Glossary

The Graph: A decentralized protocol for indexing and querying data.

Query: A request for data. In the case of The Graph, a query is a request for data from a subgraph that will be answered by an Indexer.

GraphQL: A query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. The Graph uses GraphQL to query subgraphs.

Endpoint: A URL that can be used to query a subgraph. The testing endpoint for Subgraph Studio is https://api.studio.thegraph.com/query/<ID>/<SUBGRAPH_NAME>/<VERSION> and the Graph Explorer endpoint is https://gateway.thegraph.com/api/<API_KEY>/subgraphs/id/<SUBGRAPH_ID>. The Graph Explorer endpoint is used to query subgraphs on The Graph's decentralized network.

Subgraph: An open API that extracts data from a blockchain, processes it, and stores it so that it can be easily queried via GraphQL. Developers can build, deploy, and publish subgraphs to The Graph Network. Then, Indexers can begin indexing subgraphs to make them available to be queried by anyone.

Hosted service: A temporary scaffold service for building and querying subgraphs as The Graph's decentralized network is maturing its cost of service, quality of service, and developer experience.

Indexers: Network participants that run indexing nodes to index data from blockchains and serve GraphQL queries.

Indexer Revenue Streams: Indexers are rewarded in GRT with two components: query fee rebates and indexing rewards.

1. Query Fee Rebates: Payments from subgraph consumers for serving queries on the network.

2. Indexing Rewards: The rewards that Indexers receive for indexing subgraphs. Indexing rewards are generated via new issuance of 3% GRT annually.

Indexer's Self Stake: The amount of GRT that Indexers stake to participate in the decentralized network. The minimum is 100,000 GRT, and there is no upper limit.

Upgrade Indexer: A temporary Indexer designed to act as a fallback for subgraph queries not serviced by other Indexers on the network. It ensures a seamless transition for subgraphs upgrading from the hosted service to The Graph Network. The upgrade Indexer is not competitive with other Indexers. It supports numerous blockchains that were previously only available on the hosted service.

Delegators: Network participants who own GRT and delegate their GRT to Indexers. This allows Indexers to increase their stake in subgraphs on the network. In return, Delegators receive a portion of the Indexing Rewards that Indexers receive for processing subgraphs.

Delegation Tax: A 0.5% fee paid by Delegators when they delegate GRT to Indexers. The GRT used to pay the fee is burned.

Curators: Network participants that identify high-quality subgraphs, and “curate” them (i.e., signal GRT on them) in exchange for curation shares. When Indexers claim query fees on a subgraph, 10% is distributed to the Curators of that subgraph. Indexers earn indexing rewards proportional to the signal on a subgraph. We see a correlation between the amount of GRT signalled and the number of Indexers indexing a subgraph.

Curation Tax: A 1% fee paid by Curators when they signal GRT on subgraphs. The GRT used to pay the fee is burned.

Subgraph Consumer: Any application or user that queries a subgraph.

Subgraph Developer: A developer who builds and deploys a subgraph to The Graph's decentralized network.

Subgraph Manifest: A JSON file that describes the subgraph's GraphQL schema, data sources, and other metadata. Here is an example.

Epoch: A unit of time within the network. Currently, one epoch is 6,646 blocks or approximately 1 day.

Allocation: An Indexer can allocate their total GRT stake (including Delegators' stake) towards subgraphs that have been published on The Graph's decentralized network. Allocations exist in one of four phases.

1. Active: An allocation is considered active when it is created on-chain. This is called opening an allocation, and indicates to the network that the Indexer is actively indexing and serving queries for a particular subgraph. Active allocations accrue indexing rewards proportional to the signal on the subgraph, and the amount of GRT allocated.

2. Closed: An Indexer may claim the accrued indexing rewards on a given subgraph by submitting a recent, and valid, Proof of Indexing (POI). This is known as closing an allocation. An allocation must have been open for a minimum of one epoch before it can be closed. The maximum allocation period is 28 epochs. If an indexer leaves an allocation open beyond 28 epochs, it is known as a stale allocation. When an allocation is in the Closed state, a Fisherman can still open a dispute to challenge an Indexer for serving false data.

Subgraph Studio: A powerful dapp for building, deploying, and publishing subgraphs.

Fishermen: A role within The Graph Network held by participants who monitor the accuracy and integrity of data served by Indexers. When a Fisherman identifies a query response or a POI they believe to be incorrect, they can initiate a dispute against the Indexer. If the dispute rules in favor of the Fisherman, the Indexer is slashed. Specifically, the Indexer will lose 2.5% of their self-stake of GRT. Of this amount, 50% is awarded to the Fisherman as a bounty for their vigilance, and the remaining 50% is removed from circulation (burned). This mechanism is designed to encourage Fishermen to help maintain the reliability of the network by ensuring that Indexers are held accountable for the data they provide.

Arbitrators: Arbitrators are network participants appointed through a governance process. The role of the Arbitrator is to decide the outcome of indexing and query disputes. Their goal is to maximize the utility and reliability of The Graph Network.

Slashing: Indexers can have their self-staked GRT slashed for providing an incorrect POI or for serving inaccurate data. or for serving inaccurate data. The slashing percentage is a protocol parameter currently set to 2.5% of an Indexer's self stake. 50% of the slashed GRT goes to the Fisherman that disputed the inaccurate data or incorrect POI. The other 50% is burned.

Indexing Rewards: The rewards that Indexers receive for indexing subgraphs. Indexing rewards are distributed in GRT.

Delegation Rewards: The rewards that Delegators receive for delegating GRT to Indexers. Delegation rewards are distributed in GRT.

GRT: The Graph's work utility token. GRT provides economic incentives to network participants for contributing to the network.

POI or Proof of Indexing: When an Indexer closes their allocation and wants to claim their accrued indexing rewards on a given subgraph, they must provide a valid and recent Proof of Indexing (POI). Fishermen may dispute the POI provided by an Indexer. A dispute resolved in the Fisherman's favor will result in slashing of the Indexer.

Graph Node: Graph Node is the component which indexes subgraphs, and makes the resulting data available to query via a GraphQL API. As such it is central to the indexer stack, and correct operation of Graph Node is crucial to running a successful indexer.

Indexer agent: The Indexer agent is part of the indexer stack. It facilitates the Indexer's interactions on-chain, including registering on the network, managing subgraph deployments to its Graph Node(s), and managing allocations.

The Graph Client: A library for building GraphQL-based dapps in a decentralized way.

Graph Explorer: A dapp designed for network participants to explore subgraphs and interact with the protocol.

Graph CLI: A command line interface tool for building and deploying to The Graph.

Cooldown Period: The time remaining until an Indexer who changed their delegation parameters can do so again.

L2 Transfer Tools: Smart contracts and UI that enable network participants to transfer network related assets from Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum One. Network participants can transfer delegated GRT, subgraphs, curation shares, and Indexer's self stake.

Upgrading a subgraph to The Graph Network: The process of moving a subgraph from the hosted service to The Graph Network.

Updating a subgraph: The process of releasing a new subgraph version with updates to the subgraph's manifest, schema, or mappings.

Migrating: The process of curation shares moving from an old version of a subgraph to a new version of a subgraph (e.g. when v0.0.1 is updated to v0.0.2).

Upgrade Window: The countdown for hosted service users to upgrade their subgraph(s) to The Graph Network beginning on April 11th, and ending on June 12th 2024.