diff --git a/contracts/eosiolib/transaction.h b/contracts/eosiolib/transaction.h
index 068b8e93571473bf081ece30885c7f3283e3ee5f..749706b46c108e8a17b1f41ef69e07343adf0500 100644
--- a/contracts/eosiolib/transaction.h
+++ b/contracts/eosiolib/transaction.h
@@ -61,5 +61,39 @@ extern "C" {
 
    void send_deferred(uint32_t sender_id, time delay_until, char *serialized_transaction, size_t size);
 
+   /**
+    * access a copy of the currently executing transaction
+    *
+    * @param buffer - a buffer to write the current transaction to
+    * @param size - the size of the buffer
+    * @return the size of the transaction written to the buffer
+    */
+   size_t read_transaction(char *buffer, size_t size);
+
+   /**
+    * get the size of the currently executing transaction
+    * @return
+    */
+   size_t transaction_size();
+
+   /**
+    * get the block number used for TAPOS on the currently executing transaction
+    *
+    * @return
+    */
+   int tapos_block_num();
+
+   /**
+    * get the block prefix used for TAPOS on the currently executing transaction
+    * @return
+    */
+   int tapos_block_prefix();
+
+   /**
+    * get the expiration of the currently executing transaction
+    * @return
+    */
+   time expiration();
+
    ///@ } transactioncapi
 }
diff --git a/libraries/chain/apply_context.cpp b/libraries/chain/apply_context.cpp
index a993d2884b59e8f100155ec4daf9b2684791bee8..d82a549d5b4e0d975e2c775e1aed3d3e809ca9c6 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/apply_context.cpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/apply_context.cpp
@@ -233,4 +233,21 @@ vector<account_name> apply_context::get_active_producers() const {
    return accounts;
 }
 
+
+const bytes& apply_context::get_packed_transaction() {
+   if( !trx_meta.packed_trx.size() ) {
+      if (_cached_trx.empty()) {
+         auto size = fc::raw::pack_size(trx_meta.trx);
+         _cached_trx.resize(size);
+         fc::datastream<char *> ds(_cached_trx.data(), size);
+         fc::raw::pack(ds, trx_meta.trx);
+      }
+
+      return _cached_trx;
+   }
+
+   return trx_meta.packed_trx;
+
+}
+
 } } /// eosio::chain
diff --git a/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/apply_context.hpp b/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/apply_context.hpp
index e17b233166456ca143f78f330b6063f4e82a9a4a..09ac70a6859153c73102a1ddd4af895be27324f4 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/apply_context.hpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/apply_context.hpp
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ class apply_context {
 
       vector<account_name> get_active_producers() const;
 
+      const bytes&         get_packed_transaction();
+
       const chain_controller&       controller;
       const chainbase::database&    db;  ///< database where state is stored
       const action&                 act; ///< message being applied
@@ -194,6 +196,7 @@ class apply_context {
 
       vector<shard_lock>                  _read_locks;
       vector<scope_name>                  _write_scopes;
+      bytes                               _cached_trx;
 };
 
 using apply_handler = std::function<void(apply_context&)>;
diff --git a/libraries/chain/wasm_interface.cpp b/libraries/chain/wasm_interface.cpp
index 91d25e7bc7268d0ab05dcb5edf841e3d349a2f00..0dcd6b37c0c0b05986e91bad6594c449aae84eee 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/wasm_interface.cpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/wasm_interface.cpp
@@ -690,18 +690,16 @@ class transaction_api : public context_aware_api {
    public:
       using context_aware_api::context_aware_api;
 
-      size_t current_transaction( array_ptr<char> data, size_t data_len ) {
-         if( !context.trx_meta.packed_trx.size() ) {
-            auto size = fc::raw::pack_size( context.trx_meta.trx );
-            if( size > data_len ) 
-                return size;
-            datastream<char*> ds( data, data_len );
-            fc::raw::pack( ds, context.trx_meta.trx );
-         } 
-         auto size = context.trx_meta.packed_trx.size();
-         if( data_len >= size );
-            memcpy( data, context.trx_meta.packed_trx.data(), size );
-         return size;
+      int read_transaction( array_ptr<char> data, size_t data_len ) {
+         bytes trx = context.get_packed_transaction();
+         if (data_len >= trx.size()) {
+            memcpy(data, trx.data(), trx.size());
+         }
+         return trx.size();
+      }
+
+      int transaction_size() {
+         return context.get_packed_transaction().size();
       }
 
       int expiration() {
@@ -711,7 +709,7 @@ class transaction_api : public context_aware_api {
       int tapos_block_num() {
         return context.trx_meta.trx.ref_block_num;
       }
-      int tapos_prefix() {
+      int tapos_block_prefix() {
         return context.trx_meta.trx.ref_block_prefix;
       }
 
@@ -785,10 +783,12 @@ REGISTER_INTRINSICS(console_api,
 );
 
 REGISTER_INTRINSICS(transaction_api,
-   (expiration,            int()  )
-   (tapos_prefix,          int()  )
-   (tapos_block_num,       int()  )
-   (send_inline,           void(int, int)  )
+   (read_transaction,       int(int, int)            )
+   (transaction_size,       int()                    )
+   (expiration,             int()                    )
+   (tapos_block_prefix,     int()                    )
+   (tapos_block_num,        int()                    )
+   (send_inline,           void(int, int)            )
    (send_deferred,         void(int, int, int, int)  )
 );