diff --git a/copy-to-test.sh b/copy-to-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b8eebcf823
--- /dev/null
+++ b/copy-to-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+function copy_folder () {
+  SRC="packages/$1/build"
+  DST="../test/js-test/node_modules/@polkadot/$1"
+
+  echo "** Copying $SRC to $DST"
+
+  rm -rf $DST
+  cp -r $SRC $DST
+}
+
+yarn polkadot-dev-build-ts
+
+copy_folder "api"
+copy_folder "api-contract"
+copy_folder "api-derive"
+copy_folder "metadata"
+copy_folder "rpc-core"
+copy_folder "rpc-provider"
+copy_folder "types"
+copy_folder "types-known"
+copy_folder "typegen"
diff --git a/packages/api/src/base/Init.ts b/packages/api/src/base/Init.ts
index 260c5a33c6..834d41bd9e 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/base/Init.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/base/Init.ts
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ import { SignedBlock, RuntimeVersion } from '@polkadot/types/interfaces';
 import { Registry } from '@polkadot/types/types';
 import { ApiBase, ApiOptions, ApiTypes, DecorateMethod } from '../types';
 
+import BN from 'bn.js';
 import { Observable, Subscription, of } from 'rxjs';
 import { map, switchMap } from 'rxjs/operators';
-import { Metadata, Text, u32, TypeRegistry } from '@polkadot/types';
+import { Metadata, Text, TypeRegistry } from '@polkadot/types';
 import { LATEST_EXTRINSIC_VERSION } from '@polkadot/types/extrinsic/Extrinsic';
-import { getMetadataTypes, getSpecAlias, getSpecTypes } from '@polkadot/types-known';
+import { getMetadataTypes, getSpecAlias, getSpecTypes, getUpgradeVersion } from '@polkadot/types-known';
 import { BN_ZERO, assert, logger, u8aEq, u8aToU8a } from '@polkadot/util';
 import { cryptoWaitReady } from '@polkadot/util-crypto';
 
@@ -20,10 +21,11 @@ interface VersionedRegistry {
   isDefault: boolean;
   lastBlockHash: Uint8Array | null;
   registry: Registry;
-  specVersion: u32;
+  specVersion: BN;
 }
 
 const KEEPALIVE_INTERVAL = 15000;
+const DEFAULT_BLOCKNUMBER = { unwrap: () => BN_ZERO };
 
 const l = logger('api/init');
 
@@ -89,15 +91,24 @@ export default abstract class Init<ApiType extends ApiTypes> extends Decorate<Ap
       return existingViaHash.registry;
     }
 
+    // ensure we have everything required
+    assert(this._genesisHash && this._runtimeVersion, 'Cannot retrieve data on an uninitialized chain');
+
     // We have to assume that on the RPC layer the calls used here does not call back into
     // the registry swap, so getHeader & getRuntimeVersion should not be historic
-    const header = this._genesisHash?.eq(blockHash)
-      ? { parentHash: this._genesisHash }
+    const header = this._genesisHash.eq(blockHash)
+      ? { number: DEFAULT_BLOCKNUMBER, parentHash: this._genesisHash }
       : await this._rpcCore.chain.getHeader(blockHash).toPromise();
 
     assert(header?.parentHash && !header.parentHash.isEmpty, 'Unable to retrieve header and parent from supplied hash');
 
-    const version = await this._rpcCore.state.getRuntimeVersion(header.parentHash).toPromise();
+    // get the runtime version, either on-chain or via an known upgrade history
+    const [firstVersion, lastVersion] = getUpgradeVersion(this._genesisHash, header.number.unwrap());
+    const version = (firstVersion && (lastVersion || firstVersion.specVersion.eq(this._runtimeVersion.specVersion)))
+      ? { specName: this._runtimeVersion.specName, specVersion: firstVersion.specVersion }
+      : await this._rpcCore.state.getRuntimeVersion(header.parentHash).toPromise();
+
+    // check for pre-existing registries
     const existingViaVersion = this.#registries.find((r) => r.specVersion.eq(version.specVersion));
 
     if (existingViaVersion) {
@@ -106,6 +117,7 @@ export default abstract class Init<ApiType extends ApiTypes> extends Decorate<Ap
       return existingViaVersion.registry;
     }
 
+    // nothing has been found, construct new
     const registry = new TypeRegistry();
 
     registry.setChainProperties(this.registry.getChainProperties());
diff --git a/packages/types-known/src/index.ts b/packages/types-known/src/index.ts
index 2e9e4a4e55..becc456976 100644
--- a/packages/types-known/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/types-known/src/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 // of the Apache-2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.
 
 import type BN from 'bn.js';
-import { DefinitionRpc, DefinitionRpcSub, Registry, RegistryTypes, OverrideModuleType, OverrideVersionedType } from '@polkadot/types/types';
+import { Hash } from '@polkadot/types/interfaces';
+import { ChainUpgradeVersion, DefinitionRpc, DefinitionRpcSub, Registry, RegistryTypes, OverrideModuleType, OverrideVersionedType } from '@polkadot/types/types';
 
 import { Text } from '@polkadot/types';
 import { bnToBn, isUndefined } from '@polkadot/util';
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ import typesChain from './chain';
 import typesMeta from './metadata';
 import typesModules from './modules';
 import typesSpec from './spec';
+import upgrades from './upgrades';
 import warnings from './warnings';
 
 // flatten a VersionedType[] into a Record<string, string>
@@ -91,3 +93,21 @@ export function getSpecAlias ({ knownTypes }: Registry, chainName: Text | string
     ...(knownTypes.typesBundle?.chain?.[_chainName]?.alias || {})
   };
 }
+
+/**
+ * @description Returns a version record for known chains where upgrades are being tracked
+ */
+export function getUpgradeVersion (genesisHash: Hash, blockNumber: BN): [ChainUpgradeVersion | undefined, ChainUpgradeVersion | undefined] {
+  const known = upgrades.find((u) => genesisHash.eq(u.genesisHash));
+
+  return known
+    ? [
+      known.versions.reduce((last: ChainUpgradeVersion | undefined, version): ChainUpgradeVersion | undefined => {
+        return blockNumber.gt(version.blockNumber)
+          ? version
+          : last;
+      }, undefined),
+      known.versions.find((version) => blockNumber.lte(version.blockNumber))
+    ]
+    : [undefined, undefined];
+}
diff --git a/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/index.ts b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b70e55f81e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Copyright 2017-2020 @polkadot/types-known authors & contributors
+// This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+// of the Apache-2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.
+
+import { ChainUpgrades } from '@polkadot/types/types';
+
+import kusama from './kusama';
+import polkadot from './polkadot';
+
+// Type overrides for specific spec types & versions as given in runtimeVersion
+const upgrades: ChainUpgrades[] = [
+  kusama,
+  polkadot
+];
+
+export default upgrades;
diff --git a/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/kusama.ts b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/kusama.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea762453d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/kusama.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Copyright 2017-2020 @polkadot/types-known authors & contributors
+// This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+// of the Apache-2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.
+
+import { ChainUpgrades } from '@polkadot/types/types';
+
+import BN from 'bn.js';
+import { hexToU8a } from '@polkadot/util';
+
+const upgrades: ChainUpgrades = {
+  genesisHash: hexToU8a('0xb0a8d493285c2df73290dfb7e61f870f17b41801197a149ca93654499ea3dafe'),
+  versions: [
+    [0, 1020], [26669, 1021], [38245, 1022], [54248, 1023], [59659, 1024],
+    [67651, 1025], [82191, 1027], [83238, 1028], [101503, 1029], [203466, 1030],
+    [295787, 1031], [461692, 1032], [504329, 1033], [569327, 1038], [587687, 1039],
+    [653183, 1040], [693488, 1042], [901442, 1045], [1375086, 1050], [1445458, 1051],
+    [1472960, 1052], [1475648, 1053], [1491596, 1054], [1574408, 1055], [2064961, 1058],
+    [2201991, 1062], [2671528, 2005], [2704202, 2007], [2728002, 2008], [2832534, 2011],
+    [2962294, 2012], [3240000, 2013], [3274408, 2015], [3323565, 2019], [3534175, 2022]
+  ].map(([blockNumber, specVersion]) => ({
+    blockNumber: new BN(blockNumber),
+    specVersion: new BN(specVersion)
+  }))
+};
+
+export default upgrades;
diff --git a/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/polkadot.ts b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/polkadot.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..89b2c1da6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/types-known/src/upgrades/polkadot.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2017-2020 @polkadot/types-known authors & contributors
+// This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+// of the Apache-2.0 license. See the LICENSE file for details.
+
+import { ChainUpgrades } from '@polkadot/types/types';
+
+import BN from 'bn.js';
+import { hexToU8a } from '@polkadot/util';
+
+const upgrades: ChainUpgrades = {
+  genesisHash: hexToU8a('0x91b171bb158e2d3848fa23a9f1c25182fb8e20313b2c1eb49219da7a70ce90c3'),
+  versions: [
+    [0, 0], [29231, 1], [188836, 5], [199405, 6], [214264, 7],
+    [244358, 8], [303079, 9], [314201, 10], [342400, 11], [443963, 12],
+    [528470, 13], [687751, 14], [746085, 15], [787923, 16], [799302, 17],
+    [1205128, 18]
+  ].map(([blockNumber, specVersion]) => ({
+    blockNumber: new BN(blockNumber),
+    specVersion: new BN(specVersion)
+  }))
+};
+
+export default upgrades;
diff --git a/packages/types/src/types/registry.ts b/packages/types/src/types/registry.ts
index 71cdb89d85..703b062fe5 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/types/registry.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/types/registry.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,16 @@ export interface OverrideVersionedType {
   types: RegistryTypes;
 }
 
+export interface ChainUpgradeVersion {
+  blockNumber: BN;
+  specVersion: BN;
+}
+
+export interface ChainUpgrades {
+  genesisHash: Uint8Array;
+  versions: ChainUpgradeVersion[];
+}
+
 export type OverrideModuleType = Record<string, string>;
 
 export interface OverrideBundleDefinition {