
- Monitor slot progression
Stored Value
Current slot number for Aura consensus
Code Examples
import { createClient, Binary } from "polkadot-api";
import { getWsProvider } from "polkadot-api/ws";
import { sub } from "@polkadot-api/descriptors"; // generated by: npx papi add sub -w wss://entrypoint-finney.opentensor.ai:443
const client = createClient(getWsProvider("wss://entrypoint-finney.opentensor.ai:443"));
const api = client.getTypedApi(sub);
// Query CurrentSlot storage (no keys - plain value)
const result = await api.query.Aura.CurrentSlot.getValue();
console.log("CurrentSlot:", result);Version History
v101 block 1 Added
v120 block 315,568 Internal re-bind
v123 block 720,235 Internal re-bind
v128–v132 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v133 block 1,404,224 Internal re-bind
v136 block 1,756,781 Internal re-bind
v138 block 1,907,363 Internal re-bind
v140 block 1,929,216 Internal re-bind
v149 block 3,014,339 Internal re-bind
v151 block 3,157,274 Internal re-bind
v154 block 3,308,611 Internal re-bind
v166–v194 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v195 block 3,791,350 Internal re-bind
v207–v209 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v210 block 4,345,556 Internal re-bind
v213–v215 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v216 block 4,510,996 Internal re-bind
v235–v237 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v238 block 4,936,550 Internal re-bind
v266–v272 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v273 block 5,659,032 Internal re-bind
v278–v289 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v290 block 5,947,548 Internal re-bind
v307–v314 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v315 block 6,414,634 Internal re-bind
v316–v319 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v320 block 6,523,566 Internal re-bind
v327–v333 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v334 block 6,811,690 Internal re-bind
v353–v360 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v361 block 7,063,679 Internal re-bind
v386–v390 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v391 block 7,782,857 Internal re-bind
v394–v400 · runtime versions skipped on chain (never deployed)
v401 block 8,036,576 Internal re-bind Current
Runtime Info
- Pallet
- Aura
- Storage Kind
- Plain
- First Version
- v101
- Current Version
- v411