Deploying a Block Explorer

Blockscout (opens in a new tab) is an open source block explorer that supports OP Stack chains. Keep reading for a quick overview on how to deploy Blockscout for your OP Stack chain.

💡

Check out the Blockscout documentation (opens in a new tab) for up-to-date information on how to deploy and maintain a Blockscout instance.

Dependencies

Docker (opens in a new tab)

Create an Archive Node

Blockscout needs access to an archive node (opens in a new tab) for your OP Stack chain to properly index transactions, blocks, and internal interactions. If using op-geth, you can run a node in archive mode with the --gcmode=archive flag.

💡

Archive nodes take up significantly more disk space than full nodes. You may need to have 2-4 terabytes of disk space available (ideally SSD) if you intend to run an archive node for a production OP Stack chain. 1-200 gigabytes of disk space may be sufficient for a development chain.

Installation

Blockscout can be started from its source code on GitHub.

git clone https://github.com/blockscout/blockscout.git -b production-optimism
cd blockscout/docker-compose

Configuration

Review the configuration files within the envs directory and make any necessary changes. In particular, make sure to review envs/common-blockscout.env and envs/common-frontend.env.

Starting Blockscout

Start Blockscout with the following command:

DOCKER_REPO=blockscout-optimism docker compose -f geth.yml up

Usage

Explorer

After Blockscout is started, browse to http://localhost (opens in a new tab) to view the user interface. Note that this URL may differ if you have changed the Blockscout configuration.

API

Blockscout provides both a REST API and a GraphQL API. Refer to the API documentation (opens in a new tab) for more information.

Preinstalls Intro to OP Stack Hacks