Quickstart: Run Your First Sink

This quickstart takes you from nothing to live onchain data in your own database in about ten minutes. You generate a sink starter pack in the Admin Panel, run it with Docker, and query your first rows. Every recipe and migration guide then follows the same pattern.

Before you begin

Data Feeds is a technical product: you run the infrastructure. Unlike the REST API, the data lands in a database you own and operate: you run the Docker sink, you provision Postgres/ClickHouse (locally for this quickstart; on your own servers in production), and you are responsible for storing, sizing, and backing up the decompressed data. Decoded onchain data expands significantly from its compressed transport size, so budget disk accordingly.

Docker and Docker Compose installed and running.
A Data Feeds API key (cm_live_...). Request access if you do not have one.
Access to the Moralis Admin Panel, where you generate the sink config.
A machine with enough disk headroom for your backfill window: start small (tip-500) and widen once you’ve seen the per-block footprint for your chain.

Step 1: generate your sink starter pack

In the Admin Panel, configure a sink (pick your chain, topic, and destination database) and download the starter pack (continuum-sink-starter.zip). Unzip it. You get:

File	What it is
`sink-config.yaml`	The sink config you generated: Continuum URL, `namespace` (chain), `topic`, and destination.
`docker-compose.yml`	Brings up the sink (`moralisweb3/continuum-sink`) plus a local PostgreSQL.
`.env`	Your API key and DB password. Do not commit or share it.
`schema.sql`	DDL for the destination table(s), auto-applied to Postgres on first start.
`README.txt`	The same steps you are reading here.

namespace is the chain, as a hex chain ID. For example 0x1 is Ethereum, 0xa4b1 is Arbitrum One. See the chain reference below. topic (e.g. master-3) is the master block stream the sink reads.

Step 2: add your API key

Open .env and confirm your key is set; the generated file sometimes ships with a blank or placeholder key:

# .env  (do not commit)
MORALIS_API_KEY=cm_live_...      # your full key — the sink fails with "api_key is required" if blank
SINK_PG_PASSWORD=...             # already set for the bundled Postgres

Keep your key private. It is a live credential. Never commit .env or paste the key into shared docs or chat. If a key leaks, rotate it.

Step 3: start the stack

From the unzipped directory:

docker compose up -d

This starts PostgreSQL (with schema.sql applied) and the sink. The sink reads a backfill window from the upstream S3 store, then tails live blocks. Watch it work:

docker compose logs -f sink

Querying from your own app on the host? The bundled Postgres is only reachable inside the Docker network by default. Add a port mapping to the postgres service so you can connect from your machine:

  postgres:
    ports:
      - "5544:5432"

Then connect to localhost:5544 (user/db sdf, password from .env).

Step 4: query your first rows

The default tokenTransfers config writes to a table named after your sink (here, sdf):

docker compose exec postgres psql -U sdf -d sdf -c \
  "SELECT count(*), max(position) AS latest_block FROM public.sdf;"

-- the most recent transfers
SELECT position, tokenaddress, fromaddress, toaddress, value
FROM public.sdf
ORDER BY position DESC
LIMIT 20;

You should see the count climb as new blocks land. That is live, decoded onchain data in a store you own: no API quotas, no per-call limits.

If no rows arrive

The pipe has a few moving parts. Work down this list:

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`continuum.api_key is required` in sink logs	`MORALIS_API_KEY` blank in `.env`	Paste your full `cm_live_...` key, `docker compose up -d --force-recreate sink`.
Sink logs stop after `s3-proxy reachable` and rows stay at 0	Upstream S3 backfill stalled (e.g. “Partition not found”)	Not your setup. Confirm the chain/topic backfill is healthy with the team, then it resumes automatically.
Can connect but app can’t reach Postgres	No host port mapping	Add the `ports` block from Step 3.

Chain reference

namespace in sink-config.yaml is the chain’s ID in hex:

Chain	Chain ID	`namespace`
Ethereum	1	`0x1`
Optimism	10	`0xa`
BNB Chain	56	`0x38`
Polygon	137	`0x89`
Base	8453	`0x2105`
Arbitrum One	42161	`0xa4b1`
Avalanche	43114	`0xa86a`

What just happened

The starter pack carried a generated sink-config.yaml (chain, topic, destination) and a matching schema.
The sink (moralisweb3/continuum-sink) read the master block stream, backfilled history, then stayed live.
You queried a normal SQL table, yours to join and shape freely.

Next steps

Migrating an existing integration? Find your endpoint in the Migration guides.
Want a different dataset? Browse the recipes: swaps, balances, holders, prices, NFT activity. They all run the same way; swap the transform and schema.
Understand the model: What are Data Feeds?, History & backfill, and Destinations.
Hit something surprising? The Troubleshooting page covers the common first-run questions.

​Before you begin

​Step 1: generate your sink starter pack

​Step 2: add your API key

​Step 3: start the stack

​Step 4: query your first rows

​If no rows arrive

​Chain reference

​What just happened

​Next steps

Before you begin

Step 1: generate your sink starter pack

Step 2: add your API key

Step 3: start the stack

Step 4: query your first rows

If no rows arrive

Chain reference

What just happened

Next steps