- name
- data
- description
- Querying Stellar chain data via Stellar RPC (preferred) and Horizon (legacy). Covers RPC JSON-RPC methods, Horizon REST endpoints, streaming, pagination, historical queries, Hubble/Galexie for deep history, and the RPC/Horizon migration story. Use when reading balances, transactions, operations, ledgers, contract events, or building any indexer/analytics workflow.
- user-invocable
- true
- argument-hint
- [data task]
# Stellar Data: RPC + Horizon
API access for reading chain state. Stellar RPC is the preferred entry point for new projects; Horizon remains for legacy and historical-query workflows. For deeper history beyond RPC's 7-day window, use Hubble/Galexie.
## When to use this skill
- Calling Stellar RPC methods (`getLatestLedger`, `getLedgerEntries`, `getEvents`, `simulateTransaction`, `sendTransaction`)
- Querying Horizon endpoints (accounts, transactions, operations, effects, ledgers)
- Streaming live events or operations
- Pulling historical data beyond RPC's 7-day window (Hubble, Galexie)
- Choosing between RPC and Horizon for a given workflow
## Related skills
- Building transactions to send → `/.well-known/agent-skills/dapp/skill.md`
- Smart contract simulation and event emission → `/.well-known/agent-skills/smart-contracts/skill.md`
- Asset balance and trustline lookups → `/.well-known/agent-skills/assets/skill.md`
- Standards (SEP-7 deeplinks, SEP-10 auth) → `/.well-known/agent-skills/standards/skill.md`
---
## Overview
Stellar provides two API paradigms:
| API | Status | Use Case |
|-----|--------|----------|
| **Stellar RPC** | Preferred | Smart contracts, real-time state, new projects |
| **Horizon** | Legacy-focused | Historical data, legacy applications |
**Recommendation**: Use Stellar RPC for all new projects. Use Horizon mainly for historical queries and legacy compatibility paths.
## Quick Navigation
- RPC methods and usage: [Stellar RPC](#stellar-rpc)
- Horizon endpoints and streaming: [Horizon API (Legacy)](#horizon-api-legacy)
- Migration strategy: [Migration: Horizon to RPC](#migration-horizon-to-rpc)
- Data history/indexing options: [Historical Data Access](#historical-data-access)
- Environment setup and endpoints: [Network Configuration](#network-configuration)
## Stellar RPC
### Endpoints
> Note: SDF directly provides Futurenet public RPC. For Mainnet RPC, select a provider from the [RPC providers directory](https://developers.stellar.org/docs/data/apis/rpc/providers).
| Network | RPC URL |
|---------|---------|
| Mainnet | Provider-specific endpoint (see [RPC providers directory](https://developers.stellar.org/docs/data/apis/rpc/providers)) |
| Testnet | `https://soroban-testnet.stellar.org` |
| Futurenet | `https://rpc-futurenet.stellar.org` |
| Local | `http://localhost:8000/soroban/rpc` |
### Setup
```typescript
import * as StellarSdk from "@stellar/stellar-sdk";
const rpc = new StellarSdk.rpc.Server("https://soroban-testnet.stellar.org");
```
### Key Methods
#### Get Account
```typescript
const account = await rpc.getAccount(publicKey);
// Returns account with sequence number for transaction building
```
#### Get Health
```typescript
const health = await rpc.getHealth();
// { status: "healthy" }
```
#### Get Latest Ledger
```typescript
const ledger = await rpc.getLatestLedger();
// { id: "...", sequence: 123456, protocolVersion: 25 }
```
#### Get Ledger Entries
```typescript
// Read contract storage
const key = StellarSdk.xdr.LedgerKey.contractData(
new StellarSdk.xdr.LedgerKeyContractData({
contract: new StellarSdk.Address(contractId).toScAddress(),
key: StellarSdk.xdr.ScVal.scvSymbol("Counter"),
durability: StellarSdk.xdr.ContractDataDurability.persistent(),
})
);
const entries = await rpc.getLedgerEntries(key);
if (entries.entries.length > 0) {
const value = StellarSdk.scValToNative(
entries.entries[0].val.contractData().val()
);
}
```
#### Simulate Transaction
```typescript
const simulation = await rpc.simulateTransaction(transaction);
if (StellarSdk.rpc.Api.isSimulationError(simulation)) {
console.error("Simulation failed:", simulation.error);
} else if (StellarSdk.rpc.Api.isSimulationSuccess(simulation)) {
console.log("Cost:", simulation.cost);
console.log("Result:", simulation.result);
}
```
#### Send Transaction
```typescript
const response = await rpc.sendTransaction(signedTransaction);
if (response.status === "PENDING") {
// Poll for result
let result = await rpc.getTransaction(response.hash);
while (result.status === "NOT_FOUND") {
await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1000));
result = await rpc.getTransaction(response.hash);
}
if (result.status === "SUCCESS") {
console.log("Success:", result.returnValue);
} else {
console.error("Failed:", result.status);
}
}
```
#### Get Transaction
```typescript
const tx = await rpc.getTransaction(txHash);
// status: "SUCCESS" | "FAILED" | "NOT_FOUND"
// returnValue: ScVal (for contract calls)
// ledger: number
```
#### Get Events
```typescript
const events = await rpc.getEvents({
startLedger: 1000000,
filters: [
{
type: "contract",
contractIds: [contractId],
topics: [
["*", StellarSdk.xdr.ScVal.scvSymbol("transfer").toXDR("base64")],
],
},
],
});
for (const event of events.events) {
console.log("Event:", event.topic, event.value);
}
```
### RPC Limitations
- **7-day history for most methods**: `getTransaction`, `getEvents`, etc. only cover recent data
- **`getLedgers` exception**: "Infinite Scroll" feature queries any ledger back to genesis via the data lake
- **No streaming**: Poll for updates (no WebSocket)
- **Contract-focused**: Limited classic Stellar data
## Horizon API (Legacy)
### Endpoints
| Network | Horizon URL |
|---------|-------------|
| Mainnet | `https://horizon.stellar.org` |
| Testnet | `https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org` |
| Local | `http://localhost:8000` |
### Setup
```typescript
import * as StellarSdk from "@stellar/stellar-sdk";
const server = new StellarSdk.Horizon.Server("https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org");
```
### Common Operations
#### Load Account
```typescript
const account = await server.loadAccount(publicKey);
// Full account details including balances, signers, data
```
#### Get Account Balances
```typescript
const account = await server.loadAccount(publicKey);
for (const balance of account.balances) {
if (balance.asset_type === "native") {
console.log("XLM:", balance.balance);
} else {
console.log(`${balance.asset_code}:`, balance.balance);
}
}
```
#### Get Transactions
```typescript
// Account transactions
const transactions = await server
.transactions()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.order("desc")
.limit(10)
.call();
// Specific transaction
const tx = await server
.transactions()
.transaction(txHash)
.call();
```
#### Get Operations
```typescript
const operations = await server
.operations()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.order("desc")
.limit(20)
.call();
for (const op of operations.records) {
console.log(op.type, op.created_at);
}
```
#### Get Payments
```typescript
const payments = await server
.payments()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.order("desc")
.call();
for (const payment of payments.records) {
if (payment.type === "payment") {
console.log(
`${payment.from} -> ${payment.to}: ${payment.amount} ${payment.asset_code || "XLM"}`
);
}
}
```
#### Get Effects
```typescript
const effects = await server
.effects()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.limit(50)
.call();
```
#### Streaming (Server-Sent Events)
```typescript
// Stream transactions
const closeHandler = server
.transactions()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.cursor("now")
.stream({
onmessage: (tx) => {
console.log("New transaction:", tx.hash);
},
onerror: (error) => {
console.error("Stream error:", error);
},
});
// Close stream when done
closeHandler();
```
#### Submit Transaction
```typescript
try {
const result = await server.submitTransaction(signedTransaction);
console.log("Success:", result.hash);
} catch (error) {
if (error.response?.data?.extras?.result_codes) {
console.error("Error codes:", error.response.data.extras.result_codes);
}
}
```
### Pagination
```typescript
// First page
let page = await server.transactions().forAccount(publicKey).limit(10).call();
// Next page
if (page.records.length > 0) {
page = await page.next();
}
// Previous page
page = await page.prev();
```
## Migration: Horizon to RPC
### Account Loading
```typescript
// Horizon (old)
const account = await horizonServer.loadAccount(publicKey);
// RPC (new)
const account = await rpc.getAccount(publicKey);
// Note: RPC returns less data, just what's needed for transactions
```
### Transaction Submission
```typescript
// Horizon (for classic transactions)
const result = await horizonServer.submitTransaction(tx);
// RPC (for smart contract transactions)
const response = await rpc.sendTransaction(tx);
const result = await pollForResult(response.hash);
```
### Historical Data
```typescript
// Horizon - full history
const allTxs = await horizonServer
.transactions()
.forAccount(publicKey)
.call();
// RPC - most methods limited to 7 days
// Exception: getLedgers can query back to genesis (Infinite Scroll)
// For full historical data, use:
// 1. Hubble (SDF's BigQuery dataset)
// 2. Galexie (data pipeline)
// 3. Your own indexer
```
### Streaming Replacement
```typescript
// Horizon - native streaming
server.payments().stream({ onmessage: handlePayment });
// RPC - polling (no native streaming)
async function pollForUpdates() {
const lastLedger = await rpc.getLatestLedger();
// Check for new events/transactions
// Repeat on interval
}
setInterval(pollForUpdates, 5000);
```
## Historical Data Access
For data older than 7 days (not available via most RPC methods; `getLedgers` can reach genesis via Infinite Scroll):
### Hubble (BigQuery)
```sql
-- Query Stellar data in BigQuery
SELECT *
FROM `crypto-stellar.crypto_stellar.history_transactions`
WHERE source_account = 'G...'
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 100
```
### Galexie
Self-hosted data pipeline for processing Stellar ledger data:
- https://github.com/stellar/galexie
### Data Lake
RPC "Infinite Scroll" is powered by the Stellar data lake — a cloud-based object store (SEP-0054 format):
- **Public access**: `s3://aws-public-blockchain/v1.1/stellar/ledgers/pubnet` (AWS Open Data)
- **Self-host**: Use Galexie to export to AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage
- **Hosted**: [Quasar (Lightsail Network)](https://quasar.lightsail.network) provides hosted Galexie Data Lake + Archive RPC endpoints
- **Size**: ~3.8TB, growing ~0.5TB/year
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