> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sqd.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SQD Network FAQ

> Frequently asked questions about the SQD Network — participation, tokenomics, worker and gateway operation, decentralization, and how to get started.

## Network Overview

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is SQD Network?">
    SQD Network is a decentralized data lake focused on making blockchain data accessible, regardless of scale. It's a huge and growing compute cluster consisting of 2500+ decentralized workers.

    Each worker has 1 TB of storage and is equipped with a powerful query engine, allowing them to serve queries to the Network. [Worker nodes](../network/worker) store the data and run queries on their local data chunks, while data access nodes (called *Portals*) request partial query results from multiple workers, concatenate the outputs, and expose a stream-based API.

    Decentralization means that the workers are not controlled by a single party but are supported by independent operators across the globe.

    <Frame>
      <img height="500" alt="SQD Network architecture diagram showing decentralized workers" src="https://gist.github.com/user-attachments/assets/9fe779bf-9930-41ec-97d2-b84b660b00b7" />
    </Frame>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's Portal?">
    Portal, formerly known as Gateway, is a service opening a window to the Network for the user.

    It communicates with decentralized workers via *libp2p*, providing a simple and efficient HTTP API for streaming data.

    You can think about it as a **bridge** connecting centralized and decentralized worlds.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's hotblocks?">
    While static archival data is served from the Network allowing very high *throughput*, the "last-mile" real-time data requires low *latency*.

    That's why this data is stored together with the portal and receives live updates from RPC nodes.

    The portal then combines both data sources to provide a single stream of data that has both high throughput and low latency.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I run my own Portal?">
    Yes! But to access SQD Network, you have to lock SQD tokens. The more SQD is locked, the higher rate limit you get.

    For most people it's easier to use one of the existing Portals with flexible payment options provided by its operators.

    For example, we're providing a public Portal for free to test your code before going to production.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What data is available?">
    Currently, SQD Network supports **raw blockchain data** for 200+ networks.

    It means that you can request which fields you need, set filters, and get results from the entire blockchain history downloaded within **minutes or hours** (depending on the amount of extracted data) as opposed to days or months, as it would be with direct RPC requests.

    The aggregation (calculating token balances, prices, etc) is then done on the client. We also provide a convenient SDK for that.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What exactly are we releasing at the end of 2025?">
    We've already been running a centralized version of the Network called "v2 archives".

    Switch to the Network gives multiple benefits:

    * hundreds of times bigger compute cluster. Petabytes of storage, thousands of CPUs
    * 10x faster Rust query engine
    * much faster data streaming enabled by fetch-ahead parallelism
    * "hotblocks" included. No need to bring your own RPCs anymore
    * permissionless access
    * much bigger datasets, like the full history of Solana and Eclipse
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is a decentralized data lake?">
    A decentralized data lake is a distributed system that stores and organizes large amounts of raw data in its native format until it's needed. SQD Network is an example of a decentralized data lake, providing scalable and efficient access to blockchain data.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What are some use cases for SQD's decentralized data lake?">
    SQD's decentralized data lake powers various blockchain applications:

    * Indexing blockchain data for quick access
    * Blockchain explorers
    * Analytics platforms
    * Multi-chain aggregators
    * Real-time and historical data APIs
    * dApp backends and more
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is SQD production-ready? Can I trust it for my dApp?">
    Yes! SQD is production-ready and reliable for your dApp. It has been effectively used in over 500 use cases across ecosystems, proving its trustworthiness and utility within the Web3 developer community.

    <Check>
      SQD Network has powered production applications for hundreds of projects.
    </Check>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Participation

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How can I participate in SQD Network?">
    You can participate in SQD Network in several ways:

    1. **Run a worker node** - [Set up a worker](../network/worker) to contribute storage and compute resources to the network and earn `SQD` tokens as rewards
    2. **Delegate tokens** - [Delegate your `SQD` tokens](../network/delegate) to high-performing workers and earn a share of their rewards

    <Tip>
      Non-technical users can still earn rewards by delegating tokens to reliable
      workers.
    </Tip>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What are the hardware requirements to run a worker node?">
    To run a single worker, you will need:

    **Hardware:**

    * 4 vCPU
    * 16GB RAM
    * 1TB SSD
    * Stable 24/7 Internet connection (at least 1Gbit)

    **Network:**

    * Public IP address
    * Two ports open for incoming traffic:
      * One UDP port for P2P communication (default: 12345)
      * One TCP port for Prometheus metrics (default: 9090)

    **Financial:**

    * 100,000 `SQD` tokens (in your wallet or vesting contract)
    * Some Arbitrum ETH for gas fees

    <Info>
      A single account can register multiple workers. See the [worker setup
      guide](../network/worker) for detailed instructions.
    </Info>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I can't code. How can I participate in SQD Network?">
    Non-technical participants can contribute in multiple ways:

    **Delegation** - [Delegate SQD tokens](../network/delegate) to reliable workers and earn a percentage of their rewards.

    **Community Growth** - Help grow the SQD Network by:

    * Cultivating a vibrant community
    * Amplifying the network's reach through social media
    * Sharing information across various platforms
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does participating in SQD Network require committing my tokens?">
    Yes. When you delegate SQD or register a worker, your tokens will be locked for a period of 100,000 Ethereum blocks (approximately 14 days), starting at the end of the current [epoch](#what-is-an-epoch-in-the-context-of-sqd-network).

    <Warning>Your tokens cannot be withdrawn during the lockup period.</Warning>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I delegate to multiple workers at once?">
    Yes, you can split your SQD tokens and delegate to multiple workers. This can help diversify your risk across different operators.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Development

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I deploy a simple squid indexer?">
    You can start your first squid indexer in under 5 minutes using our templates! Learn more in the [development guide](/en/sdk/squid-sdk/quickstart).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need to know how to code to use SQD?">
    It depends on what you want to do. To delegate tokens and earn rewards, no coding is required. To build indexers or query blockchain data, you'll need programming knowledge. SQD offers three options: Portal API (works with any language), Pipes SDK (TypeScript), and Squid SDK (TypeScript with built-in database and GraphQL).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's the difference between Portal API, Pipes SDK, and Squid SDK?">
    Portal API provides raw blockchain data via HTTP in any language. Pipes SDK is a lightweight TypeScript library for custom data pipelines. Squid SDK is a complete TypeScript framework with built-in PostgreSQL and auto-generated GraphQL API. Choose based on your needs: Portal for simple queries, Pipes for custom pipelines, Squid for full dApp backends.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Data & Chains

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What kind of datasets are available from SQD Network?">
    SQD Network provides historical blockchain data optimized for batch access, enabling efficient indexing and querying across multiple blocks.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What chains are currently supported by SQD Network?">
    SQD Network currently supports:

    * EVM / Ethereum-compatible chains
    * Substrate-based chains
    * Solana
    * Fuel
    * Starknet

    View the [complete list of supported networks](/en/data/evm).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Technical Details

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is an epoch in the context of SQD Network?">
    An "epoch" is a unit of time that SQD Network uses for internal settlement. It is [defined on-chain](https://arbiscan.io/address/0x4cf58097d790b193d22ed633bf8b15c9bc4f0da7#readContract#F3) and is currently set to 100 L1 (Ethereum) blocks, or approximately 20 minutes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is Tethys?">
    Tethys is the long-running testnet of SQD Network. Its contracts run on Arbitrum Sepolia. For more details, see the [Tethys testnet announcement](https://github.com/subsquid/subsquid-network-contracts/wiki/Tethys-testnet-announcement).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why did SQD choose Arbitrum for its contracts?">
    We chose Arbitrum for its:

    * Large, active community
    * High-quality tooling for smart contract deployment
    * Cost-effective transactions
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where is the data that SQD Network indexes stored?">
    The data indexed by SQD Network is stored in persistent storage. During the bootstrap phase, Subsquid Labs uses an S3-compatible service with backups pinned to IPFS for data redundancy and availability.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does SQD ensure the security and privacy of the data accessed through the network?">
    SQD Network employs validators who:

    * Listen to logs of executed queries
    * Resubmit queries to validate responses
    * Trigger an arbitration process to handle any discrepancies

    This validation mechanism ensures data integrity across the network.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the difference between SQD Network and the Graph Network?">
    Learn about the key differences and review a comprehensive feature comparison in our [SQD vs The Graph](/en/sdk/squid-sdk/subsquid-vs-thegraph) guide.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## General

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is SQD's roadmap?">
    View the up-to-date roadmap at [sqd.dev/roadmap](https://www.sqd.dev/roadmap).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does SQD Network have an app?">
    Yes! Access the SQD Network app at [network.subsquid.io](https://network.subsquid.io).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How does SQD Network make blockchain data accessible for free?">
    SQD Network offers data access through two models:

    **Open Private Network** - Free for consumers, funded by fixed subscription fees from blockchain networks providing data.

    **Permissionless Public Network** - Requires locking `SQD` tokens to reserve bandwidth (requests per second). However, SQD provides a free rate-limited portal accessible to everyone, you only need tokens if running your own portal.

    **Indexer Hosting** - [SQD Cloud](../cloud/overview) includes free unlimited access to a dedicated SQD Portal. You only pay for computational resources (CPUs, SSD space, etc.). View our [competitive pricing](../cloud/pricing).

    <Info>
      You can also self-host your indexers on any infrastructure. See our
      [self-hosting guide](/en/sdk/squid-sdk/resources/self-hosting) for details.
    </Info>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>