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CoreCast - Smart Solana gRPC Streams

What is Bitquery gRPC for Solana and how is it different from RPC?​

Bitquery gRPC for Solana is CoreCast (Smart gRPC Streams): a managed feed of indexed, decoded Solana activity delivered as Protobuf over gRPC to corecast.bitquery.io. You subscribe by topic (for example dex_trades, transfers, transactions) with server-side filters (addresses, mints, programs, thresholds), so you receive structured events not raw ledger blobs.

Solana RPC (JSON-RPC from a validator or provider) is the chain’s low-level API: getTransaction, getAccountInfo, getBlock, simulation, and base64 logs. You typically poll or subscribe per method, decode instructions and layouts yourself, and stitch together DEX or token context. CoreCast is optimized for low-latency, filtered market data; RPC is for generic chain access and tooling that already expects JSON-RPC. For GraphQL + WebSocket on the same indexed data, see real-time subscriptions and the streaming overview.

What are Smart gRPC Streams?​

Bitquery Smart gRPC Streams provide low-latency, context-aware, topic-wise event delivery from the Solana blockchain. Unlike raw gRPC streams, Smart Streams enrich and filter events so your application receives only the data it needs (trades,balances, token context, program metadata). The data is sent in the protobuf format, the schema is publicly available as packages for easy parsing.

Why gRPC​

  • Low latency: stream RPCs for near real-time delivery.
  • Strong typing: Protobuf contracts for stable schemas and efficient encoding.

Topics​

Bitquery exposes multiple topics so you subscribe only to what you need:

  • transactions: Finalized transactions with instructions, logs, and status.
  • transfers: All token transfers with token context.
  • dex_trades: DEX trade/swaps across supported protocols.
  • dex_orders: Order lifecycle updates where applicable.
  • dex_pools: Pool creation/updates and liquidity changes.
  • balances: Balance updates for tracked accounts and mints.

Each topic supports context-aware filters and consistent identifiers for easy correlation across streams.

Context-aware filtering​

Filters are required to use Smart gRPC Streams. You must specify at least one filter per subscription; empty filter sets are rejected. Select exactly what to stream by combining filters. Common options include:

  • addresses: senders, receivers, owners, program_ids
  • tokens: Mint addresses (e.g., WSOL, USDC) and token standards
  • value thresholds: Minimal amounts in native or token units
  • markets/pools: By protocol, pool, or market identifiers (for DEX topics)

Filters are applied server-side to reduce bandwidth and speed up downstream processing.

Quick Start Examples​

Quickstart (YAML config example)​

Use a minimal configuration to subscribe to Solana transfers for specific addresses and tokens. Note: at least one filter is mandatory.

server:
  address: "corecast.bitquery.io"
  authorization: "<your_api_token>"
  insecure: false

stream:
  type: "transfers" # one of: transactions, transfers, dex_trades, dex_orders, dex_pools, balances

filters:
  signers:
    - "7epLWkFd7xo18k4a4ySmN2UiiAFELDTV2ZNYAedCNh" # example address

Get your API token: Generate one at https://account.bitquery.io/user/api_v2/access_tokens

Schema for the Data​

  • If you are a first time Bitquery user, schema is available in below mentioned files

  • If you are a Kafka user, the schema is the same as the Kafka schema, you only need the corecast schema

The schema need not be downloaded, we have it as packages for install in NPM and PYPI.

  • Python pip install bitquery-corecast-proto
  • Node npm install bitquery-corecast-proto

Is Solana gRPC (CoreCast) streaming included on the free plan?​

CoreCast uses the same V2 API tokens as the GraphQL IDE (create a token; see authentication). Whether Solana gRPC streaming is enabled for your workspace, and how it relates to the Developer (free) tier or points, depends on your plan and account entitlements—it is not guaranteed to be unlimited or identical to self-serve GraphQL limits. Check pricing and Points; if you need access or a trial, use Account → Billing or contact sales@bitquery.io.

Does Bitquery support gRPC for chains other than Solana?​

At present, Bitquery provides gRPC streaming exclusively for Solana. However, the platform is architected to support gRPC on other blockchains as well. If you require gRPC streaming for a blockchain outside of Solana, please reach out to the Bitquery sales team at sales@bitquery.io to explore custom solutions.