> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.moralis.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Archive Requests

> Understand the difference between full nodes and archive nodes for historical data access

## What Are Archive Requests?

Archive requests are RPC calls that query historical blockchain state beyond what a standard full node retains. They allow you to access data from any point in the blockchain's history.

## Full Nodes vs Archive Nodes

| Feature          | Full Node              | Archive Node |
| ---------------- | ---------------------- | ------------ |
| Recent State     | Yes                    | Yes          |
| Historical State | Limited (\~128 blocks) | Complete     |
| Storage Required | \~1 TB                 | \~15+ TB     |
| Query Any Block  | No                     | Yes          |

## When You Need Archive Access

You need an archive node when:

* Querying balances at historical block numbers
* Reading contract storage from past blocks
* Analyzing historical state for analytics
* Debugging past transactions with state context

## Archive-Dependent Methods

These methods require archive access when querying historical blocks:

| Method             | Archive Required When           |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------- |
| `eth_getBalance`   | Block parameter is not `latest` |
| `eth_getCode`      | Block parameter is not `latest` |
| `eth_getStorageAt` | Block parameter is not `latest` |
| `eth_call`         | Block parameter is not `latest` |

### Example

```json theme={null}
// This requires archive access (historical block)
{
  "method": "eth_getBalance",
  "params": ["0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045", "0xF4240"]
}

// This works on full nodes (latest block)
{
  "method": "eth_getBalance",
  "params": ["0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045", "latest"]
}
```

## Archive Support on Moralis

Moralis RPC Nodes include archive access on all plans. You can query any historical block without additional configuration.

## Best Practices

* Use `latest` when you don't need historical data
* Cache historical queries when possible (they're immutable)
* Be aware archive queries may have slightly higher latency