Last Updated on September 26, 2023 by mike
Join Louis Patrick, back-end developer at Pinax, as he reveals the inner workings of The Graph protocol and the vital role of an indexer.
Learn about the game-changing technology of Firehose and Substreams, the driving force behind next-gen subgraphs, delivering unparalleled speed and accessibility to blockchain data.
What is The Graph?
The Graph is a decentralized protocol for indexing and querying blockchain data.
What is a subgraph?
A subgraph is a custom API that allows developers to extract data from a blockchain. Developers can build, deploy, and publish subgraphs to The Graph’s decentralized network. Then, indexers can begin indexing subgraphs to make them available to be accessed by users and applications. (The Graph Glossary)
What is an indexer?
An indexer is a network participant that operates nodes on The Graph network, indexing subgraphs that organize blockchain data and serving queries from applications.
What is the MIPs program?
MIPs stands for Migration Infrastructure Providers and is an incentive program for indexers on The Graph. Its goal is to add support for new chains on the decentralized network (instead of the hosted service). The MIPs program rewards indexers for supporting subgraphs, indexing and serving queries in a multi-chain environment.
How is Pinax involved?
We’re a web3 service provider, specializing in blockchain indexing operations and analytics tools. We operate infrastructure that makes it faster and easier to access blockchain data.
We’re also an indexer serving subgraphs on The Graph.
What are Firehose and Substreams?
Firehose is infrastructure that extracts blockchain data into flat files. We have a vast ocean of blockchain data across many blockchains, and it continues to grow. We need a solution that can interact with multiple blockchains and is scalable. Firehose removes the complexity of different blockchains that have different APIs, different clients, and different infrastructure, so developers and their applications have more flexibility and reliability. Plus, it’s affordable.
Substreams are built on top of Firehose, and allow developers to provide specific information about exactly what they want. Substreams transform the flat files from Firehose into whatever output you need. And you can store the data anywhere.
Why use Firehose and Substreams?
A Firehose endpoint is easier to maintain and more reliable than an archive node. You can use Substreams directly from The Graph, bypassing the graph node, which means you can synchronize subgraphs at lightning speed.
Watch the video above to learn more about how Firehose and Substreams are pushing The Graph tech further.
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