> ## 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.
# Quickstart
> Bootstrap a Pipes SDK project
# Using with AI
The fastest way to get an AI coding agent productive on a Pipes SDK project is to install the official [Pipes SDK Agent Skill](/en/ai/agent-skills#pipes-sdk-skill):
```bash theme={"system"}
npx skills add subsquid-labs/skills/pipes-sdk
```
The skill activates automatically on tasks like *"create an indexer for Uniswap V3 swaps"* or *"my indexer is syncing slowly, help me optimize it"*. It covers scaffolding, runtime error diagnosis, sync tuning, and data-quality checks.
Pair the skill with one or both MCP servers so the agent can read live data and look things up:
* [Portal MCP server](/en/ai/mcp-server) — 29 tools for querying blocks, transactions, logs, instructions, and analytics across 225+ datasets. No API key.
* [Documentation MCP server](/en/ai/mcp-server-docs) — search and retrieve these docs from inside the agent.
If you'd rather feed docs into a model directly, the static [`llms.txt`](https://docs.sqd.dev/llms.txt) (index) and [`llms-full.txt`](https://docs.sqd.dev/llms-full.txt) (full content) files are kept in sync with the site. See the [AI Development overview](/en/ai/ai-development) for the full menu.
# Scaffolding with Pipes CLI
`pipes-cli` is a work in progress.
In a few minutes, you'll have a running pipe that indexes USDC token transfers on Ethereum mainnet into a local PostgreSQL database.
## Prerequisites
* Node.js 22.15+
* `pnpm`
* Docker (for the bundled PostgreSQL container)
## Initialize the project
Run the CLI in the directory where you want the project folder to land:
```bash theme={"system"}
pnpx @subsquid/pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.4 init
```
The CLI prompts for the project folder name, package manager (please stick to `pnpm` for now), sink (please use `ClickHouse` or `Postgres`), network type, network, and template; then installs dependencies and writes a runnable project.
You can supply a JSON config instead of filling the prompts manually. Here's the configuration for USDC token transfers mentioned above:
```bash theme={"system"}
pnpx @subsquid/pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.4 init --config '{
"projectFolder": "usdc-example",
"packageManager": "pnpm",
"sink": "postgresql",
"networkType": "evm",
"network": "ethereum-mainnet",
"templates": [
{
"templateId": "erc20Transfers",
"params": {
"contractAddresses": ["0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48"],
"range": { "from": "latest" }
}
}
]
}'
```
`--config` also accepts a path to a JSON file.
To inspect the full config schema run
```
pnpx @subsquid/pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.4 init --schema
```
## Run the pipeline
The generated project ships with a `docker-compose.yml` that brings up the sink database and the pipeline together:
```bash theme={"system"}
cd usdc-example
docker compose --profile with-pipeline up
```
For an iterative dev loop, run the database in Docker and the pipeline locally:
```bash theme={"system"}
docker compose up -d # Postgres on :5432
pnpm run db:migrate # apply the generated migration
pnpm run dev # tsx src/index.ts
```
Either way, rows start landing in the `erc20_transfers` table within a minute.
## What was generated
The project layout:
```
usdc-example/
├── src/
│ ├── index.ts # the pipe — source, decoder, target
│ ├── schemas.ts # Drizzle table definitions
│ └── utils/
├── migrations/ # SQL migrations generated by drizzle-kit
├── docker-compose.yml # Postgres + optional pipeline service
├── Dockerfile
├── drizzle.config.ts
├── package.json
├── .env # DB_CONNECTION_STR — points at local Postgres
└── README.md
```
The pipe lives in `src/index.ts`. The decoder block defines what to extract + a light transform:
```ts theme={"system"}
const erc20Transfers = evmDecoder({
profiler: { name: 'erc20-transfers' },
range: { from: 'latest' },
contracts: ['0xa0b86991c6218b36c1d19d4a2e9eb0ce3606eb48'],
events: { transfers: commonAbis.erc20.events.Transfer },
}).pipe(({ transfers }) =>
transfers.map((transfer) => ({
blockNumber: transfer.block.number,
txHash: transfer.rawEvent.transactionHash,
logIndex: transfer.rawEvent.logIndex,
timestamp: transfer.timestamp.getTime(),
from: transfer.event.from,
to: transfer.event.to,
value: transfer.event.value,
tokenAddress: transfer.contract,
})),
)
```
This query-transform combo asks the Portal for ERC20 `Transfer` logs from the USDC contract, decodes them and (in the `.pipe` step) reshapes each one into a row matching the Drizzle table. See the [Pipe anatomy](./guides/basic-development/anatomy) and [Handling contract events](./guides/basic-development/handling-events) guides for more info on `evmDecoder()`.
The `main()` function wires the decoder to a [drizzleTarget](./reference/basic-components/target/postgres-drizzle):
```ts theme={"system"}
export async function main() {
await evmPortalSource({
id: 'ethereum-usdc-pipe',
portal: 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet',
outputs: { erc20Transfers },
}).pipeTo(
drizzleTarget({
db: drizzle(env.DB_CONNECTION_STR),
tables: [erc20TransfersTable],
onData: async ({ tx, data }) => {
for (const values of chunk(data.erc20Transfers)) {
await tx.insert(erc20TransfersTable).values(values)
}
},
}),
)
}
```
The `id` is a per-pipeline identifier — keep it stable so the [target's cursor](./guides/architecture-deep-dives/cursor-management) survives restarts. See [evmPortalSource](./reference/basic-components/source) for the full source API and [Pipe anatomy](./guides/basic-development/anatomy) for how the pieces fit together.
## Other examples
Tracks every pool created by the Uniswap V3 factory and indexes its `Swap` events. The generated decoder uses [factory transformers](./guides/advanced-topics/factory-transformers) with a SQLite-backed pool registry.
```bash theme={"system"}
pnpx @subsquid/pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.4 init --config '{
"projectFolder": "uniswapv3-swaps",
"packageManager": "pnpm",
"sink": "postgresql",
"networkType": "evm",
"network": "ethereum-mainnet",
"templates": [
{
"templateId": "uniswapV3Swaps",
"params": {
"factoryAddress": "0x1f98431c8ad98523631ae4a59f267346ea31f984",
"range": { "from": "latest" }
}
}
]
}'
```
The `custom` template generates ABI bindings and decoder wiring from an event list you provide. Drop in any contract and event set.
```bash theme={"system"}
pnpx @subsquid/pipes-cli@1.0.0-alpha.4 init --config '{
"projectFolder": "aave-supply-withdraw",
"packageManager": "pnpm",
"sink": "postgresql",
"networkType": "evm",
"network": "ethereum-mainnet",
"templates": [
{
"templateId": "custom",
"params": {
"contracts": [
{
"contractAddress": "0x87870Bca3F3fD6335C3F4ce8392D69350B4fA4E2",
"contractName": "AaveV3Pool",
"contractEvents": [
{
"anonymous": false,
"inputs": [
{ "indexed": true, "name": "reserve", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": false, "name": "user", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": true, "name": "onBehalfOf", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": false, "name": "amount", "type": "uint256" },
{ "indexed": true, "name": "referralCode", "type": "uint16" }
],
"name": "Supply",
"type": "event"
},
{
"anonymous": false,
"inputs": [
{ "indexed": true, "name": "reserve", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": true, "name": "user", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": true, "name": "to", "type": "address" },
{ "indexed": false, "name": "amount", "type": "uint256" }
],
"name": "Withdraw",
"type": "event"
}
],
"range": { "from": "latest" }
}
]
}
}
]
}'
```
The CLI ships two built-in EVM templates — `erc20Transfers` and `uniswapV3Swaps` — plus the open-ended `custom` template.