IoTeX Analyser

IoTeX Analyser indexes data from the IoTeX blockchain into the database of your choice (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, ClickHouse) and exposes it for downstream querying — including a managed GraphQL endpoint via Hasura.

It is built around a dynamic plugin system: indexing logic ships as Go plugins (.so files) that can be loaded and unloaded at runtime, with no service restart. A growing library of 58+ built-in plugins covers common needs (blocks, actions, ERC20/721/1155, staking, rewards, gas tracking, account income, …), and you can drop in your own.

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Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Configuration
• Building from Source
• Running the Server
• Plugin System
  • Writing a Plugin
  • Loading and Unloading at Runtime
• GraphQL API
• Releases
• Contributing
• License

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Quick Start

The fastest way to try Analyser is via Docker Compose, which provisions both Postgres and the Analyser service:

docker-compose up

To use a prebuilt image directly:

docker pull ghcr.io/iotexproject/iotex-analyser:latest

Available image tags:

• :latest — latest tagged release (recommended)
• :vX.Y.Z — pinned release version
• :main — bleeding edge from main
• :sha-<short> — exact commit

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Configuration

Analyser is configured via a YAML file. A minimal config.yml:

server:
  # Plugins to load on startup
  plugins:
    - block.so

database:
  driver: postgres        # postgres | mysql | sqlite3 | clickhouse
  host: 127.0.0.1
  port: 5432
  user: postgres
  password: ${DB_PASSWORD}
  name: iotex

iotex:
  chainEndPoint: api.iotex.one:80   # mainnet (use api.testnet.iotex.one:80 for testnet)

blockDB:
  dbPath: chain.db

log:
  zap:
    level: info

Note: Never commit real credentials. Use environment variable substitution (${VAR}) or a separate untracked config file.

Bootstrapping with a Snapshot

Indexing from genesis takes time. Speed it up with a pre-indexed chain.db snapshot:

• Mainnet: https://t.iotex.me/mainnet-data-with-idx-latest
• Testnet: https://t.iotex.me/testnet-data-with-idx-latest

Drop the file at the path referenced by blockDB.dbPath and Analyser will resume from the snapshot.

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Building from Source

Requirements

• Go 1.23+
• make
• A working C linker (plugins use -buildmode=plugin, which requires glibc — Alpine without gcompat won't work for local builds)

Build

Clone and build the binary plus all plugins:

git clone https://github.com/iotexproject/iotex-analyser.git
cd iotex-analyser
make            # binary + every plugin under plugins/

Or build individual targets:

make build              # binary only
make plugin name=block  # one plugin (produces block.so)
make dev                # binary + all plugins with -race for development

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Running the Server

Start the server:

./iotex-analyser -c config.yml server

Manage plugins at runtime via a second process (the running server picks up changes automatically):

./iotex-analyser -c config.yml plugin load   simple.so
./iotex-analyser -c config.yml plugin unload simple.so
./iotex-analyser -c config.yml plugin info

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Plugin System

Each plugin is a Go package compiled to a .so file with -buildmode=plugin, exposing a single Plugin variable that satisfies the Adapter interface:

type Adapter interface {
    Name() string
    Version() string
    Type() Type
    Start(context.Context) error
    Stop(context.Context) error
    PutBlock(context.Context, *block.Block) error
}

For better throughput, plugins may also implement PutBlocks(ctx, []*block.Block) error to process blocks in batches.

Writing a Plugin

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    "github.com/iotexproject/iotex-analyser/db"
    "github.com/iotexproject/iotex-analyser/plugin"
    "github.com/iotexproject/iotex-core/v2/blockchain/block"
)

type simplePlugin struct{}

func (simplePlugin) Name() string         { return "simple" }
func (simplePlugin) Version() string      { return "0.0.1" }
func (simplePlugin) Type() plugin.Type    { return plugin.TypeStandard }
func (simplePlugin) Start(context.Context) error { return nil }
func (simplePlugin) Stop(context.Context) error  { return nil }

func (s simplePlugin) PutBlock(ctx context.Context, blk *block.Block) error {
    fmt.Printf("block height: %d\n", blk.Height())
    return db.UpdateIndexHeight(s.Name(), blk.Height())
}

// Exported symbol — must be named "Plugin".
var Plugin = simplePlugin{}

Build it:

make plugin name=simple

Loading and Unloading at Runtime

./iotex-analyser -c config.yml plugin load   simple.so
./iotex-analyser -c config.yml plugin unload simple.so

After load, you should see output from your plugin in the server logs, e.g.:

block height: 1
block height: 2
block height: 3

Built-in Plugins

A non-exhaustive sample — see plugins/ for the full list:

• Core blocks/actions: block, block_action, block_meta, block_supply, block_receipts
• Tokens: erc20, erc721, erc1155, token holder/meta variants
• Staking & delegation: candidate, staking_action, delegate, probation
• Accounting: account_meta, account_income, account_vote
• Other: gastracker, erc1967_proxy, clickhouse sinks

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GraphQL API

Hasura sits in front of the indexed Postgres database and serves a GraphQL API automatically.

• Hasura Console: https://iotexscout.io/hasura/console
• GraphQL endpoint: https://iotexscout.io/hasura/v1/graphql

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Releases

Releases are cut manually using release.sh:

./release.sh v1.18.1

The script validates the working tree, tags the commit, pushes the tag, and creates a GitHub Release with auto-generated notes. The tag push triggers GitHub Actions to build and publish the Docker image as both :vX.Y.Z and :latest on ghcr.io.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome. The general flow:

1. Open an issue to discuss non-trivial changes before starting work.
2. Fork and create a feature branch.
3. Add tests for new functionality where possible.
4. Open a PR against main.

Useful commands while developing:

make dev          # build with -race for local testing
go test ./...     # run unit tests

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License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.