Pre-release · AGPL-3.0

Be your own indexer.

Nuthatch is a self-hosted blockchain indexer in one Rust binary. From contract address to live indexed API in under two minutes. No services to rent, no APIs to trust, nothing phoning home.

$ curl -fsSL https://nuthatch-indexer.com/install.sh | sh

or: cargo install nuthatch · brew install nuthatch · verify the script

Read the install guide Star on GitHub —

nuthatch — zsh — 92×14

A real run, start to finish. init resolves the ABI and scaffolds the project; dev follows the tip and serves it.

≤ 2 GB RAM target

One chain, tip-following and serving, on a €5 VPS. That's the budget, enforced in CI.

< 2 minutes target

Contract address to live indexed API. Timed from init to first query.

0 third parties

No gateway, no metered API, no tokens, no telemetry. Your node, your data, your box.

How it works

One process, from RPC to a query you can trust.

chain RPC · reth ExEx
deterministic decode topic0-keyed, versioned
incremental views IVM · reorgs = retractions
redb + Parquet hot tip · sealed segments
SQL · GraphQL · streams · MCP one local endpoint

Two engines, one binary

A hot store (redb) answers entity point-reads at the tip. Past finality, ranges seal to content-addressed Parquet segments, and an embedded DuckDB attaches them read-only for analytical SQL. Single writer, no Postgres, no Docker.

Entities as incremental views

Entities are declarative views over decoded events, maintained incrementally. A reorg is a retraction, not a pile of rollback code. Backfills are the same circuit run as a batch. The columnar layer stays append-only, by construction.

Deterministic by construction

Decode and derivation are reproducible. The escape hatch is capability-isolated WASM components in any language via WIT. A component granted zero capabilities is pure, so it can be re-executed and verified. Effectful ones only annotate.

Where it sits

The honest comparison.

	Nuthatch	The Graph	Goldsky	Ponder
Runs on your hardware	✓	~ Heavy self-host	— Managed only	✓
One-binary install	✓	— node + PG + IPFS	—	— Node.js runtime
No mandatory third-party API	✓	~ If self-hosted	— Required	~ Needs an RPC
Deterministic / re-executable	✓	~ PoI	—	— Imperative
Declarative entities (IVM)	✓	— AssemblyScript	—	— TypeScript
Built-in MCP server	✓	—	—	—
Licence	AGPL-3.0	Open source	Closed	MIT
Price	Free	Per-query fees	Usage-based	Free

Ponder is excellent. If you want TypeScript, use it. The Graph and Goldsky are good tools too; this table states facts, not a verdict.

A real example

Three contracts, folded state, real aggregations.

A real Graph Horizon analytics subgraph, rebuilt as a nest: three contracts, folded delegation state, time-bucketed aggregations. Raw events queryable in minutes; entities as incremental views; zero rollback code.

See the walkthrough →

AI-native, sovereignty-respecting

The AI writes the code. It never sits in the data path.

For agents

A built-in MCP server: schema discovery, SQL, entity lookup, streaming subscribe.
Semantic schema discovery so a model gets real types, not a guess.
Ships llms.txt and docs an agent can read.
Works fully offline against your local instance.

For you

init scaffolds a complete indexer with a passing test suite from an ABI.
Ships Claude Code and Cursor skills, so the tools know the syntax.
Local models via Ollama, or bring your own key.
Every AI feature degrades gracefully with no network.

Two minutes. One binary. No one to ask.

$ curl -fsSL https://nuthatch-indexer.com/install.sh | sh

Full install options · Read the manifesto