The role of curators in The Graph network
About the Graph Network
The Graph Network is a decentralized indexing protocol for organizing blockchain data. Applications use GraphQL to query open APIs called subgraphs, to retrieve data that is indexed on the network. With The Graph, developers can build serverless applications that run entirely on public infrastructure. The Graph Network consists of Indexers, Curators and Delegators that provide services to the network, and serve data to Web3 applications. Consumers use the applications and consume the data.
The role of curators in The Graph network
The curator is an important unit on The Graph system. The curators is a person who finds projects that can benefit from creating a subgraph, develops subgraphs, determines which subgraphs are of the highest quality and which data should be indexed. And in order to confidently cope with these tasks, each curator must have a number of qualities and skills.
Curators are subgraph developers, data consumers or community members who signal to Indexers which subgraphs (APIs) should be indexed by The Graph Network. Curators deposit GRT into a bonding curve to signal on a specific subgraph and earn a portion of query fees for the subgraphs they signal on; incentivizing the highest quality data sources.
Curators use their knowledge of the Web3 ecosystem to assess which subgraphs are high quality — Curators do not need to be technical. For example, if you know which applications are most used, which data sources are most trusted, and which communities are growing — you can gather which subgraphs will be the highest quality!
Because curation occurs on a bonding curve, the earlier that consumers signal on a subgraph, the greater share of the query fees they can earn on that. However, there is a risk that if others sell their curation shares, the value of the shares can decrease and a curator would receive less GRT back from the bonding curve. Curators cannot be slashed for bad behavior, but there is a withdrawal tax on Curators to disincentivize poor decision making about subgraph signaling that could harm the integrity of the network. Curators also earn fewer query fees if they choose to curate on a low-quality subgraph, since there will be fewer queries to process or fewer indexers to process those queries.
The main curator issues
1. Follow the new projects release
New decentralized applications on the Ethereum network appear every day, and some of them are gaining popularity and gaining a large user base. It is important for such applications to provide relevant and informative data for their users, so the development and launch of a subgraph can significantly improve their functionality.
The task of the curator in this case is to notify a project that does not yet have a subgraph about the possibility of its development and implementation, or to suggest the use of a subgraph already created by the curator or his colleagues.
In the graph explorer, you can find already existing subgraphs so that the found projects do not repeat.
2. Analyze and evaluate already existing subgraphs
There are over 2,000 subgraphs deployed on The Graph, but not all of them are equally useful. Some subgraphs could be created as test ones, and some are simply not relevant. Of all this mass of subgraphs, the curator should choose only high-quality, complete and relevant ones and notify indexers about such subgraphs.
Subgraphs that can be improved and refined, the curator can contact the developers and suggest making the necessary adjustments.
The evaluation of the subgraph took place in the 2nd phase of the course program and can be viewed here
More info about Subgraph Evaluation: the new life of curators you can find here https://colliseum2006-23245.medium.com/subgraph-evaluation-the-new-life-of-curators-eee73393b9c6
3. Develop subgraphs yourself
The development of the subgraph took place during the 3rd phase of the curatorial program. The development of subgraphs is a rather complicated process, therefore, within the framework of this article, it is not possible to fully disclose it. For a more detailed understanding of the essence of the issue, you can study this article https://colliseum2006-23245.medium.com/как-быстро-задеплоить-subgraph-пошаговый-чеклист-функций-в-power-shell-a8f4741c6288 .
4. Create content useful to the community and popularize the The Graph system
Each curator can create useful content in the form of videos, articles, guides and tutorials that will help new curators and other network participants understand the structure of The Graph protocol https://thegraph.com/. It can also be participation in discussions related to the development of the protocol, because it is the curators who work most actively with The Graph technologies and better than other users understand what can be improved and in which direction the developers should move. For popularization, you can create memes, funny GIFs and other content for social networks. Thus, curators can convey information about The Graph to those people who are not yet familiar with it.
5. Support to other Curators
Together, curators can make much more progress in developing subgraphs, evaluating existing ones, and establishing contacts with projects.
You can find more information about The Graph on the official website, as well as on social networks:
Official website: https://thegraph.com/
Blog: https://thegraph.com/blog/
Discord: https://discord.gg/K3z4tKJU
Telegram: https://t.me/graphprotocol
Twitter: https://twitter.com/graphprotocol
Join and participate in building a decentralized future with The Graph!
