API+ Blue Paper
EOS Network Foundation
Providing Access for the Next Generation of EOSIO-powered dApps.
Download API+ Blue Paper
API+ Blue Paper (English)
The API+ working group has proposed several projects to fill critical gaps in the EOS ecosystem’s basic public infrastructure which will accelerate developer adoption.
APIs are basic blockchain infrastructure that should be offered as public good
Users need to be able to read and write data to/from the blockchain. This is done using APIs that can be self-hosted or, more often, operated by teams offering it as a service and reducing complexity for developers.
APIs have varying degrees of complexity. The ones used to create information on the blockchain can be relatively simple to run. However, a large volume of incoming requests or managing a lot of historical blockchain data make operations challenging.
Well-functioning APIs are critical in attracting developers
There are several impediments to having the best possible developer experience. They include:
- Lack of standards within EOSIO
- Specialized community-build solutions are not supported
- Operators providing services do so at a financial loss
- Lack of participation in the development and adoption of blockchain standards
Proposed Projects
The projects proposed in this paper aim to improve the developer experience. The overall priorities and level of focus on each project needs input from the community:
Create a team in charge of ongoing research and standards for APIs. This includes:
- Basic design
- Native streaming
- Transaction lifecycle and history
- Extensibility and optimization
Standardize and alleviate the operational burden on History APIs by including new transaction lifecycle features in nodeos:
- Transaction resource cost estimation
- Subjective billing improvements
- Transaction retry
- Transaction finality status
Support the development and operations of API solutions through several different projects:
Continue development and expand the operations of APIs as public goods:
- dfuse
- Firehose
- Light API
- Hyperion
- Roborovski
Explore a shift in how APIs are funded. Consider the overall design and what level of centralization is appropriate.
Incentivize the provision of blockchain data so that those who want to run their own infrastructure can get started easily.
Research and develop support for existing and emerging blockchain standards
- Rosetta
- The Graph
EOS Network
The EOS Network is a 3rd generation blockchain platform powered by the EOS VM, a low-latency, highly performant, and extensible WebAssembly engine for deterministic execution of near feeless transactions; purpose-built for enabling optimal web3 user and developer experiences. EOS is the flagship blockchain and financial center of the EOSIO protocol, serving as the driving force behind multi-chain collaboration and public goods funding for tools and infrastructure through the EOS Network Foundation (ENF).
EOS Network Foundation
The EOS Network Foundation (ENF) is a not-for-profit organization that coordinates financial and non-financial support to encourage the growth and development of the EOS Network. The ENF is the hub of the EOS Network, harnessing the power of decentralization as a force for positive global change to chart a coordinated future for EOS.
