Overview
Iagon Insight is a paid data service that lets app builders read information from Cardano and send transactions without running their own Cardano infrastructure. Apps ask it questions through an API, a connection that lets one program request data from another, and get back balances, transactions, staking details, stake pools and governance records1. Now in beta, Iagon keeps the service in sync with the blockchain and available2.
Insight comes from Iagon, a Cardano project that builds decentralized storage and computing services, and runs on Iagon Enterprise Compute, the company's own network of shared computing resources2. Iagon's documentation describes it as built for teams such as banks, custodians and exchanges that need steady access to Cardano without running a node, a computer that keeps a full copy of the blockchain, or an indexer, a database that sorts chain data for fast lookups2. Iagon's other products include its Staking Platform and LedgerFlow, a tool for shared wallets that need several people to approve a payment3.
Key Features
- Switch from Blockfrost or Koios with little rework. Insight answers the same requests as Blockfrost and Koios, two other Cardano data services, so an existing app mostly needs a new web address and an Insight key1.
- One key for the live and test networks. A single API key, the password-like code an app sends with each request, works on Cardano mainnet and on preprod, the practice network used for testing4.
- Send transactions without your own node. Insight's native API submits transactions a wallet has already signed and can work out how much computing effort a transaction's smart contracts, the programs that run on the blockchain, will need4.
- Ready-made plug-in for Mesh builders. An official package connects Insight to Mesh, a toolkit for building Cardano apps in JavaScript, so one setting handles fetching data, checking transactions and submitting them5.
- Separate keys with their own limits. An account can hold up to 25 keys, each with its own usage limit and a list of approved IP addresses, the network addresses allowed to use that key1.
What to Expect
Insight is a service for builders, not an app for ordinary users. There is no wallet or trading screen, only an account dashboard and the API itself1. Developers get a reference page that lists the requests the API answers, with sample code in several programming languages4. Builders who use Lucid Evolution, another JavaScript toolkit, can point its built-in Blockfrost connection at Insight4.
Usage is measured in credits. Most requests cost one credit, about ten heavier ones cost more, and each batch of credits stays valid for 30 days from purchase1. When an app uses up its daily allowance, the service stops answering until the next day, and buying more credits raises the allowance1. The pricing page names card, the USDC stablecoin and ADA as ways to pay once the beta ends1.
Organizations can run one shared account. The owner invites team members and chooses what each person may manage, such as keys, usage, credits or the team itself1. For web apps, the documentation recommends sending requests through the builder's own server, and lets a key be locked to a list of approved websites4.
