/yellowstone-grpc

name: yellowstone-grpc
description: Real-time Solana transaction and account streaming via Yellowstone gRPC (Geyser plugin)

Yellowstone gRPC — Real-Time Solana Streaming

Stream every transaction, account update, slot, and block on Solana in real-time using Yellowstone gRPC. This is the foundation for any latency-sensitive Solana trading system — replacing REST polling with push-based streaming at ~5ms slot latency.

Why Yellowstone gRPC

| Method | Slot Latency (p90) | Use Case | |--------|-------------------|----------| | REST polling (`getTransaction`) | ~150ms+ | Historical lookups | | WebSocket (`onLogs`) | ~10ms | Simple notifications | | **Yellowstone gRPC** | **~5ms** | **Production trading systems** |

Yellowstone is a Geyser plugin that exposes Solana validator data over gRPC. Every major RPC provider runs it. You subscribe to filtered streams of transactions, account changes, slots, blocks, and entries — and the data pushes to you.

Quick Start

1. Get Access

You need a gRPC-enabled RPC provider. See `references/providers.md` for full comparison.

| Provider | gRPC Entry Price | Notes | |----------|-----------------|-------| | Shyft | $199/mo | Best value, 7 regions, unlimited bandwidth | | Helius | $999/mo | LaserStream, DAS APIs included | | Triton One | ~$2,900/mo | Created Yellowstone, lowest latency | | QuickNode | Plan-dependent | Marketplace add-on | | Chainstack | $49/mo (1 stream) | Budget option, limited filters | | Alchemy | Free tier available | Compute-unit metered |

2. Install Dependencies

# Python
uv pip install grpcio grpcio-tools protobuf base58 solders python-dotenv

# Generate Python stubs from proto files
git clone https://github.com/rpcpool/yellowstone-grpc.git
python -m grpc_tools.protoc \
  -I./yellowstone-grpc/yellowstone-grpc-proto/proto/ \
  --python_out=./generated \
  --pyi_out=./generated \
  --grpc_python_out=./generated \
  ./yellowstone-grpc/yellowstone-grpc-proto/proto/*.proto

# Rust — Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
yellowstone-grpc-client = "6.0.0"
yellowstone-grpc-proto = "6.0.0"
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros"] }
futures = "0.3"
bs58 = "0.5"

# TypeScript
npm install @triton-one/yellowstone-grpc @solana/web3.js

3. Environment Setup

export GRPC_ENDPOINT="https://grpc.ny.shyft.to"  # your provider endpoint
export GRPC_TOKEN="your-x-token-here"              # from provider dashboard

4. Connect and Subscribe

import grpc
import os
from generated import geyser_pb2, geyser_pb2_grpc

endpoint = os.environ["GRPC_ENDPOINT"].replace("https://", "")
token = os.environ["GRPC_TOKEN"]

# Authenticated TLS channel
auth_creds = grpc.metadata_call_credentials(
    lambda ctx, cb: cb((("x-token", token),), None)
)
channel = grpc.secure_channel(
    endpoint,
    grpc.composite_channel_credentials(
        grpc.ssl_channel_credentials(), auth_creds
    ),
    options=[("grpc.max_receive_message_length", 64 * 1024 * 1024)],
)
stub = geyser_pb2_grpc.GeyserStub(channel)

Core Concepts

Subscription Types

| Type | What You Get | Use Case | |------|-------------|----------| | `transactions` | Full transaction with metadata | DEX swap monitoring, copy trading | | `accounts` | Account data on change | Pool reserve tracking, token supply | | `slots` | Slot progression events | Block timing, confirmation tracking | | `blocks` | Full block contents | Block-level analysis | | `blocks_meta` | Block metadata only | Lightweight block tracking | | `entry` | Block entries (shred groups) | Low-level validator data | | `transactions_status` | Tx status without full data | Lightweight confirmation |

Filter Logic

• Multiple filter **types** (transactions + accounts) = **AND** — you get updates matching any type
• Values within arrays (multiple addresses in `account_include`) = **OR**
• Named filters let you distinguish which filter matched in the response
• Sending a new `SubscribeRequest` **replaces** all previous filters

Commitment Levels

| Level | Speed | Safety | Use For | |-------|-------|--------|---------| | `PROCESSED` | Fastest | May be rolled back | Time-critical signals | | `CONFIRMED` | ~400ms slower | Supermajority voted | Most trading use cases | | `FINALIZED` | ~6-12s slower | Irreversible | Settlement verification |

Common Subscription Patterns

Watch All Swaps on a DEX Program

# Filter: all non-vote, non-failed transactions involving PumpFun
request = geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequest(
    transactions={
        "pumpfun": geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequestFilterTransactions(
            account_include=["6EF8rrecthR5Dkzon8Nwu78hRvfCKubJ14M5uBEwF6P"],
            vote=False,
            failed=False,
        )
    },
    commitment=geyser_pb2.CommitmentLevel.PROCESSED,
)

Track Specific Wallets

request = geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequest(
    transactions={
        "whales": geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequestFilterTransactions(
            account_include=[
                "WalletAddress1...",
                "WalletAddress2...",
            ],
            vote=False,
            failed=False,
        )
    },
    commitment=geyser_pb2.CommitmentLevel.CONFIRMED,
)

Monitor Pool Reserves (Account Subscription)

request = geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequest(
    accounts={
        "raydium_pools": geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequestFilterAccounts(
            account=["PoolAddress1...", "PoolAddress2..."],
        )
    },
    commitment=geyser_pb2.CommitmentLevel.PROCESSED,
)

Reduce Bandwidth with Data Slicing

# Only get the first 40 bytes of account data (e.g., just the discriminator + key fields)
request = geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequest(
    accounts={
        "token_accounts": geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequestFilterAccounts(
            owner=["TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA"],
            filters=[
                geyser_pb2.SubscribeRequestFilterAccountsFilter(