Mercury has released Retroshades, a smart contract indexing technology designed specifically for Soroban-supporting chains. Retroshades allows developers to build custom indexers in minutes by defining data structures directly within smart contracts, eliminating the need to learn new technologies or manage complex infrastructure.
Mercury announced Retroshades, a novel smart contract indexing solution engineered for the Soroban Virtual Machine ecosystem. Unlike traditional indexing methods that require developers to build custom infrastructure or rely on rigid generic indexers, Retroshades enables developers to define custom event structures within their Soroban smart contracts using familiar contract functions and runtime variables. The technology runs on a parallel network using a modified SVM called the Retroshade SVM fork, automatically parsing and storing events in a database with native data types. Retroshades complements Mercury's existing Zephyr platform—while Zephyr handles complex on-chain operations and advanced data management, Retroshades focuses on efficient, rapid indexing for developers who need powerful customization without the learning curve. The release represents a significant advancement in developer tooling for the Stellar ecosystem.
