Polka-Xplo

A modular, metadata-driven blockchain explorer for the Polkadot ecosystem. Built on Polkadot-API (PAPI) for type-safe, light-client-ready chain interaction.

Polka-Xplo ingests, indexes, and serves blockchain data (blocks, extrinsics, events, accounts, balances, XCM messages) through a plugin-first architecture that adapts dynamically to runtime upgrades and custom pallet extensions.

Features

• Full chain indexing — Blocks, extrinsics, events, accounts, balances with automatic backfill and live sync
• Extension system — Plug-in pallet-specific logic (staking, governance, assets, XCM) without touching the core
• XCM cross-chain tracking — Inbound/outbound messages, value transfers, and channel statistics with asset filtering
• Chain activity chart — Interactive homepage visualization of extrinsics, transfers, events, and blocks over time
• Account detail tabs — Extrinsics, transfers, asset transfers, and XCM activity in one view
• Multi-chain support — Index any Substrate chain by swapping the RPC endpoint and chain config
• Runtime metadata driven — Auto-adapts to runtime upgrades via PAPI V14 metadata
• Interactive API docs — Swagger UI at /api-docs

Quick Start

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/10igma/polka-xplo.git && cd polka-xplo

# Launch (Ajuna Network)
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.ajuna.yml up -d

# Verify
curl http://localhost:3001/health

Open http://localhost:3000 — the explorer is live.

Works for any Substrate chain — just swap the RPC endpoint and chain ID. See Switching Chains.

Documentation

Guide	Description
Getting Started	Docker quickstart, local dev, switching chains
Architecture	System overview, indexer deep-dive, DB schema
Configuration	Environment variables, chain-config, Docker overrides
API Reference	All REST endpoints with parameters and response shapes
Extension Guide	Build chain-specific plugins (staking, governance, etc.)
Deployment	Docker Compose production setup, monitoring, multi-chain
Development	Local dev, testing, linting, TypeScript config
Troubleshooting	Common errors and fixes

Tech Stack

• Indexer: Node.js 20, Polkadot-API (PAPI), PostgreSQL 16, Redis 7 (BullMQ)
• Frontend: Next.js 15, React 19, Tailwind CSS 3, Recharts
• Tooling: TypeScript (strict), Turborepo, Vitest, ESLint, Prettier
• Deployment: Docker Compose

Project Structure

packages/
  shared/     # Config, types, constants
  db/         # PostgreSQL client, queries, migrations
  indexer/    # Block processor, REST API, extension loader
  web/        # Next.js frontend
extensions/
  ext-assets/       # Asset pallet (balances, transfers)
  ext-governance/   # Governance proposals & voting
  ext-xcm/          # XCM cross-chain messages & transfers
  pallet-staking/   # Staking rewards, bonds, slashes

License

MIT