GenTech Labs — BlockRun Integration Patterns
Real-world patterns from running BlockRun MCP in production across 32 cron jobs and daily agent operations.
Getting Started
Initial Wallet Setup
# Set up BlockRun wallet (one-time)
blockrun_wallet(action="setup")
# → Follow the QR to fund the wallet with USDC
Budget Controls
# Set a global budget cap so spending never surprises you
blockrun_wallet(action="budget", budget_action="set", budget_amount=10.0)
# Spawn child agents with delegate budgets
blockrun_wallet(action="delegate", agent_id="researcher", agent_limit=2.0)
blockrun_wallet(action="delegate", agent_id="data-poller", agent_limit=0.50)
Check Balance
blockrun_wallet(action="status")
# → Two wallets: Base + Solana. Active chain shown. Check before expensive runs.
Daily Usage Patterns
Pattern 1: Regular Price Checks (FREE)
Crypto, FX and commodity quotes cost nothing — blockrun_price is free for those
categories (stocks/usstock quotes are not served since 2026-09-05 — the gateway 501s before payment; only the ticker catalog works). Use them liberally.
(blockrun_surf, which used to charge $0.0085 for the same quote, was removed in 0.49.0 — the gateway 410s every Surf path since 2026-09-06.)
# Single price
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="BTC-USD")
# Batch of prices
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="ETH-USD")
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="SOL-USD")
# Free — discover available symbols
blockrun_price(action="list", category="crypto", query="sol")
Cost: $0 — crypto/FX/commodity price and list calls are both free. category:"stocks" price/history currently return 501 (equity quotes withdrawn 2026-09-05, nothing charged); its list catalog is free.
Pattern 2: Token Research Pipeline (~$0.018)
Start with the free tools, then pay only for what they cannot answer.
# 1. Free — DEX liquidity + volume (free endpoint)
blockrun_dex({ query: "SOL" })
# 2. FREE — CEX price (crypto category is free)
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="SOL-USD")
# 3. $0.0060 each — Protocol TVL
blockrun_defi({ path: "protocols" })
blockrun_defi({ path: "protocol/jupiter" })
# 4. $0.0060 — Chain TVL
blockrun_defi({ path: "chains" })
Total: ~$0.018 per full token analysis (2 free calls + 3 x $0.0060 DefiLlama). Replace CoinGecko/CMC tabs entirely.
Pattern 3: Research + Synthesis (~$0.011 + chat)
Use Exa (neural search) + BlockRun Chat (second opinion) for thorough research.
# 1. $0.0110 — Neural web search with Exa
blockrun_exa({ path: "search", body: {
query: "latest AI agent infrastructure developments 2026",
numResults: 10,
category: "research paper"
}})
# 2. per-token — Get second opinion from GLM-5 (excellent for technical details)
blockrun_chat({ mode: "glm", message: "Summarize the key trends..." })
Cost-conscious tip: Use mode: "free" on blockrun_chat for zero-cost generation (NVIDIA models).
Pattern 4: Agent-to-Agent Billing
Use blockrun_wallet + agent_id for multi-agent cost tracking.
# Allocate budget per agent group
blockrun_wallet(action="delegate", agent_id="research", agent_limit=2.0)
blockrun_wallet(action="delegate", agent_id="content", agent_limit=1.0)
# Pass agent_id on every call
blockrun_defi({ path: "protocols", agent_id: "research" })
blockrun_search({ body: { query: "latest news", sources: ["web"] }, agent_id: "research" })
# Audit at end of day
blockrun_wallet(action="report")
Multi-Tool Pipelines
DeFi Intelligence Pipeline
# 1. TVL & protocol health ($0.0060)
blockrun_defi({ path: "protocol/aave-v3" })
# 2. Yield pools ($0.0060)
blockrun_defi({ path: "yields" })
# 3. Token price (FREE — crypto category)
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="AAVE-USD")
# 4. DEX activity (free)
blockrun_dex({ token: "0x7Fc66500c84A76Ad7e9c93437bFc5Ac33E2DDaE9" })
Portfolio Health Check
# 1. Current holdings (free — local data or blockrun_rpc)
blockrun_rpc({ network: "base", method: "eth_getBalance", params: ["0xabc...", "latest"] })
# 2. Token prices (FREE — crypto category)
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="ETH-USD")
blockrun_price(action="price", category="crypto", symbol="USDC-USD")
# 3. Prediction market positions ($0.0085)
blockrun_markets({ path: "polymarket/positions" })
Content Generation Pipeline
# 1. Research ($0.0110)
blockrun_exa({ path: "search", body: { query: "agentic commerce trends", numResults: 5 }})
# 2. Image generation for post ($0.01675 cheapest to $0.106 quality)
blockrun_image({ prompt: "AI agent futuristic dashboard with neon grids" })
# 3. Voiceover for video ($0.0535/1k chars)
blockrun_speech({ input: "Your narration text here...", voice: "sarah" })
# 4. Music track ($0.1585)
blockrun_music({ prompt: "upbeat synthwave background" })
# 5. Short video clip ($0.421)
blockrun_video({ prompt: "animated data visualization", duration_seconds: 8 })
Cost Optimization Strategies
Tier Mapping
| Call Type | Price | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
blockrun_price (list) |
FREE | daily discovery |
blockrun_dex |
FREE | unlimited |
blockrun_rpc |
$0.0030 | on-chain reads (batch: $0.002/element + $0.001) |
blockrun_wallet (status/report) |
FREE | before every session |
blockrun_price (quote) |
FREE | crypto/FX/commodity; stocks quotes not served (501 since 2026-09-05) |
blockrun_defi |
$0.0060 | protocol/chain analysis ($0.0020 for prices/*) |
blockrun_chat (free mode) |
$0 | NVIDIA-backed chat |
blockrun_chat (glm mode) |
per-token | Zhipu GLM-5 coding — billed on tokens used, not a flat rate |
blockrun_exa (search) |
$0.0110 | deep research (contents: $0.002/URL + $0.001) |
blockrun_speech |
$0.0535/1k chars | TTS |
blockrun_image |
$0.01675–0.106 | image generation |
blockrun_music |
$0.1585 | music tracks |
blockrun_video |
$0.421+ | short video clips (per-second × duration) |
blockrun_markets |
$0.0085 | prediction market data, wallet analytics (flat) |
blockrun_modal |
$0.0020–$192 | remote sandbox execution — timeout drives the price, see the modal skill |
blockrun_phone |
$0.0110–$5.001 | lookups; number buy/renew is $5.001 |
Daily Budget Formula (GenTech's Setup)
# ~$0.30/day typical
Daily budget:
Free tools: unlimited (price quotes, dex, list, wallet status)
Crypto data: ~$0.10 (markets, flat $0.0085; defi $0.0060; surf is retired and free)
AI calls: ~$0.10 (chat free mode, occasional glm)
Media: ~$0.10 (occasional image/speech)
Total: ~$0.30/day
Set a $5/week budget cap and never hit it with typical usage.
Error Handling Patterns
402 Payment Required
# When the wallet is FUNDED, x402 handles this automatically: the SDK
# signs the payment challenge and retries — no action needed.
#
# When the wallet is EMPTY, the 402 / insufficient-balance surfaces to you.
# Check status and fund FIRST — don't blindly retry the failing tool:
blockrun_wallet(action="status") # then action="setup" / "deposit"
Insufficient Balance
# Before a batch of expensive calls:
balance = blockrun_wallet(action="status")
if float(balance["usdcBalance"]) < 0.50:
blockrun_wallet(action="deposit") # → opens Coinbase Onramp link
Rate Limiting / Timeouts
# For async operations (video, music):
# They auto-poll until complete. If timeout, no charge.
# Retry with same parameters.
Caching Strategy
BlockRun calls are cheap but not free. Cache results that don't change minute-to-minute:
- Token prices: No need to cache aggressively — crypto/FX/commodity quotes via
blockrun_priceare FREE. - Protocol TVL: Cache for 1 hour (updates hourly)
- Wallet labels: Cache for 24 hours (rarely change)
- On-chain SQL results: Cache for 1 hour (most queries return the same answer)
GenTech's approach: Don't bother caching prices (crypto/FX/commodity quotes are FREE). Cache TVL and wallet labels aggressively.
Switching Chains
# Default is Base. Switch to Solana for Solana-native tools:
blockrun_wallet(action="chain", chain="solana")
# Switch back:
blockrun_wallet(action="chain", chain="base")
# Check which is active:
blockrun_wallet(action="chain")
Note: Base is required for music, speech, and realface. Image and video pay on either chain. Solana works for price, wallet, dex, rpc, markets, etc.
Reference
- BlockRun MCP: https://github.com/BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp
- BlockRun Docs: https://blockrun.ai/docs
- Models & Pricing: https://blockrun.ai/models
- Community: https://t.me/blockrunAI
Contributed by GenTech Labs, from real production usage of BlockRun MCP.