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Plain meaning

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An HTTP callback mechanism used by Solana infrastructure providers like Helius to push real-time notifications to a developer-specified URL whenever a monitored address receives or sends a transaction, an account changes, or a specific program emits a log. Webhooks eliminate the need for client-side polling and are typically backed by Geyser-based indexers to ensure all on-chain events are delivered reliably with low latency.

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Technical context

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RPCs, validators, snapshots, indexing, and network plumbing.

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Webhook (webhook)
Category: Infrastructure
Definition: An HTTP callback mechanism used by Solana infrastructure providers like Helius to push real-time notifications to a developer-specified URL whenever a monitored address receives or sends a transaction, an account changes, or a specific program emits a log. Webhooks eliminate the need for client-side polling and are typically backed by Geyser-based indexers to ensure all on-chain events are delivered reliably with low latency.
Related: Helius, Indexer

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Branch

Helius

A Solana-focused infrastructure provider offering dedicated RPC nodes, DAS API access, Geyser-based webhooks, the LaserStream ultra-low-latency streaming product, and enhanced transaction parsing APIs that decode raw instruction data into human-readable event objects. Helius is widely used by developers for its generous free tier, Solana-specific tooling (NFT APIs, token metadata enrichment), and reliable globally distributed RPC endpoints.

RPC Node DAS (Digital Asset Standard) API

Open term

Branch

Indexer

A specialized off-chain service that continuously ingests on-chain data (typically via a Geyser plugin or RPC polling) and stores it in a queryable database optimized for complex lookups, aggregations, and historical queries that the RPC node's account-state store cannot efficiently serve. Indexers power DAS APIs, portfolio trackers, analytics dashboards, and DEX order-history features by transforming Solana's append-only ledger into relational or document-oriented schemas with fast secondary indexes.

Geyser Plugin RPC (Remote Procedure Call)

Open term

Next concepts to explore

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Infrastructure

Helius

A Solana-focused infrastructure provider offering dedicated RPC nodes, DAS API access, Geyser-based webhooks, the LaserStream ultra-low-latency streaming product, and enhanced transaction parsing APIs that decode raw instruction data into human-readable event objects. Helius is widely used by developers for its generous free tier, Solana-specific tooling (NFT APIs, token metadata enrichment), and reliable globally distributed RPC endpoints.

Open term

Infrastructure

Indexer

A specialized off-chain service that continuously ingests on-chain data (typically via a Geyser plugin or RPC polling) and stores it in a queryable database optimized for complex lookups, aggregations, and historical queries that the RPC node's account-state store cannot efficiently serve. Indexers power DAS APIs, portfolio trackers, analytics dashboards, and DEX order-history features by transforming Solana's append-only ledger into relational or document-oriented schemas with fast secondary indexes.

Open term

Infrastructure

WebSocket Subscriptions

A persistent bidirectional connection to a Solana RPC node's WebSocket endpoint (typically on port 8900) that allows clients to receive real-time push notifications when on-chain state changes, rather than polling via HTTP. The subscription model supports account changes, program account changes, slot updates, root changes, signature confirmations, and log emission, each returning a subscription ID used to later unsubscribe.

Open term

Infrastructure

Wallet Standard

A chain-agnostic TypeScript interface specification (maintained at github.com/wallet-standard/wallet-standard) that defines how browser-based wallets register themselves, expose supported features, and implement signing operations via a globally discoverable window object. On Solana, wallets implement the Solana-specific feature set (solana:signTransaction, solana:signMessage, etc.), allowing any compliant dApp using Wallet Adapter to enumerate and use installed wallets without hard-coded wallet detection logic.

Open term

Related terms

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Infrastructurehelius

Helius

A Solana-focused infrastructure provider offering dedicated RPC nodes, DAS API access, Geyser-based webhooks, the LaserStream ultra-low-latency streaming product, and enhanced transaction parsing APIs that decode raw instruction data into human-readable event objects. Helius is widely used by developers for its generous free tier, Solana-specific tooling (NFT APIs, token metadata enrichment), and reliable globally distributed RPC endpoints.

Open term

Infrastructureindexer

Indexer

A specialized off-chain service that continuously ingests on-chain data (typically via a Geyser plugin or RPC polling) and stores it in a queryable database optimized for complex lookups, aggregations, and historical queries that the RPC node's account-state store cannot efficiently serve. Indexers power DAS APIs, portfolio trackers, analytics dashboards, and DEX order-history features by transforming Solana's append-only ledger into relational or document-oriented schemas with fast secondary indexes.

Open term

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Infrastructure

RPC (Remote Procedure Call)

The JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol interface through which clients communicate with Solana nodes to query chain state, submit transactions, and subscribe to events. Solana exposes a rich set of HTTP and WebSocket endpoints (e.g., getAccountInfo, sendTransaction) that abstract direct peer-to-peer network participation, making RPC the primary integration point for wallets, dApps, and indexers.

Open term

Infrastructure

RPC Node

A Solana full node that stores ledger state and serves JSON-RPC and WebSocket requests from clients without participating in consensus or voting. RPC nodes must replay every transaction to maintain an accurate account state database, and high-throughput deployments typically run dedicated RPC nodes with large SSDs, high RAM (256 GB+), and high-bandwidth network connections to handle concurrent client load without impacting validator performance.

Open term

Infrastructure

RPC Methods

The enumerated JSON-RPC endpoints exposed by Solana nodes, covering account queries (getAccountInfo, getMultipleAccounts, getProgramAccounts), block and transaction retrieval (getBlock, getTransaction), cluster metadata (getEpochInfo, getSlot, getVersion), and transaction submission (sendTransaction, simulateTransaction). Methods accept a Commitment parameter (processed, confirmed, finalized) to control the recency-vs-safety tradeoff of returned data.

Open term

Infrastructure

getAccountInfo

An RPC method that returns the complete on-chain state of a single account identified by its base-58 public key, including its lamport balance, owner program, executable flag, rent epoch, and raw data payload encoded as base64 or base58. It is the most fundamental read primitive in Solana development and is called at the specified commitment level, with the data field being null if the account does not exist.

Open term