Web3: How do I get just the first account on testrpc using web3.eth.getAccounts()?

Question

When I run this code in web3

web3.eth.getAccounts().then(e => console.log(e));

The console returns this:

 [ '0x772f437b0f15e1F205C8BD923b5C8357e9c0c429',
    '0x5738d9100A6CB64FB78730746ab61472c7808fD9',
    '0x7086D052EAaD359c7aCD9B993c6169aE0dEC0725',
    '0x9fA18751b024FDC55cC85A484fF4261351Dd4666',
    '0x95a29de4A8cc4697E627922d270Aa74C2bd7494a',
    '0x332c22e9c7F02e092b18C6cc4D9Bfd46d36Dd7D9',
    '0xaED2F48c0d06a13D1FE2853E7Ee3B7d0aA328d3B',
    '0x88A0941f0dcb501C20b7BaE5a41608EB981f1209',
    '0xad5d1cB78e80518b596A814340826F36B89660Fc',
    '0x67E23e936C9d22eDCf9ebC9A989911b313c24BC1' ]

But what if I only want the first account in the array and assign it to a variable?

In this case, it's 0x772f437b0f15e1F205C8BD923b5C8357e9c0c429

EDIT:

I have got the correct output after following the instruction of István András Seres, below is my code:

var firstAccount;

web3.eth.getAccounts().then(e => { 
 firstAccount = e[0];
 console.log("A: " + firstAccount);
}) 

console.log("B: " + firstAccount);

Strangely, the output is:

A: [correct testrpc account]

B: undefined

It seems that a variable is not allowed to carry the same value once it exits getAccounts() function.

Answer 1

Since web3.eth.getAccounts() returns a list of addresses you can access the first accounts's address easily just by e[0] in your example.

So just try this: web3.eth.getAccounts().then(e => let firstAcc=e[0]; console.log(firstAcc));

Have a look at the official documentation of the getAccounts() web3js function here.

Answer 2

you can do:

var address = web3.eth.accounts[0];

to get the first address in in curret account

Answer 3

It is very important to take note of the version of web3 you are using because there are changes to be reckoned with!

CASE 1: web3.js 0.2x.x (Stable)

For web3 0.2x.x https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/JavaScript-API#web3ethaccounts

var address = web3.eth.accounts[0]; 

and the async (asynchronous) version can be used,

web3.eth.getAccounts(callback(error, result){ ... });

They are both read-only and return a list (i.e. Array) of accounts the node controls.

Here is the Problem:

web3.eth.getAccounts().then(e => console.log(e));

will fail because getAccounts implements a callback not a promise.

CASE 2: web3.js 1.0 ( A work in Progress)

getAccounts returns Promise which returns Array - An array of addresses controlled by node. https://web3js.readthedocs.io/en/1.0/web3-eth.html#getaccounts Supports both Promise and Callback

web3.eth.getAccounts(callback(error, result){ ... }); // callback
web3.eth.getAccounts().then(e => console.log(e)); // Promise

Answer 4

In Truffle Console

web3.eth.getAccounts().then( function(s){FirstA=s[0]})

then You can use FirstA variable

FirstA

Answer 5

You can use

web3.eth.accounts[0]

style in geth command window to get the account.

You should use

web3.eth.getAccounts()

style in Node JS to get the account.

Answer 6

For those who are still looking for an easy answer:

let accounts = await web3.eth.getAccounts()

will assign whole array to accounts. Then you can access as accounts[0] to the first one

Answer 7

web3.eth.getAccounts().then(function(acc){accounts=acc;});
accounts[0];

Note: I'm using truffle console.