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Cardano API Documentation

Bitquery indexes Cardano mainnet through a GraphQL API at https://graphql.bitquery.io. Cardano's eUTXO model means ADA and native tokens live in transaction outputs; Bitquery exposes blocks, transactions, UTXO-level inputs and outputs, address balances, mint and burn events, staking context, and multi-hop ADA flow tracing in a single query surface.

The guides below cover each API surface with ready-to-run GraphQL examples.

What you can do with the Cardano API​

  • Look up blocks by height, hash, or time window — epoch, slot, slot-in-epoch, slot leader, VRF key, and transaction counts.
  • Pull transactions with input/output totals, fees in ADA and USD, mint counts, and withdrawals.
  • Get address balances across ADA and every native token a wallet holds, plus staking and rewards context.
  • Walk UTXO-level inputs and outputs to reconstruct exact balances or build transaction feeds.
  • Track mints and burns of any native token — NFTs, fungibles, and stablecoins like DJED.
  • Trace ADA flows inbound and outbound across multiple hops with Coinpath.

Quick start​

Returns the five most recent Cardano blocks with hash, height, transaction count, and timestamp.

query {
  cardano(network: cardano) {
    blocks(options: {desc: "height", limit: 5}) {
      height
      blockHash
      transactionCount
      epoch
      slot
      timestamp {
        time(format: "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
      }
    }
  }
}

Run this in the GraphQL IDE. Filter native tokens with currency: {is: "asset1..."} using the CIP-14 asset fingerprint, or use currency: {is: "ADA"} for lovelace.

API reference​

Core data​

Cardano Blocks API — Block lookups by height or time, epoch and slot context, slot-leader metadata, protocol version, and transaction counts.

Cardano Transactions API — Transaction hashes, fees in ADA and USD, mint counts, daily aggregates, and patterns for paginating wallet history.

Cardano Inputs and Outputs API — UTXO-level data for balance reconstruction, transfer feeds, and per-output value breakdowns across ADA and native assets.

Addresses and staking​

Cardano Address API — Per-asset balances, staking snapshot fields, and the addressStats aggregate cube for activity summaries.

Native tokens​

Cardano Mints API — Native-token mint and burn events. Track NFT drops, fungible token issuance, and policy-level mint activity.

Stablecoins​

Djed Stablecoin API — DJED mints, burns, transfers, and wallet-level balance examples filtered by the DJED asset fingerprint.

Fund tracing​

Cardano Coinpath API — Multi-hop inbound and outbound ADA flow tracing for compliance, treasury monitoring, and exchange deposit analysis.

Common use cases​

  • Wallet and portfolio UIs — Show ADA plus every native token held at an address without running your own indexer.
  • DeFi and DEX analytics — Monitor liquidity pool addresses, swap volumes, and token circulation on Cardano DEXes.
  • NFT and token issuance tracking — Follow mint policies, collection drops, and holder distribution after launch.
  • Stablecoin monitoring — Track DJED mint, burn, and transfer patterns for treasury and risk dashboards.
  • Compliance and forensics — Use Coinpath to trace ADA through several hops with full transaction context.

Cardano node vs Bitquery API​

cardano-node / RPCBitquery Cardano API
Raw chain state — you build the indexerPre-indexed: blocks, txs, UTXOs, native tokens, staking
No historical analytics out of the boxHistory, joins, aggregations, USD conversion
You stream and decode CBOR yourselfGraphQL response — pick the fields you need
Best for submitting transactions and full validationBest for analytics, dashboards, wallet UIs, and compliance