SQD Blockchain Data Infrastructure

Build production-grade blockchain data pipelines across 200+ networks. SQD provides four core products: Portal API (raw HTTP data access), Pipes SDK (composable TypeScript pipelines), Squid SDK (complete indexing framework with GraphQL), and SQD Cloud (managed deployment).

Quick Reference

Portal API Base URL: https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/{dataset-slug}
Authentication: Free, no API keys required
Rate Limits: 20 requests per 10 seconds (public), unlimited (self-hosted)
Response Format: Newline-delimited JSON (NDJSON), gzip-compressed — always use --compressed in curl
Documentation: https://beta.docs.sqd.dev
Full LLM docs: https://beta.docs.sqd.dev/llms-full.txt

When to Use Each Tool

Scenario	Tool	Why
Non-TypeScript language (Python, Go, Rust)	Portal API	Language-agnostic HTTP
One-off data export or analytics	Portal API	No setup, simple curl
Custom TypeScript pipeline, non-Postgres DB	Pipes SDK	Lightweight, any target
dApp backend with GraphQL API	Squid SDK	Auto-generated GraphQL + TypeORM
Managed deployment with monitoring	Squid SDK + Cloud	One-command deploy

Portal API — Core Usage

EVM Query Structure

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "type": "evm",
    "fromBlock": 18000000,
    "toBlock": 18001000,
    "fields": {
      "block": {"number": true, "timestamp": true},
      "log": {"address": true, "topics": true, "data": true, "transactionHash": true}
    },
    "logs": [{
      "address": ["0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48"],
      "topic0": ["0xddf252ad1be2c89b69c2b068fc378daa952ba7f163c4a11628f55a4df523b3ef"]
    }]
  }'

Key parameters:

fromBlock (required): Starting block number
toBlock (optional): Ending block. Omit to stream to current head and stop
includeAllBlocks: If true, returns all blocks in range even without matching data
fields: Select which fields to return per data type — reduces payload size
logs, transactions, traces, stateDiffs: Filter arrays for each data type

Solana Query Structure

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/solana-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "type": "solana",
    "fromBlock": 259984950,
    "fields": {
      "block": {"number": true, "timestamp": true},
      "instruction": {"programId": true, "accounts": true, "data": true}
    },
    "instructions": [{
      "programId": ["TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA"],
      "d1": ["0x03"]
    }]
  }'

Solana discriminators d1/d2/d4/d8 are 1/2/4/8-byte instruction type identifiers in 0x-prefixed hex format. Example: "d1": ["0x03"] filters for SPL Token Transfer instructions.

Bitcoin Query Structure

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/bitcoin-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "type": "bitcoin",
    "fromBlock": 880000,
    "toBlock": 880000,
    "fields": {
      "block": {"number": true, "hash": true, "timestamp": true},
      "transaction": {"txid": true, "hash": true, "size": true, "vsize": true, "weight": true},
      "input": {"transactionIndex": true, "inputIndex": true, "txid": true, "vout": true, "prevoutValue": true, "prevoutScriptPubKeyAddress": true},
      "output": {"transactionIndex": true, "outputIndex": true, "value": true, "scriptPubKeyAddress": true, "scriptPubKeyType": true}
    },
    "transactions": [{}]
  }'

Bitcoin-specific data types:

transactions: Transaction data (txid, hash, size, vsize, weight, version, locktime). Use "transactions": [{}] to match all. Set inputs: true / outputs: true to include related data
inputs: Transaction inputs with prevout data. Filter by prevoutScriptPubKeyAddress, prevoutScriptPubKeyType, or prevoutGenerated (coinbase). Set transaction: true to include parent tx
outputs: Transaction outputs. Filter by scriptPubKeyAddress or scriptPubKeyType (e.g. witness_v1_taproot, witness_v0_keyhash, pubkeyhash, scripthash, nulldata). Set transaction: true to include parent tx

Bitcoin block fields: number, hash, parentHash, timestamp, medianTime, version, merkleRoot, nonce, target, bits, difficulty, chainWork, strippedSize, size, weight

Common Event Signatures (topic0)

Transfer (ERC-20/721): 0xddf252ad1be2c89b69c2b068fc378daa952ba7f163c4a11628f55a4df523b3ef
Approval (ERC-20): 0x8c5be1e5ebec7d5bd14f71427d1e84f3dd0314c0f7b2291e5b200ac8c7c3b925
Swap (Uniswap V2): 0xd78ad95fa46c994b6551d0da85fc275fe613ce37657fb8d5e3d130840159d822
Swap (Uniswap V3): 0xc42079f94a6350d7e6235f29174924f928cc2ac818eb64fed8004e115fbcca67

Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Purpose
`/stream`	POST	Stream blocks matching query, including real-time data
`/finalized-stream`	POST	Stream only finalized blocks (production-safe, handles reorgs)
`/head`	GET	Current chain head block
`/finalized-head`	GET	Latest finalized block
`/metadata`	GET	Dataset info: name, aliases, start block, real-time support

Error Codes

400: Invalid query format
404: Dataset not found (check slug at https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets)
204: Requested block range exceeds available data
409: Chain reorg conflict — retry with updated block range
429: Rate limit exceeded (20 req/10s on public Portal)
500: Internal server error

Important: fromBlock is required. Omitting it silently streams from block 0, which is expensive and almost never what you want.

Top Dataset Slugs

Network	Slug	Chain ID	Real-time
Ethereum	`ethereum-mainnet`	1	✓
Base	`base-mainnet`	8453	✓
Arbitrum One	`arbitrum-one`	42161	✓
Optimism	`optimism-mainnet`	10	✓
Polygon	`polygon-mainnet`	137	✓
BSC	`binance-mainnet`	56	✓
Avalanche	`avalanche-mainnet`	43114	✓
Solana	`solana-mainnet`	—	✓
Bitcoin	`bitcoin-mainnet`	—	✓
Ethereum Sepolia	`ethereum-sepolia`	11155111	✓
Base Sepolia	`base-sepolia`	84532	—

Full list: https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets (returns JSON array of dataset objects)

Pipes SDK — Composable Pipelines

TypeScript-only. Currently supports EVM and Solana.

import { createPipeline } from "@subsquid/portal-pipes";

const pipeline = createPipeline({
  portal: "https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet",
  query: {
    type: "evm",
    fromBlock: 18000000,
    fields: { log: { address: true, topics: true, data: true } },
    logs: [{ address: ["0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48"] }]
  }
});

Use Pipes SDK when: integrating into existing Node.js apps, storing to non-Postgres databases (ClickHouse, MongoDB, Kafka), or needing fine-grained streaming control.

Squid SDK — Full Indexing Framework

TypeScript-only. Supports EVM, Solana, Substrate, Fuel, Tron, Starknet.

import { EvmBatchProcessor } from "@subsquid/evm-processor";
import { TypeormDatabase } from "@subsquid/typeorm-store";

const processor = new EvmBatchProcessor()
  .setPortal("https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet")
  .addLog({ address: ["0xA0b86991c6218b36c1d19D4a2e9Eb0cE3606eB48"] });

processor.run(new TypeormDatabase(), async (ctx) => {
  for (const block of ctx.blocks) {
    for (const log of block.logs) {
      // decode and persist
    }
  }
});

Use Squid SDK when: building dApp backends with auto-generated GraphQL APIs, needing PostgreSQL with TypeORM migrations, or deploying to SQD Cloud (sqd deploy).

Common Recipes

Track USDC transfers on Base:

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/base-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"evm","fromBlock":10000000,"fields":{"block":{"number":true,"timestamp":true},"log":{"topics":true,"data":true,"transactionHash":true}},"logs":[{"address":["0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913"],"topic0":["0xddf252ad1be2c89b69c2b068fc378daa952ba7f163c4a11628f55a4df523b3ef"]}]}'

Index Uniswap V3 swaps on Ethereum:

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"evm","fromBlock":18000000,"fields":{"block":{"number":true,"timestamp":true},"log":{"address":true,"topics":true,"data":true}},"logs":[{"topic0":["0xc42079f94a6350d7e6235f29174924f928cc2ac818eb64fed8004e115fbcca67"]}]}'

Query Bitcoin Taproot outputs:

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/bitcoin-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"bitcoin","fromBlock":880000,"toBlock":880000,"fields":{"block":{"number":true,"timestamp":true},"output":{"transactionIndex":true,"outputIndex":true,"value":true,"scriptPubKeyType":true,"scriptPubKeyAddress":true}},"outputs":[{"scriptPubKeyType":["witness_v1_taproot"]}]}'

Track contract deployments via traces:

curl --compressed -X POST 'https://portal.sqd.dev/datasets/ethereum-mainnet/stream' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"type":"evm","fromBlock":18000000,"toBlock":18001000,"fields":{"trace":{"type":true,"from":true,"to":true,"value":true}},"traces":[{"type":["create"]}]}'

Guidelines

Always use --compressed with curl — Portal returns gzip-compressed responses
Use /finalized-stream instead of /stream for production-critical applications that need reorg safety
Filter by address and/or topic0 in logs to minimize response size — unfiltered queries on busy chains return massive payloads
The fields object controls which properties are returned per data type — request only what you need
Portal is 10-50x faster than RPC for historical data extraction
For continuous real-time streaming, reconnect to /stream periodically after reaching head
OpenAPI specs available at: https://beta.docs.sqd.dev/files/evm-openapi.yaml, https://beta.docs.sqd.dev/files/solana-openapi.yaml, and https://beta.docs.sqd.dev/files/bitcoin-openapi.yaml

Portal MCP Server — Convenience Tools

The Portal MCP Server (https://portal.sqd.dev/mcp) provides high-level tools that are often more useful than raw curl for AI workflows:

Tool	What it does
`portal_get_erc20_transfers`	Auto-decodes Transfer events, adds token metadata, formats human-readable amounts
`portal_get_nft_transfers`	ERC721/ERC1155 transfers. Note: `token_standard: "erc721"` is not supported (ERC-721 shares Transfer signature with ERC-20). Use `"erc1155"` or `"both"`, or provide specific `contract_addresses`
`portal_get_wallet_summary`	Full wallet activity: transactions + tokens + NFTs
`portal_get_gas_analytics`	Gas price trends, cost estimates
`portal_get_contract_activity`	Contract usage stats, top callers
`portal_aggregate_transfers`	Aggregate ERC20 transfer stats without fetching all records
`portal_decode_logs`	Decode event logs using known signatures (Swap, Transfer, etc.)
`portal_block_at_timestamp`	Convert Unix timestamp to block number
`portal_count_events`	Count events without fetching data (note: `group_by: "topic0"` may return “unknown”)
`portal_get_recent_transactions`	Recent txs without manual block math
`portal_get_top_contracts`	Most active contracts by tx count
`portal_get_time_series`	Aggregate metrics over time intervals
`portal_query_hyperliquid_fills`	Hyperliquid trade executions, PnL, fees
`portal_query_hyperliquid_replica_cmds`	Hyperliquid orders, cancels, transfers, leverage
`portal_list_datasets`	List/search available datasets
`portal_get_token_info`	Token metadata from CoinGecko (name, symbol, logo). Won’t find obscure/new tokens not listed on CoinGecko
`portal_get_dataset_info`	Dataset details: latest block, chain type, tables
`portal_get_block_number`	Current/latest block number
`portal_stream`	Raw Portal API streaming queries

Prefer MCP convenience tools over raw curl when available — they auto-decode values, add token metadata, and format amounts.

AI Integration

Docs MCP Server: https://beta.docs.sqd.dev/mcp — search and access SQD documentation
Portal MCP Server: https://portal.sqd.dev/mcp — query blockchain data directly (see convenience tools above)
Agent Skills: https://github.com/subsquid-labs/agent-skills

Documentation Index

​SQD Blockchain Data Infrastructure

​Quick Reference

​When to Use Each Tool

​Portal API — Core Usage

​EVM Query Structure

​Solana Query Structure

​Bitcoin Query Structure

​Common Event Signatures (topic0)

​Endpoints

​Error Codes

​Top Dataset Slugs

​Pipes SDK — Composable Pipelines

​Squid SDK — Full Indexing Framework

​Common Recipes

​Guidelines

​Portal MCP Server — Convenience Tools

​AI Integration