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Published on Sun Sep 21 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) by Orkid Labs

TL;DR

  • Launched blog: /blog index + /blog/[slug], sanitized Markdown (remark/rehype), SEO metadata

  • Live /pulse JSON for the status UI (route mix, OPM 5m, p95/p99, mempool snapshot)

  • /version visible on both frontend and API

  • tipP90Gwei and sandwichIntensity now reflect on‑chain activity (no defaults)

  • Footer brand + neutral sitewide copy; socials conditional via env

  • Build snapshot: Next.js 14.2.31, 48 routes, homepage first‑load ~147 kB

What we shipped

Live telemetry for humans (and ops)

  • Backend: GET /pulse returns a compact, null‑safe snapshot: routeMix (private vs standard), opportunities/min (5m rolling), p95/p99 latency, mempool (tipP90Gwei, mempoolRate, sandwichIntensity), and policy flags.
  • Frontend: Status page polls /pulse every 10s; /health, /version, /metrics use NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL; unknowns render as — (we don’t fabricate zeros).

Version visibility everywhere

  • Fixed /version 404 on the frontend via a Next.js proxy route to the API /version. A tiny fix with big ops impact.

Mempool signal accuracy (physics over vibes)

  • Tip estimates: Added a legacy‑tx tip proxy (derived from gasPrice via LEGACY_TIP_FACTOR) so P90 isn’t stuck at 50; introduced an idle fallback that samples provider feeData only when the WS stream is quiet, avoiding bias during lulls.
  • Sandwich intensity: Triggered on relative high‑gas bursts (vs P75) and low‑value router flows (small min threshold). The metric now moves with actual bursts vs staying pinned at 0.

Brand and UX polish

  • Footer icon now matches the header brand mark; neutral sitewide copy; Twitter/GitHub icons appear only when env URLs are set (Email always visible).

Blog system + sanitization

  • Post pages include canonical URL + OG/Twitter cards via generateMetadata.

  • New /blog index and /blog/[slug] pages with SEO-friendly slugs; index is pagination-ready.

  • Markdown is rendered server-side via remark/rehype and sanitized with rehype-sanitize; external links use rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer".

Why we optimize for signal quality

  • Traders need credible signals, not theatrics. A “default 50 gwei” looks stable in a dashboard and destroys edge in production.
  • We treat missing data explicitly as null. It keeps charts honest and tells ops exactly what needs attention.
  • Private routing posture is a product choice, not a toggle: simulate → protect‑first → (optional) fallback per policy, never dual‑broadcast.

Operator’s notes (what we learned)

  • Polygon still sees meaningful legacy tx flow; ignoring it skews tip percentiles.
  • Relative triggers (vs P75) catch bursts a fixed threshold misses and behave better across regimes.
  • Status and version endpoints are “ops compounding”: tiny to build, huge for incident response.

Build‑in‑public scoreboard

  • Status page: refreshed every 10s from /pulse
  • Route mix: private vs standard surfaced for audit
  • Latency health: p95/p99 visible at a glance
  • Mempool: tipP90Gwei, mempoolRate, sandwichIntensity (optional fields, never faked)

What’s next

  • Deeper private‑route simulation and inclusion reporting; explicit TTLs and replacement policies surfaced end‑to‑end.
  • Add lastUpdateTs and sampleCount to /pulse for faster sanity checks.
  • Env‑gated “raw metrics” view to compare provider variance.
  • Continue integrating the physics engine (FMD) with the canonical Opportunity schema and MATIC gas compatibility.

—

Built by Cadence System · “Research and infrastructure for MEV strategy and execution.”

Editor’s note: This post was updated on September 19, 2025 to include a custom Open Graph image for improved social media sharing. No content changes were made.

Written by Orkid Labs

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