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Running a Squid

Pre-requisites​

  • node 16.x
  • docker
  • npm (the lock files are not compatible with yarn)
  • make (we recommend using WSL on Windows)

Run a local archive​

This step is needed only if no public archive is available for the target network

Check Aquarium Archives for a list of public archives maintained by Subsquid.

Inspect archive/docker-compose.yml in squid-substrate-template and provide one or several WebSocket endpoints for the target network. Start the stack with

docker compose -f archive/docker-compose.yml up

The archive gateway will be listening on port 8888 and it can immediately be used with the processor (even if it's not in sync):

processor.setDataSource({
  archive: `http://localhost:8888/graphql`,
});

Run the squid services​

A squid normally consists of the following three services:

  • A Postgres-compatible database
  • A squid processor that fetches and transforms the data, then stores it into the database
  • An API server presenting the data

The processor and the server are usual node.js processes and can be run from an IDE or a node debug environment.

Squid template comes with make scripts to run each service locally.

1. Start the database:

make up

The database is started at port 23798 defined in the .env file with squid/squid as a superuser.

2. Start the processor (blocks the terminal):

make process

On the first start, the script creates a database as defined by the DB_NAME variable in the .env file (squid by default). The database connection options are defined by DB_NAME, DB_PASS, DB_PORT variables set in .env.

The Prometheus metrics are served at port PROCESSOR_PROMETHEUS_PORT (3000 by default) at the /metrics route.

3. Start the API server (blocks the terminal):

make serve

The server listens at port GQL_PORT defined in .env (4350 by default). The endpoint and the playground are available at the /graphql route.