Why Saelis?
The design motivations behind a modular, piece-based data model.
Onchain data is usually shaped by the contract that stores it. Each application defines its own storage layout, its own events and its own access patterns. This works well within an application and poorly between them.
Saelis explores a different approach: a shared, minimal format for structured data records, with interpretation delegated to open standards.
The problem with monolithic records
When a data structure is defined by a single contract, three limitations follow:
- Rigid shape. Changing the structure usually means deploying a new contract or migrating state.
- Opaque composition. Relationships between records from different applications are hard to express, because each application describes its data differently.
- Coupled interpretation. The meaning of the data is inseparable from the code that stores it.
The case for pieces
A piece-based model separates these concerns. Each Sigil is a small, self-describing record. Relationships are expressed as references between records. Interpretation is defined by standards that any indexer can implement.
The result is a model in which:
- New structures can be described without deploying new contracts.
- Different authors can contribute pieces to the same structure.
- An application can understand a record it did not create, as long as it understands the standard the record declares.
Why a metaprotocol
The metaprotocol approach has real tradeoffs, and Saelis is explicit about them.
| Advantage | Tradeoff |
|---|---|
| No contract deployment needed to define new structures | State is computed by indexers, not enforced by the chain |
| Records are cheap to publish | Validity depends on a precise, shared specification |
| Standards can evolve independently | Indexers must agree on versions and edge cases |
| Any party can verify state from chain history | Verification requires access to complete historical data |
These tradeoffs are why the specification work matters more than the interface. A metaprotocol is only as reliable as the precision of its rules.
Why Elysium
Elysium is a high-throughput, general-purpose EVM Layer 2 for the Hyperliquid ecosystem, with 100 ms blocks and HYPE as its gas token. Fast, inexpensive and canonical ordering suits a protocol that publishes many small records. Compatibility with standard EVM tooling keeps the barrier to experimentation low. See Elysium Network for the verified network parameters.
Design principles
- Precision over breadth. A small, exact specification is preferable to a large, ambiguous one.
- Explicit status. Every part of the protocol is labeled as established, proposed, draft or open.
- Extensibility. The base format makes no assumptions about what a Sigil represents.
- Verifiability. Any conforming indexer should reproduce the same state from the same chain history.