Concepts Overview

Before diving into a specific product, read the cross-cutting concepts that apply to every endpoint. They're short.

The fast path

If you have ten minutes, read these three in order:

1. Core Objects — the noun-based resource model. Every URL maps to one of 13 top-level resources, every response uses a { data, meta } envelope, every long-lived resource carries a status field.
2. Transaction Modes — every write endpoint takes mode: "unsigned" | "signed". Knowing which to pick is the difference between a clean integration and a frustrating one.
3. Resource lifecycles — the explicit state machines that determine what a status: "live" actually means for a pool, an airdrop, a stake, etc. Webhook events fire on each transition.

When the request fails or hangs

• Transaction Lifecycle — the coarse states returned by GET /v2/transactions/{signature}. Which one is safe to act on, which one means "keep polling", which one is terminal.
• Idempotency — pass an Idempotency-Key header on every write so retries don't double-execute. This is the single most important header.
• External UID — attach your internal request ID to API resources so you can reconcile with your own ledger without round-tripping through metadata.

When you need to scale or self-serve

• Scopes & Permissions — what fees:claim, airdrop:admin, and the * wildcard each unlock.
• Pagination & Limits — cursor pagination on every list endpoint, batch-call caps, Solana protocol limits.

Reference

• Glossary — definitions for every on-chain primitive and platform-specific term.