CAIP-200: BlockExplorer API Routes

Author Pedro Gomes, ligi
Discussions-To https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/CAIPs/discussions/199
Status Draft
Type Standard
Created 2023-1-11

Table of Contents

Simple Summary

Standard API Routes for Blockchain explorers

Abstract

This CAIP standardizes the routes for addesses and transactions between BlockExplorers.

Motivation

For the Ethereum ecosystem, Pedro Gomez already created EIP-3091 and it has already helped harmonize block explorers’ usage of uniform routes. In the process of verifying compatibility and conformance for new entries in ethereum-lists/chains, Ligi noticed that only addresses and transactions are really meaningfully used. Also, the evolution of L2s has seen many drift away from the concept of blocks, making uniform syntax increasingly difficult.

For these reasons, this CAIP requires minimal routes that are used most of the time with the least divergence across L1s and L2s’ data structures. Other routes, or alternate syntaxes that can redirect to these, can be specified in separate future CAIPs extending this one. This creates a more composable and piecemeal conformance since many use cases need only these routes.

Specification

Block explorers will route their webpages accordingly for the following syntax:

Transactions

<BLOCK_EXPORER_URL>/tx/<TX_HASH>

Note: transactions should be addressed here natively, i.e. in the native, internal syntax of the relevant namespace, rather than universally.

Addresses

<BLOCK_EXPLORER_URL>/address/<ACTOR_ADDRESS>

Note: actor addresses should be addressed here natively, i.e. in the native, internal syntax of the relevant namespace, rather than in CAIP-10 URN syntax or any other multi-chain standard.

Backwards Compatibility

This CAIP was designed with existing API routes in mind to reduce disruption. Incompatible block explorers can come into conformance by programming redirects from their existing API routes to the syntax outlined in this EIP, or supporting both; they are not considered conformant if the syntax above redirects to any other route. Explorers that conform to EIP-3091 are automatically conformant with this CAIP.

  • EIP-3091 - EVM-wide standard for block explorer addressing syntax

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Citation

Please cite this document as:

Pedro Gomes, ligi, "CAIP-200: BlockExplorer API Routes [DRAFT]," Chain Agnostic Improvement Proposals, no. 200, January 2023. [Online serial]. Available: https://github.com/ChainAgnostic/CAIPs/blob/master/CAIPs/caip-200.md