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Chillwhales x SQD Partner Case Study

Joe Todd

• 2 min read

Quick Facts

Chillwhales Description: Chillwhales began as the first NFT collection on LUKSO and has since expanded into entertainment. Today, it powers NFT browsing across ownership, collections, and Universal Profiles, with advanced filtering and sorting features. As part of its evolution, Chillwhales is building a platform where creators can distribute digital content (such as books, art, or media) directly to holders of specific digital assets.

Chain served: LUKSO

Make or break feature: Fast, reliable indexing of NFTs, tokens, and Universal Profiles across the LUKSO network to deliver smooth filtering, sorting, and creator-to-user content distribution.

Using SQD for: Backend indexing, pre-fetching metadata for efficient rendering, powering migration of the main website, and providing the foundation for new creator-focused features.

Only possible with SQD: Eliminating metadata bottlenecks by pre-fetching image and asset data, enabling instant filtering and responsive loading.

How Chillwhales Discovered SQD

Chillwhales initially used The Graph to index NFT and profile data. However, as the project expanded, limitations became clear. The Graph’s WASM-based setup proved complex, HTTPS metadata fetching was unsupported, and small changes often broke indexing logic.

“In short, we updated our metadata from IPFS to HTTPS (S3 storage), and The Graph broke. Going back into WASM was a pain. SQD caught our attention because of its simplicity — plain TypeScript is a game changer.”

Introduced by a friend, SQD stood out as a more intuitive, developer-friendly solution. Its TypeScript-first approach and batch handling capabilities immediately made it the clear choice.

SQD in Chillwhales’ Backend

Chillwhales is now migrating its main website to run on SQD. Key improvements include:

  • Reliable indexing across all NFTs, tokens, and Universal Profiles on LUKSO
  • Metadata pre-fetching that allows direct client-side rendering of image URLs without additional JSON calls
  • Granular filtering and sorting capabilities across collections, tokens, and user profiles

Results Achieved

Technical Wins

  • Solved HTTPS metadata fetching, a blocker on The Graph
  • Simplified development workflow with TypeScript over WASM
  • Pre-fetched metadata enabled richer filtering and faster rendering

User Experience

  • Faster load times across the Chillwhales website
  • Smoother and more reliable browsing experience for NFT collectors

Business Impact

  • Unlocking new product verticals, starting with a digital content platform for creators
  • Extending Chillwhales’ brand from NFTs into entertainment and publishing

On Working with the SQD Team

Chillwhales describes the collaboration as highly positive:

“The docs are great — I didn’t even need to reach out for support. After open-sourcing the indexer, chatting with the team has been a great interaction.”

Looking ahead, they see potential in expanded self-hosting capabilities, including gateways, to give advanced users even more flexibility.

Would They Recommend SQD?

“Yes, of course. SQD is a very good indexer, and TypeScript makes it very easy to develop with. Compared to other solutions where you need handlers per event, SQD’s ability to handle batches at a time is a great feature.”

All quotes and feedback were kindly provided by the Chillwhales team.