# Node Endpoints

Ideally, one may run their own node when interacting with the [Polkadot network](https://polkadot.network/) via [Polkadot-JS Apps](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/) or other UIs and programmatic methods. Another option would be to connect to one of the several public endpoints provided by infrastructure and API service providers. For development convenience, [Parity Tech](https://www.parity.io/) maintains archive nodes for Polkadot, Kusama, and their test networks with public endpoints. These endpoints can be used with [Polkadot-JS API](https://polkadot.js.org/docs/api) to interact with their respective chains. The tables below list these endpoints.

#### Network Endpoints[​](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/maintain-endpoints#network-endpoints) <a href="#network-endpoints" id="network-endpoints"></a>

**Main Networks**[**​**](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/maintain-endpoints#main-networks)

| Network  | URL                           |
| -------- | ----------------------------- |
| Polkadot | wss\://rpc.polkadot.io        |
| Kusama   | wss\://kusama-rpc.polkadot.io |

**Test Networks**[**​**](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/maintain-endpoints#test-networks)

| Network | URL                            |
| ------- | ------------------------------ |
| Westend | wss\://westend-rpc.polkadot.io |
| Rococo  | wss\://rococo-rpc.polkadot.io  |

**Example usage with Polkadot-JS API**[**​**](https://wiki.polkadot.network/docs/maintain-endpoints#example-usage-with-polkadot-js-api)

To connect to the Parity node, use the endpoint in your JavaScript apps like so:

```
// Using the Polkadot Mainnet Endpointconst { ApiPromise, WsProvider } = require('@polkadot/api');async () => {  // Construct a provider with the endpoint URL  const provider = new WsProvider('wss://rpc.polkadot.io/');  // Create an API instance for Polkadot  const api = await ApiPromise.create({ provider });  // ...
```