FAQ
General
What is Balchemy?
Balchemy is an AI operations platform for crypto trading workflows on Solana and Base. The product has two primary operating surfaces:
- Studio for traders, communities, and projects that operate Balchemy bots in the web app, Telegram, Discord, or embedded web widgets.
- Hub for owners/operators of 24/7 Web3 agents that need identity, funding, scoped MCP/API access, logs, and monitoring.
Explorer is the public discovery surface for verified public agent or bot metadata.
What is the difference between Studio and Hub?
Studio is the bot workspace. Use it when you want to create or operate a Balchemy bot for trading, knowledge, Telegram groups, Discord servers, a website widget, or bot-scoped MCP access.
Hub is the always-on agent operations surface. Use it when a Web3 agent needs its own identity, funding flow, scoped read / trade / manage access, operational logs, monitoring, and key rotation.
Both surfaces share the same safety-oriented execution core, but they serve different actors.
Is there a paid plan?
No. Balchemy does not use product plans, feature tiers, Stripe billing, or locked product access. Every user gets the same standard product access.
Balchemy earns from executed swaps through the global swap-fee model. If you do not trade, there is no monthly platform charge.
Is Explorer a separate workspace?
No. Explorer is for discovery. Use it to browse public agents, strategies, and metadata. Use Studio to operate bots and Hub to operate 24/7 Web3 agents.
Do Studio users paste Telegram or Discord bot tokens?
No. Studio uses Balchemy-managed platform adapters. You configure bindings, policies, channel permissions, and bot behavior; you do not manage raw Telegram or Discord bot credentials in the product UI.
Does Hub create a Studio bot for every agent?
No. Hub and Studio are separate operating surfaces. Hub is centered on always-on Web3 agent identity, funding, scoped access, logs, and runtime operations. Studio is centered on Balchemy bot configuration and channel workflows.
What data does Balchemy collect?
Balchemy stores the data required to operate the product, such as:
- Wallet addresses used for authentication, ownership, funding, or trading context.
- Conversation and bot activity needed for chat, logs, and troubleshooting.
- Trade/order records needed for execution, reconciliation, and analytics.
- Key, scope, and audit metadata for MCP/API access.
Do not paste secrets, seed phrases, private keys, or production credentials into chats, docs, issue trackers, or screenshots.
How do I delete my account?
Use the account deletion flow in the app when available, or contact support if the account has active trading wallets, pending orders, keys, or operational state that must be handled first. Do not try to delete or repair wallet/key state through raw database edits.
Studio
What is Studio for?
Studio is for creating and operating Balchemy bots. A typical Studio bot can have an AI persona, knowledge base, trading settings, wallets, channel policies, platform bindings, widget settings, and bot-scoped MCP keys.
Use Studio when the workflow is centered on a trader, community, project, Telegram group, Discord server, or website widget.
Which Studio platforms are active?
Studio documents these channel surfaces:
| Surface | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Telegram | Groups, DMs, community trading commands, and bot-assisted discussion. |
| Discord | Servers, channels, role-aware access, and community workflows. |
| Web Widget | Embedded bot chat on project websites. |
| X/Twitter | Limited or coming-soon surface unless explicitly enabled for your bot. |
Telegram, Discord, and web widget workflows are the primary channel surfaces described in public docs. X/Twitter should not be treated as a guaranteed active execution channel.
What are channel policies?
Channel policies define how a Studio bot behaves in a specific Telegram group, Discord server/channel, or widget context. A policy can describe trading permissions, approval expectations, channel context, and partner attribution or fee-share configuration where enabled.
Are channel/widget fee-share and referrals the same thing?
No. They are separate systems.
- Channel/widget fee-share is tied to activity attribution and configuration for a community, group, server, or embedded widget.
- Referral rewards are tied to referral codes and referral reward/commission records.
A channel or widget can be tracked as the source of activity without that automatically meaning a live payout rail exists. Payout or settlement details depend on the configured product flow and should be verified before being promised.
Can a website use a Balchemy bot widget?
Yes. Studio supports an embedded web widget flow for project websites. Configure allowed domains, appearance, welcome behavior, wallet-connect settings, and widget context from the Studio bot cockpit. Use allowed domains to prevent unauthorized embeds.
Where do I manage Studio MCP keys?
Studio bot MCP keys belong to the bot cockpit MCP tab. They are bot-scoped and should be used when an MCP-compatible client should operate one Studio bot.
Hub
What is Hub for?
Hub is for operating 24/7 Web3 agents. It helps an agent owner/operator manage registration, setup state, funding, scoped MCP/API keys, logs, monitoring, and sensitive access changes.
Where are Hub agent keys managed?
Use Hub → Agents & Keys and the agent detail flow. The old /hub/api-keys route redirects to /hub/agents, so Agents & Keys is the source of truth for Hub key management.
What scopes can a Hub agent use?
Hub and MCP use the same scope hierarchy:
| Scope | Use it for |
|---|---|
read | Status, logs, portfolio, research, and read-only calls. |
trade | Trade actions allowed by policy and risk checks. |
manage | Sensitive management actions such as key rotation or configuration changes. |
Use the smallest scope that works. Keep manage out of unattended runtimes unless it is absolutely required.
Does a Hub agent need human approval before every action?
Not every action. A properly scoped agent can make calls allowed by its key, setup state, and policy. Trading still passes through policy and risk checks. Sensitive management actions can require owner/claim or step-up style verification.
How does a Hub agent get funded?
Use the authorized Hub wallet/funding flow for the agent. Fund only the amount intended for active trading, keep staging and production funding separate, and never repair funding or wallet state with raw database edits.
Trading and fees
What are the trading fees?
Balchemy charges a standard swap fee on executed trades. There are no monthly platform charges, product plans, or paid feature gates.
See Trading Fees for the public fee model and the distinction between global swap fees, channel/widget attribution, and referral rewards.
Which chains are supported?
Balchemy public docs focus on Solana and Base/EVM trading workflows. Solana trades route through Solana execution providers such as Jupiter. EVM trades focus on Base/EVM flows. Check the current trading docs and app UI for the exact chain list available to your account and bot.
What is the difference between a pending order and a submitted trade?
A pending order has been created but has not yet been submitted on-chain. A submitted trade has entered the on-chain execution path and is awaiting confirmation or failure. The History and order lifecycle views show the current status.
What happens if my trade fails?
If a trade fails before submission, it should not execute. If a submitted transaction fails on-chain, network costs or gas behavior depends on the chain and transaction state. Check the order details for the exact failure reason, such as insufficient balance, slippage, provider error, or policy rejection.
Integrations
How do Telegram and Discord differ from Hub verification?
Studio Telegram/Discord integrations are channel-management workflows for bots and communities.
Hub Telegram/Discord verification is for linking an operator identity for ownership, claim, or notification flows. The same platforms can appear in both areas, but the product purpose is different.
What happens when Discord OAuth fails?
The most common cause is a redirect URI mismatch between the Balchemy callback URL and the URL registered in the Discord application settings. Confirm the callback URL, protocol, hostname, and trailing slash behavior. See Discord Integration and Troubleshooting.
Is X/Twitter available?
Treat X/Twitter as limited or coming soon unless your Studio bot explicitly shows it as enabled. Do not rely on X/Twitter as a primary trading or execution channel.
MCP
Is MCP only for Hub agents?
No. Balchemy has two MCP contexts:
- Studio bot MCP for bot-scoped keys managed from a Studio bot cockpit.
- Hub agent MCP/API for always-on Web3 agents managed from Hub.
Both contexts use scoped access and the same execution core, but they represent different principals.
What is the MCP endpoint?
https://api.balchemy.ai/mcp/<publicId>Use the publicId shown in the relevant Studio or Hub flow. Do not guess IDs from URLs or logs.
How many tools are available via MCP?
Do not rely on a hardcoded tool count. The visible tools depend on runtime registry state, environment configuration, key scope, and principal context.
Use MCP tools/list with the current key to see the exact tool catalog available to that caller.
What is the difference between agentId and publicId?
agentIdidentifies a Hub agent in operational records and agent-specific flows.publicIdis the public identifier used in MCP endpoint URLs and discovery surfaces.
Use the IDs shown by the app or onboarding flow instead of deriving them manually.