# The frontier and "as of"

How to read the heights on block.space and this wiki: which block a figure is true to, why one page can carry several heights, and how a dated document figure differs from a live one.

URL: https://blockspace.wiki/methodology/the-frontier-and-as-of/

Every number block.space publishes is true up to some block, and says which. The rankings documentation puts it first among the rules every board follows: "Every figure is bounded by a height. … A number without its height is not shown." This page is about reading those heights. What the cursors are, and why they are ordered books ≤ claims ≤ census, is on [the frontier](/concepts/the-frontier/).

## The heights in one picture

[BTI](https://blockspace.wiki/glossary/bti/) runs three stages, each with its own [cursor](https://blockspace.wiki/glossary/cursor/), and the chain tip runs ahead of them all. On the latest reading (as of block 972,315, 2026-10-20 12:10:25 UTC):

| height | what it bounds |
|---|---|
| tip, block 972,320 | the newest block Blockspace Holdings' own node knows |
| census, block 972,318 | bytes counted (T1) |
| claims, block 972,315 | protocols searched (T2) |
| books, block 972,299 | attribution written (T3) |

block.space prints the same strip at the top of its pages: T1 byte census, T2 claims, T3 books, chain tip. The design keeps the three cursors equal at every commit when the engine follows the chain, so a gap between them means a stage is catching up.

## "As of block H" on the boards

The boards add one more height: the block the holders appendix is synchronised to. Since 2026-10-19 it is one rule for every board: the heading says "as of block H", where H is the appendix's single sync block, and "the detail line names the books height and, where it differs, the ranking's own height. Never two unexplained heights in one heading."

The API envelope carries all three. On a read of `/api/rankings` on 2026-10-20 it gave `as_of: {appendix: 972199, books: 972199, ranking: 972199}`, and the /rankings page read "as of block 972,199 · bytes to the same block".

The wording for holder figures is "bytes to block H · holders to H₁–H₂ by source". Each holder source has its own height, and H is the lowest of them, the books included. The coverage page, read the same morning, said "bytes to block 972,199 · holders as of block 972,199 (by source 971,999–972,298)", and lists every source's height in a table. See [coverage](/methodology/coverage/).

## Why one page can show several heights

The stages move at different speeds, and that is honest, not an error. On the same read:

- the front page's conservation bar said "books written to block 972,299";
- its token table said "up to block 972,199";
- the summary API's cursor list showed `aggs:folded` at 972,199, the height the per-token sums were folded to.

Each figure carries its own bound. A reader comparing two figures should compare their heights first.

## Fail closed

A height is only claimed when it is earned. The design's rules: only completed windows move a cursor; no increment may pass the indexed height of any source it depends on (`hi = min(hi, sources, caps)`); and "an unreachable source is a refusal, never a zero". So a lagging source holds the frontier back rather than letting a figure claim more than was searched. See [null is never zero](/methodology/null-is-never-zero/).

## "As of" on this wiki

This wiki follows the same rule with two kinds of figure.

- **Live figures** are read from block.space and Blockspace Holdings' own node and indexers, refreshed hourly. Each group of figures has its own "as of", a block height and a time. A census figure and a books figure read in the same hour can be bounded by different blocks, and each page prints the "as of" of every group it uses. A source that fails keeps its last reading and its own "as of".
- **Document figures** are given with the document's date: "in the July 2026 measurement run", "as of 2026-10-18". The measurements document says of its own figures that "the Meter's live pages supersede them where they differ".

Figures read by hand from a live page, such as the coverage numbers above, are given with the time they were read.

The holders data stood at block 972,261 (as of block 972,261, 2026-10-20 12:17:53 UTC); the books totals at block 972,299 (as of block 972,299, 2026-10-20 09:30:48 UTC).

Sources:

- block.space docs: rankings · https://block.space/docs/rankings
- Blockspace Holdings records
- block.space docs: measurements · https://block.space/docs/measurements
- block.space meter and summary APIs · https://block.space/api/summary
- block.space frontier API (the three tier cursors and the chain tip) · https://block.space/api/frontier
- block.space rankings API (the four boards' top rows and their heights) · https://block.space/api/rankings
- block.space leaderboard coverage API (holders measured per protocol) · https://block.space/api/leaderboard/coverage
- block.space live pages (/, /rankings, /leaderboard, /largest-inscriptions, /heaviest-tokens, /collections, /sync) · https://block.space
- blockspace.wiki README · https://blockspace.wiki

Live figures: books as of block 972,299, 2026-10-20 09:30:48 UTC; frontier as of block 972,315, 2026-10-20 12:10:25 UTC; holders as of block 972,261, 2026-10-20 12:17:53 UTC

Updated: 2026-10-20