Getting Started with SQL Explorer

Overview​

SQL Explorer gives you direct SQL access to billions of rows of indexed blockchain data, without managing infrastructure. Query trades, orders, positions, liquidations, and more using standard SQL, all within the same platform you already use for RPC and Streams.

SQL Explorer is currently in Beta. We are actively expanding dataset coverage and adding new features based on user feedback.

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Why SQL Explorer​

SQL Explorer enables flexible querying of indexed blockchain data using standard SQL. Instead of relying on predefined API endpoints, you can write custom queries directly against the underlying datasets.

Key characteristics:

• No infrastructure to manage: Query blockchain data through SQL without running nodes, databases, or indexers
• Full query flexibility: Write SQL queries with standard syntax including functions, subqueries, window functions, and joins
• Built for scale: Queries execute against billions of rows using columnar storage with partition-aware optimization
• Fully Integrated: Available alongside RPC, Streams, and other Quicknode products in the same platform

Features of SQL Explorer​

SQL Explorer includes tools for querying, analyzing, and integrating blockchain data:

• SQL Editor: In-browser editor with syntax highlighting and support for standard SQL, including subqueries, window functions, GROUP BY, and JOIN
• Schema Browser: View table metadata including row counts, column names, data types, sort keys (⚡), and partition strategies. See the Schema Reference for full documentation
• Pre-built Queries: Ready-to-use queries for common use cases across supported chains
• Visualization: Generate charts with configurable axes, multi-series overlays, and hover tooltips
• REST API Access: Execute queries programmatically via POST to https://api.quicknode.com/sql/rest/v1/query with API key authentication
• Query Builder: Generate REST API calls (cURL) from the UI for any query
• Saved Query Library: Save your frequently used queries for quick access
• Execution Metrics:: View query time, rows returned, rows scanned, and bytes processed for each query

How to Access SQL Explorer​

SQL Explorer is available through the Quicknode Dashboard for interactive queries and the REST API for programmatic access.

Using the Dashboard​

The Quicknode Dashboard provides an interactive environment for building, testing, and visualizing SQL queries:

1. Open SQL Explorer in your Quicknode dashboard
2. Browse the Tables tab to explore available datasets, view schema details, or select a pre-built query from the Queries tab
3. Write a new query or modify a pre-built query in the editor
4. Click Run to execute your query
5. View results in the Results tab or switch to Charts for visualization
6. Click Save to store the query, or API to generate the corresponding REST request

Using the REST API​

The REST API allows you to execute SQL queries programmatically.

SQL queries are executed via HTTP POST request to https://api.quicknode.com/sql/rest/v1/query using your Quicknode API key. Results are returned as JSON with query execution statistics.

Get the API Call from Dashboard:

After running a query in the SQL Explorer Dashboard, click API in the top to generate a ready-to-use cURL request with your query included.

Example Request:

curl -X POST 'https://api.quicknode.com/sql/rest/v1/query' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -d '{
    "query": "SELECT time, validator, reward, block_number FROM hyperliquid_validator_rewards ORDER BY block_number DESC LIMIT 100",
    "clusterId": "hyperliquid-core-mainnet"
  }'

Example Response:

{
    "meta": [
        {
            "name": "time",
            "type": "DateTime64(6, 'UTC')"
        }
    ],
    "data": [
        {
            "time": "2026-03-30 16:24:00.058516",
            "validator": "0xf8efb4cb844a8458114994203d7b0bfe2422a288",
            "reward": 0.18548686,
            "block_number": 940269912
        },
        {
            "time": "2026-03-30 16:24:00.058516",
            "validator": "0xeeee86f718f9da3e7250624a460f6ea710e9c006",
            "reward": 0.50774076,
            "block_number": 940269912
        }
    ],
    "rows": 100,
    "rows_before_limit_at_least": 120,
    "statistics": {
        "elapsed": 0.073805665,
        "rows_read": 71918,
        "bytes_read": 5322148
    }
}

Understanding the Response:

The API response contains the following fields:

• meta: Array of column metadata with name and type for each column in the result set
• data: Array of objects containing the actual query results, with each object representing one row
• rows: Number of rows returned in this response
• rows_before_limit_at_least: Total number of rows that matched the query before applying LIMIT (useful for pagination)
• statistics: Performance metrics for query optimization:
  • elapsed: Total query execution time in seconds
  • rows_read: Total number of rows scanned during execution (may be more than returned rows due to filtering)
  • bytes_read: Total data scanned in bytes (helpful for understanding query cost and optimization opportunities)

Use the statistics fields to understand query performance and optimize scans. Lower rows_read and bytes_read generally indicate more efficient queries.

See the REST API Overview guide for detailed instructions, authentication setup, and examples.

Billing​

SQL Explorer uses API credits from your existing Quicknode account. Credit usage is calculated server-side based on the resources consumed by each query:

• Query execution time: longer-running queries cost more, with a progressive rate for queries exceeding 250ms and 2 seconds
• Data scanned: queries that scan more bytes from disk are charged accordingly
• Base fee: every query has a minimum credit charge to cover fixed infrastructure costs

Each API response includes the credit cost in the X-Credits response header, along with execution statistics (elapsed, rows_read, bytes_read) in the response body so you can monitor and optimize query costs.

Tips to reduce credit usage:

• Filter on user when possible - this leverages pre-sorted projections for fast lookups
• Use LIMIT to cap result size
• Run EXPLAIN to preview the query plan before executing expensive queries

You can view your credit usage in the Quicknode Dashboard.

Supported Networks​

SQL Explorer currently supports the following chains with additional chains coming soon:

Available Schema​

SQL Explorer provides comprehensive coverage of Hyperliquid HyperCore with billions of rows of indexed data across multiple tables including trades, orders, fills, funding, market data, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions​

We ❤️ Feedback!​

If you have any feedback or questions about this documentation, let us know. We'd love to hear from you!