Indexer Installation

The Algorand Indexer enables searching the blockchain for transactions, assets, accounts, and blocks using various criteria. While both V1 and V2 Indexers exist, the V1 Indexer is deprecated and can significantly slow down nodes. Users should use the V2 Indexer.

The V2 Indexer runs as an independent process that connects to a PostgreSQL compatible database containing the ledger data. The Indexer populates this database by connecting to an Algorand archival node and processing all ledger data. Alternatively, the Indexer can connect to a PostgreSQL database that has already been populated by another Indexer instance. This setup allows you to have multiple reader instances providing REST APIs for searching the database, while a single Indexer handles loading the ledger data.

The V2 Indexer is network agnostic and can connect to BetaNet, TestNet, or MainNet.

The source code for the Indexer is available on GitHub.

For more information, see:

Indexer V2 Installation and Setup

Installation

Download the Indexer binaries from GitHub.
Extract the binaries:

You can place the binary in any directory. These instructions use an indexer folder in the current user’s home directory:
```
  mkdir ~/indexer
  cd /path/to/download-dir
  tar -xf <your-os-tarfile> -C ~/indexer
  cd ~/indexer/<tarfile-name>
```

Running the Indexer

The Indexer provides two main services:

Loading ledger data into a PostgreSQL database
Providing a REST API to search this ledger data

You can configure the Indexer to point to a database loaded by another Indexer instance, and the database doesn’t need to be on the current node. This allows for a setup where one Indexer loads the database while multiple Indexers share this data through their REST APIs.

View all available options by running the Indexer binary with the -h flag.

Start as a Reader

To run the Indexer as a reader (without connecting to an Algorand node), use the --postgres or -P option with a valid PostgreSQL connection string:

./algorand-indexer daemon --data-dir /tmp -P "host=[your-host] port=[your-port] user=[uname] password=[password] dbname=[ledgerdb] sslmode=disable" --no-algod

Start as a Data Loader

To populate the PostgreSQL database, provide the Algorand Archival node connection details using either:

The Algorand Node data directory (--algod), if the node is on the same machine
The algod network host and port string (--algod-net) with the API token (--algod-token)

The Indexer’s --data-dir flag specifies where it writes its own data and is distinct from the algod data directory mentioned above.

# Start with local data directory
./algorand-indexer daemon --data-dir /tmp -P "host=[your-host] port=[your-port] user=[uname] password=[password] dbname=[ledgerdb] sslmode=disable" --algod=~/node/data

# Start with networked Algorand node
./algorand-indexer daemon --data-dir /tmp -P "host=[your-host] port=[your-port] user=[uname] password=[password] dbname=[ledgerdb] sslmode=disable" --algod-net="http://[your-host]:[your-port]" --algod-token="[your-api-token]"

REST API Configuration

The Indexer provides a REST API for accessing the indexed blockchain data. The API can be configured for both server settings and authentication.

Server Configuration

The API server defaults to port 8980
Use the --server option with a [host:port] value to specify a different address (e.g., --server localhost:3000)

Authentication

Set an API token using the --token parameter when starting the Indexer
If a token is set, all API clients must include this token in their requests to access the endpoints

View Indexer REST Endpoint specifications here.

To enable indexing on a node:

Set the isIndexerActive configuration parameter to true
Ensure the node is in archival mode