indexing

Indexing solutions like The Graph provide the best way to query historical onchain data by creating queryable GraphQL APIs from smart contract events. This approach prevents the severe inefficiencies of direct RPC calls or looping through blockchain blocks for data retrieval.

Looping through blocks via RPC fails because it is highly inefficient for reading historical onchain data. Direct RPC calls are not designed for bulk historical queries, making dedicated indexing solutions necessary for scalable dApp data retrieval and analytics.

Design smart contracts using an event-driven architecture, treating events as the primary mechanism for offchain data consumption. This allows indexing protocols like The Graph to map smart contract events efficiently to a queryable schema for dApp development.

Deploy a subgraph by defining a GraphQL schema and mapping smart contract events to establish a queryable API. This indexing process transforms raw onchain data into structured GraphQL endpoints, enabling efficient data retrieval without direct RPC block scanning.

The Graph builds queryable GraphQL APIs via subgraph deployment for dApp integration, while Dune Analytics provides alternative indexing for blockchain analytics. Direct provider APIs and RPC methods are also compared for different specific data retrieval use cases.

You should not use direct RPC calls when querying historical onchain data for dApps, as block scanning is highly inefficient. Instead, use an indexing solution to map smart contract events into a GraphQL schema for performant data retrieval.