TLDR;
Today, we at Covalent are excited to launch a new reference documentation experience for our GoldRush Blockchain APIs. This new product is a complete re-thinking of the experience after speaking with thousands of developers who have come to rely on the Covalent API for their everyday blockchain data needs.
Some highlights of the new product:
- try the live API directly from the browser
- the analyst mode displays JSON responses with a spreadsheet interface
- built-in i18n features with Russian, Korean & Chinese language support and more languages to be added soon
- quick start templates that showcase various use-cases of the API
- new xy=k class B endpoints for Uniswap-like exchanges on various blockchains
In case you'd prefer to watch the update on 2x, here's a video version ;)
Background
Over the last four years, we’ve continuously invested in building the richest and the most robust data infrastructure for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Today we are proud that tens of thousands of developers have come to rely on the Covalent API for their everyday data needs.
The Web3 space is exploding with use-cases, a growing list of products with traction and product-market fit, and the new talent entering the space every day. With these new developments, our team felt the API Reference Docs – the developer's window into the API was due for a hard refresh.
Three Killer Features
1. The spreadsheet view for analysts
A big use-case of the Covalent API that is accidentally discovered by analysts (not developers) is the CSV export options of the API. Spreadsheet applications like Excel/Google sheets allow live-loading of CSV files from URLs and this feature is 🔥🔥🔥 to have always fresh, live blockchain data into your tool of choice with no intermediate steps.
With the analyst mode, we've made this feature front and center.
2. Switch to another blockchain with one-click
![Image](https://www.covalenthq.com/static/images/blog/202111/update chains.jpg)
One of the novel features of the Covalent API is the unified interface it exposes to various blockchains. We have painstakingly normalized the differences between different blockchains so that developers simply have to change the chainId
in order to read data from another blockchain. It's really that simple.
The global navigation bar shows a drop down of all blockchains (18 and counting!) that are accessible through the API.
3. New XY=K endpoints
Along with the new docs, we are also opening access to a whole suite of APIs known as XY=K
. With the success of Uniswap, there are now dozens of exchanges on various blockchains that are modelled after Uniswap (sometimes an exact clone of the contracts) and these new API endpoints can work with all of these exchanges.
Quote from Ganesh Swami, Covalent CEO & Co-founder
“ The Web3 has come leaps and bounds since we started Covalent in 2017 and the current crop of tools are no longer satisfying market needs. We are builders at heart and took this opportunity to re-think and re-build a developer experience that we think is best in class. API Docs are a window into the soul of our product. Very excited to have our tens of thousands of developers experiencing the new docs with the Covalent GoldRush API.
Quote from Tobias, Covalent Alchemist
“ The new, reworked version of the API docs enable quicker testing of the endpoints. I especially like the global definition of the chain_id value and currency value, as well as the predefined request parameters for specific requests. This saves me time during development. A great addition is the new Analyst mode: I love how it's possible to switch between a JSON response and a table view.
Quote from Cuegod, Covalent Alchemist
“ Designed with beautiful and intuitive UI, the Covalent brand new API docs site is well organized. I had an excellent experience when querying the API. Fast response, slow latency and a wide range of supported blockchains and endpoints. It can meet every development request I had.
What's Next - Building with the Community
The Covalent API docs provide an experience that exists nowhere else in this space; free and easy access to the richest data in the blockchain ecosystem. As we grow our community of data-nerds, we are including developers in documentation process to create an approachable and user-friendly interface, welcoming anybody to unlock the possibilities of on-chain data.
As part of this process, we are conducting a Hackathon with our community of Alchemists, for the purpose of generating use-case templates to be featured on the new API docs as we continue to roll out features. This Hackathon is called "AlchemistdApps Unleashed" and runs from November 1-15. You can learn more and register here.
![Image](https://www.covalenthq.com/static/images/blog/202111/alchemistdapps unleashed.jpeg)
Feedback and Support
For feedback and support, API users can head to the dedicated feedback-and-support channel in our Discord.
To request new features on the API, users can head to the Covalent Governance Forum and make requests within the 'Development' category here. Feature requests will not yet go through a formal voting process on this forum, but as we continue to decentralize the Covalent Network our forum will facilitate more and more decision making through the community.