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Welcome to the Decentraland API Reference. This section provides comprehensive documentation for all backend services that power Decentraland.
Decentraland's backend infrastructure consists of distributed services organized into four main categories:
- Decentralized Layer - Content delivery and decentralized infrastructure
- Real-Time Communications Layer - Service discovery, clustering, and communications
- Feature Services - User-facing features, content, and gamification
- Core Services - Authentication, marketplace, assets, and notifications
All APIs documented here follow OpenAPI specifications and support RESTful conventions unless otherwise noted.
The foundational decentralized infrastructure for content delivery:
| Service | Purpose | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Catalyst | Content delivery | Decentralized content servers, entity deployment, and filesystem access |
| Lamb2 | Lambda utilities | Serverless functions for content consumption and utility endpoints |
Service discovery and real-time peer-to-peer communications:
| Service | Purpose | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Realm Provider | Service discovery | Find available Catalyst servers and communication endpoints |
| Comms Gatekeeper | Access control | Time-limited tokens for LiveKit media server access |
| Archipelago Workers | Communications clustering | WebSocket connections, island formation, and message routing via NATS |
User-facing features including content, economy, and gamification:
| Service | Purpose | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Credits Server | Virtual credits | Decentraland's virtual currency system |
| Badges | Achievements | User achievement and badge system |
| Rewards API | NFT rewards | Campaign-based NFT reward distribution |
| Exploration Games | Onboarding | Interactive tutorials and quests |
| Camera Reel | Screenshots | User-generated screenshot management |
| Atlas Server | Map data | Parcel information and world map tiles |
| Places | Points of interest | Curated locations and featured experiences |
| Events | Event management | Create, schedule, and discover in-world events |
| Worlds | Isolated scenes | Personal worlds and custom domains |
Essential infrastructure for authentication, marketplace, assets, and notifications:
| Service | Purpose | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Auth Server | Authentication | Wallet-based authentication and session management |
| Marketplace Server | NFT marketplace | Wearables and emotes marketplace integration |
| Asset Bundle Registry | Asset optimization | Unity asset bundles for optimized loading |
| Events Notifier | Event alerts | Notifications for upcoming events |
| Notifications Workers | User notifications | Real-time and push notifications |
| Social Service | Friends & communities | Friendship management and private messaging |
Most APIs require authentication using Decentraland's wallet-based system:
- Connect wallet - Users sign authentication challenges with their Ethereum wallet
- Get tokens - Auth Server validates signatures and issues JWT tokens
- Include tokens - Add tokens to API requests via
Authorizationheader
See the Auth Server API for detailed authentication flows.
APIs are deployed across the Decentraland network:
- Production:
https://peer.decentraland.org(main Catalyst) - Development: Various test environments
- Custom: Self-hosted Catalyst nodes
Most services are accessible through Catalyst nodes. Use the Realm Provider to discover available endpoints.
APIs implement rate limiting to ensure fair usage:
- Default limits vary by service and endpoint
- Authenticated requests typically have higher limits
- Rate limit headers included in responses
- Contact maintainers for increased limits if needed
All APIs follow these conventions:
- HTTP Methods - Standard REST verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)
- Status Codes - Standard HTTP status codes
- Content Type -
application/jsonunless otherwise specified - Error Format - Consistent error response structure
- Versioning - Version info in URL path or headers
These APIs are part of a larger distributed system. For architectural context:
- Architecture Overview - Complete system architecture
- Backend Services - Detailed service descriptions
- Client Architecture - How clients interact with services
These API specifications are maintained in their respective repositories:
- Report issues via GitHub repositories
- Propose changes through pull requests
- Join technical discussions in the Decentraland Discord
- Attend monthly AMA sessions
- Catalyst API Specs - Complete OpenAPI specifications
- Catalyst Monitor - Network health and status
- Status Page - Service status and incident history
- GitHub Organization - Source code repositories
Each API includes:
- Interactive documentation - Try endpoints directly from the docs
- Request/response examples - Sample payloads for all operations
- Schema definitions - Complete data model documentation
- Authentication requirements - Required credentials for each endpoint
Navigate to specific APIs using the sidebar to explore detailed endpoint documentation.