This month in curation #1

General Ecosystem Updates
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This month in curation #1

Welcome to this month in curation. Here we will highlight relevant information for curators and subgraph developers.

Curation is around the corner. I am excited, and you should be too! A great way to prepare for curation is by rehashing what we know about curation mechanisms and subgraph development. This month we will take a look at the bonding curve and schemas.


Preparing for curation #1 - Bonding Curve
This month I want to highlight the bonding curve. The Curator’s role in the network is signalling to Indexers what subgraphs are worth indexing. They do this by depositing GRT. In return, they receive curation shares. The curation shares entitles curators to a portion of the future query fees collected on that subgraph.

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It is important to note that curation happens on a bonding curve. The more GRT is signalled on a certain subgraph, the more "expensive" each curation share will be. This incentivizes curators to find and signal on useful subgraphs early. As a curator, you need to know: When you burn your curation shares to withdraw GRT, you can end up with more or less GRT than you initially deposited.

If you want to dive deeper into curation markets and bonding curves, I’ll recommend these articles:

Subgraph refresher #1 - Schemas

There are many reasons to learn more about subgraphs.

  • Find the best subgraphs to curate on.
  • Empower your dApp with a subgraph.
  • Become a subgraph development freelancer.

Schemas are the most critical part of the subgraph. They are also, fortunately, quite intuitive to understand. The schema defines what data is available to query. It is written in the open-source query language GraphQL
If you are a subgraph developer, this is likely where you’d start - by defining what data would be useful for your dApp.
If you are assessing if a subgraph is worth curating on, having some knowledge about schemas might give you an edge. You could even make an improvement proposal for the subgraph you are curating at, to increase queries to that subgraph.

  • You can read about defining a schema in our docs
  • GraphQL has a primer on schemas
  • I would recommend taking a look at the everest subgraph. Here you can see how the data defined in the schema on the right side of the page, can be queried by using graphQL. This subgraph is easy to understand and well commented.

Highlights from the forum and GitHub

  • Unit Testing in Assembly Script [Forum] [GitHub]
    A grant proposal has been made to develop a subgraph unit testing framework to ensure mapping logic is correct.
    The current proposal suggests that developers should be able to test their mapping logic against a known store state and against test fixtures (events).

  • Graph CLI Improvement [Forum]
    A list of improvals for the Graph CLI has been proposed. Subgraph developers are encouraged to leave feedback and come with suggestions of their own.

The Graph continues to expand

The Graph expands to L2s and adds support for Polygon (formerly Matic).
The Graph now also supports Fantom, an Ethereum VM-compatible chain.
The Graph will soon support Polkadot, NEAR, Solana, and Celo Layer 1 Blockchains, opening Web3 opportunities to a wider ecosystem.

  • Developers on Polygon, Fantom, Polkadot, NEAR, Solana and Celo are eligible for The Graph Foundation grants.

Upcoming Events

  • We would love to know more about the subgraph you are building. Get in touch to be featured in our upcoming "Know your subgraph developer"

  • The first NFT Subgraph Community Call took place February 25th. Developers building NFTs with The Graph discussed their current projects, how they’re using subgraphs, and what improvements can be made for the protocol to better support indexing and querying of data across chains. Check out the recording. The next one will be held March 4th, 10am PST. To learn more, join the NFTs channel on the official graph discord. If you didn’t sign up for the first call, register here to be invited to the next call.

If you have any suggestions on topics we should cover or initiatives you’d like to see, we would love to hear it. Comment below, or contact me directly. You can also find me at discord Slimchance#1699

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You need to get this man interviewed! @juanmardefago

Nice work on the newsletter :+1:

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Very interesting! Great initiative! :clap: I would like to know an estimate about how much will cost on average to signal a subgraph - 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000 GRTs?

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Hi Jarbas!
There is currently no lower limit. You are free to signal with any amount. The more GRT you deposit into the bonding curve, the more shares you will mint. Since this process cost gas, however, it might not be viable to signal with a very low amount.

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Many thanks for this content. Very useful. :raised_hands: :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks for the info! We look forward to starting :+1: :+1:

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So Curators from Testnet are to continue their work curating/signalling? Is this a seperate program? Will there be rewards for new users who begin signalling as Curators?

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Once curation goes fully live, anyone is welcome to become a curator.

There are no incentivized program, but as a curator you will earn a portion of the query fees collected on subgraphs you signal on. If you signal early on a popular subgraph, you could burn (sell) your shares for a profit.

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Great article!

The second link “Continuous Bonding Curves” is broken. It should point to https://blog.relevant.community/how-to-make-bonding-curves-for-continuous-token-models-3784653f8b17

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Thanks for pointing that out. The link should work now :slight_smile:

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Nice initiative @Slimchance :+1:

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Looks great. Ready to learn all about subgraph as well :grin:

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Thank you @Slimchance for the update. I am so excited about curation and appreciate the resources on bonding curves & schemas. The expansion to new chains like Polygon and Fantom is great news for all. :blush: