API Usage & System Design

The portfolio centerpiece: cost-aware architecture for a 100,000 request/year Blockchair budget.

274 req/day target

Today

2.9% utilization

YTD used

14.8% utilization

Projected

86.1% utilization

Cache hit

94.1% utilization

Request Flow

browser has no Blockchair key

Browser

Submits intentional searches and reads internal JSON routes.

Next.js API

Route handlers validate input, rate-limit, and choose TTLs.

Cache

In-memory starter cache plus Next revalidation headers.

Blockchair

Called server-side only, with key from environment variables.

Cache and Refresh Schedule

Data type	Refresh	Reason
Dashboard overview	15-60 min	High recruiter visibility, low volatility
Chain stats	30-60 min	Balances freshness with daily request ceiling
Historical charts	12-24 h	Expensive and rarely needs minute freshness
Latest blocks / txs	5-15 min	Short TTL, still cache-first
Transaction or block search	30-365 d	Immutable once confirmed
Address summaries	15-60 min	Mutable, so shorter TTL
Invalid searches	5-15 min	Avoids repeated waste from bad input

Endpoint Cost