Switchboard Oracle Protocol - Complete Integration Guide

The definitive guide for integrating Switchboard - the fastest, most customizable, and only permissionless oracle protocol on Solana.

What is Switchboard?

Switchboard is a permissionless oracle protocol enabling developers to bring custom data on-chain with industry-leading performance:

• Price Feeds - Real-time asset pricing with pull-based efficiency
• Oracle Quotes - Sub-second latency without on-chain storage (90% cost reduction)
• Surge - WebSocket streaming with sub-100ms latency
• VRF Randomness - Cryptographically secure verifiable random functions
• Prediction Markets - Market-based forecasting data

Key Statistics

• Secures $1B+ in on-chain volume
• Used by Kamino, Jito, MarginFi, Drift Protocol
• 2-5ms latency with Surge pricing
• 90% cost reduction vs traditional oracles

Core Principles

Integration Approaches

1. Oracle Quotes (Recommended)

Direct oracle-to-program data flow without on-chain storage:

• Sub-second latency
• 90% cost reduction
• No write locks (parallel reads)
• Stateless design

2. Traditional Feeds

Classic pull-based feed updates:

• Feed account maintenance
• Cranking operations
• Good for simple use cases

3. Surge (Real-Time)

WebSocket streaming for high-frequency applications:

• Sub-100ms latency
• Persistent connections
• Ideal for trading interfaces

Program IDs

Default Queues

Quick Start

Installation

# TypeScript SDK
npm install @switchboard-xyz/on-demand @switchboard-xyz/common

# Rust (Cargo.toml)
# switchboard-on-demand = "0.8.0"

Basic Setup

import { web3, AnchorProvider, Program } from "@coral-xyz/anchor";
import {
  PullFeed,
  CrossbarClient,
  ON_DEMAND_MAINNET_PID,
  ON_DEMAND_DEVNET_PID
} from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

// Setup connection and provider
const connection = new web3.Connection("https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com");
const wallet = useWallet(); // or Keypair
const provider = new AnchorProvider(connection, wallet);

// Load Switchboard program
const sbProgram = await Program.at(ON_DEMAND_MAINNET_PID, provider);

// Initialize Crossbar client for oracle communication
const crossbar = new CrossbarClient("https://crossbar.switchboard.xyz");

Price Feeds

Fetch and Update Feed

import { PullFeed, asV0Tx } from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

// Create feed account reference
const feedPubkey = new web3.PublicKey("YOUR_FEED_PUBKEY");
const feedAccount = new PullFeed(sbProgram, feedPubkey);

// Fetch update instruction with oracle signatures
const { pullIx, responses, numSuccess, luts } = await feedAccount.fetchUpdateIx({
  crossbarClient: crossbar,
  chain: "solana",
  network: "mainnet", // or "devnet"
});

// Build and send transaction
const tx = await asV0Tx({
  connection,
  ixs: [pullIx],
  signers: [payer],
  computeUnitPrice: 200_000,
  computeUnitLimitMultiple: 1.3,
  lookupTables: luts,
});

const signature = await connection.sendTransaction(tx);
console.log("Feed updated:", signature);

Read Feed Value

// Get current feed value
const feedData = await feedAccount.loadData();
const value = feedData.value.toNumber();
const lastUpdated = feedData.lastUpdatedSlot;

console.log(`Price: ${value}, Last Updated: ${lastUpdated}`);

Oracle Quotes (Recommended)

Oracle Quotes provide the most efficient way to consume oracle data:

import { OracleQuote } from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

// Feed hashes (64-char hex strings)
const feedHashes = [
  "0x...", // SOL/USD
  "0x...", // BTC/USD
];

// Derive canonical quote account
const queueKey = new web3.PublicKey("A43DyUGA7s8eXPxqEjJY6EBu1KKbNgfxF8h17VAHn13w");
const quotePubkey = OracleQuote.getCanonicalPubkey(queueKey, feedHashes);

// Fetch quote instruction
const sigVerifyIx = await queue.fetchQuoteIx(crossbar, feedHashes, {
  numSignatures: 1,
  variableOverrides: {},
});

Rust Integration (Oracle Quotes)

use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
use switchboard_on_demand::{default_queue, SwitchboardQuoteExt, SwitchboardQuote};

#[program]
pub mod my_program {
    use super::*;

    pub fn read_oracle_data(ctx: Context<ReadOracleData>) -> Result<()> {
        let feeds = &ctx.accounts.quote_account.feeds;
        let current_slot = ctx.accounts.sysvars.clock.slot;
        let quote_slot = ctx.accounts.quote_account.slot;

        // Check staleness
        let staleness = current_slot.saturating_sub(quote_slot);
        require!(staleness < 100, ErrorCode::StaleFeed);

        for feed in feeds.iter() {
            msg!("Feed {}: Value = {}", feed.hex_id(), feed.value());
        }

        Ok(())
    }
}

#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct ReadOracleData<'info> {
    #[account(address = quote_account.canonical_key(&default_queue()))]
    pub quote_account: Box<Account<'info, SwitchboardQuote>>,
    pub sysvars: Sysvars<'info>,
}

#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Sysvars<'info> {
    pub clock: Sysvar<'info, Clock>,
}

Surge (Real-Time Streaming)

For applications requiring real-time price updates:

import { SwitchboardSurge } from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

// Initialize Surge client
const surge = new SwitchboardSurge({
  apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY", // Optional
  gatewayUrl: "wss://surge.switchboard.xyz",
  autoReconnect: true,
  maxReconnectAttempts: 5,
  reconnectDelay: 1000,
});

// Subscribe to feeds
surge.subscribe(["SOL/USD", "BTC/USD"]);

// Handle events
surge.on("connected", () => {
  console.log("Connected to Surge");
});

surge.on("data", (data) => {
  console.log(`${data.symbol}: ${data.price}`);
});

surge.on("error", (error) => {
  console.error("Surge error:", error);
});

surge.on("disconnected", () => {
  console.log("Disconnected from Surge");
});

VRF Randomness

Cryptographically secure on-chain randomness:

TypeScript Client

import { RandomnessService } from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

// Request randomness
const randomnessAccount = await RandomnessService.create(sbProgram, {
  queue: queuePubkey,
  callback: {
    programId: myProgramId,
    accounts: [...],
    ixData: Buffer.from([...]),
  },
});

// Reveal randomness (after oracle fulfillment)
const randomValue = await randomnessAccount.reveal();
console.log("Random value:", randomValue);

Rust Integration

use switchboard_on_demand::RandomnessAccountData;

pub fn consume_randomness(ctx: Context<ConsumeRandomness>) -> Result<()> {
    let randomness_data = RandomnessAccountData::parse(
        ctx.accounts.randomness_account.to_account_info()
    )?;

    // Use the random value
    let random_value = randomness_data.get_value(&ctx.accounts.clock)?;

    // Example: coin flip
    let is_heads = random_value[0] % 2 == 0;

    Ok(())
}

Creating Custom Feeds

Using Feed Builder UI

1. Visit ondemand.switchboard.xyz
2. Click "Create Feed"
3. Configure data sources and aggregation
4. Deploy to mainnet/devnet
5. Copy feed hash for integration

Using TypeScript SDK

import { FeedBuilder } from "@switchboard-xyz/on-demand";

const feedConfig = new FeedBuilder()
  .addJob({
    tasks: [
      {
        httpTask: {
          url: "https://api.example.com/price",
        },
      },
      {
        jsonParseTask: {
          path: "$.price",
        },
      },
    ],
  })
  .setMinResponses(3)
  .setMaxVariance(0.1);

const feedHash = await feedConfig.build();

Framework Comparison

Best Practices

1. Staleness Checks

Always verify feed freshness:

let staleness = current_slot.saturating_sub(feed_slot);
require!(staleness < MAX_STALENESS_SLOTS, ErrorCode::StaleFeed);

2. Multiple Signatures

Request multiple oracle signatures for critical operations:

const { pullIx } = await feedAccount.fetchUpdateIx({
  numSignatures: 3, // Increase for higher security
});

3. Error Handling

try {
  const { pullIx, numSuccess } = await feedAccount.fetchUpdateIx({...});

  if (numSuccess < minRequired) {
    throw new Error(`Insufficient oracle responses: ${numSuccess}`);
  }
} catch (error) {
  if (error.message.includes("timeout")) {
    // Retry with different oracles
  }
  throw error;
}

4. Compute Budget

For complex operations, increase compute budget:

import { ComputeBudgetProgram } from "@solana/web3.js";

const modifyComputeUnits = ComputeBudgetProgram.setComputeUnitLimit({
  units: 400_000,
});

const tx = new Transaction()
  .add(modifyComputeUnits)
  .add(pullIx)
  .add(yourInstruction);

Resources

Official Links

• Documentation: https://docs.switchboard.xyz -- Feed Builder: https://ondemand.switchboard.xyz

GitHub Repositories

Community

• Discord: https://discord.gg/TJAv6ZYvPC
• Twitter: @switchboardxyz

Skill Structure

switchboard/
├── SKILL.md                    # This file
├── resources/
│   ├── program-ids.md          # All program addresses and queues
│   ├── sdk-reference.md        # TypeScript SDK API reference
│   ├── rust-reference.md       # Rust SDK reference
│   └── github-repos.md         # Repository links
├── examples/
│   ├── setup/
│   │   └── example.ts          # Basic setup
│   ├── feeds/
│   │   ├── pull-feed.ts        # Pull feed updates
│   │   ├── oracle-quote.ts     # Oracle quote integration
│   │   └── read-feed.ts        # Read feed values
│   ├── randomness/
│   │   └── vrf-example.ts      # VRF randomness
│   └── surge/
│       └── streaming.ts        # Real-time streaming
├── templates/
│   └── setup.ts                # Complete starter template
└── docs/
    └── troubleshooting.md      # Common issues