Decentralized RPC protocol relaying requests through a permissionless network of node operators. Following the Shannon upgrade and the Pocket Network Foundation taking over operations from Grove (formerly Pocket Network Inc.), production traffic now flows through PATH-based gateways.
- 01decentralized RPC with no single operator
- 02high-relay-volume applications
- 03self-hosted PATH gateway
- 04long-tail chain coverage via independent operators
- 05censorship-resistant infra
- pnpm add viem
| Variable | Scope | Description |
|---|---|---|
| POKT_GATEWAY_URL | Server | Full Pocket / Grove-compatible gateway URL with app/key segment, e.g. `https://<chain>.rpc.grove.city/v1/<APP_ID>` or your self-hosted PATH gateway URL. Server-side only. |
| POKT_APP_ID | Server | Application/portal identifier provisioned on your gateway (Grove Portal, self-hosted PATH, or a third-party gateway operator post-Shannon). |
Use Pocket Network as a decentralized JSON-RPC transport. After the Shannon upgrade (Sep 2025) and Grove's exit from gateway operation (Q4 2025–Q1 2026), production traffic uses PATH — Grove's open-source gateway framework — either via a hosted Grove-compatible gateway or self-hosted from `buildwithgrove/path`. Endpoint pattern (Grove Portal style): `https://<chain>.rpc.grove.city/v1/<POKT_APP_ID>`. Wire into `viem` via `createPublicClient({ chain: mainnet, transport: http(process.env.POKT_GATEWAY_URL) })`. Pocket relays distribute requests across independent node operators staked in POKT; the gateway handles signing/QoS so dApps see a normal HTTPS RPC. For sovereign access deploy your own PATH instance and point it at the Shannon network.
- ⚑Grove (formerly Pocket Network Inc.) handed gateway operations back to the Pocket Network Foundation in Q4 2025 — old `gateway.pokt.network` and Grove Portal endpoints may have migrated; re-check your gateway URL after Shannon.
- ⚑Pocket is a relay protocol, NOT a node provider — a 'node' on Pocket is a staked supplier; archive-mode and debug/trace coverage depends on which suppliers serve your chain and is not guaranteed across all networks.
- ⚑Pre-Shannon (Morse) and post-Shannon (Cosmos-SDK chain with usage-based economics) had different staking, app-stake, and relay accounting models — docs and SDKs from before Sep 2025 may reference deprecated endpoints.
- ⚑Decentralized routing means individual relays may return inconsistent results during reorgs or if a supplier serves a stale node — gateways apply QoS/consensus checks but you should still validate critical reads (e.g. block hash) at the app layer.
- ⚑Free portal tiers have daily relay caps; bursty workloads (event log backfills, NFT metadata scrapes) hit caps fast and 429 — paginate and cache aggressively.
- ⚑Self-hosting PATH requires running a Cosmos-chain client and managing app stake in POKT — operationally heavier than a hosted RPC like Alchemy/QuickNode.
- ⚑POKT token rewards/inflation changes meaningfully affect operator economics post-Shannon — supplier set churn can cause regional latency drift over time.