Introduction
Purpose of This Document
This technical specification document provides a comprehensive overview of Khedra's architecture, implementation details, and technical design decisions. It serves as a reference for developers, system architects, and technical stakeholders who need to understand the system's inner workings, extend its functionality, or integrate with it.
System Overview
Khedra is a sophisticated blockchain indexing and monitoring solution designed with a local-first architecture. It creates and maintains the Unchained Index - a permissionless index of address appearances across blockchain data - enabling powerful monitoring capabilities for any address on any supported EVM-compatible chain.
Core Technical Components
- Indexing Engine: Processes blockchain data to extract and store address appearances
- Service Framework: Manages the lifecycle of modular services (scraper, monitor, API, IPFS, control)
- Data Storage Layer: Organizes and persists index data and caches
- Configuration System: Manages user preferences and system settings
- API Layer: Provides programmatic access to indexed data
Key Design Principles
Khedra's technical design adheres to several foundational principles:
- Local-First Processing: All data processing happens on the user's machine, maximizing privacy
- Chain Agnosticism: Support for any EVM-compatible blockchain with minimal configuration
- Modularity: Clean separation of concerns between services for flexibility and maintainability
- Resource Efficiency: Careful management of system resources, especially during indexing
- Resilience: Robust error handling and recovery mechanisms
- Extensibility: Well-defined interfaces to enable future enhancements
Technology Stack
Khedra is built on a modern technology stack:
- Go: The primary implementation language, chosen for its performance, concurrency model, and cross-platform support
- IPFS: For distributed sharing of index data
- RESTful API: For service integration and data access
- YAML: For configuration management
- Structured Logging: For operational monitoring and debugging
Target Audience
This technical specification is intended for:
- Developers: Contributing to Khedra or building on top of it
- System Administrators: Deploying and maintaining Khedra instances
- Technical Architects: Evaluating Khedra for integration with other systems
- Advanced Users: Seeking a deeper understanding of how Khedra works
Document Structure
The remaining sections of this specification are organized as follows:
- System Architecture: The high-level structure and components
- Core Functionalities: Detailed explanations of key features
- Technical Design: Implementation details and design patterns
- Supported Chains: Technical requirements and integration details
- Command-Line Interface: API and usage patterns
- Performance and Scalability: Benchmarks and optimization strategies
- Integration Points: APIs and interfaces for external systems
- Testing and Validation: Approaches to quality assurance
- Appendices: Technical reference materials
This specification aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of Khedra's technical aspects while serving as a reference for implementation, maintenance, and extension of the system.