Block Chef

Toby's open MEV auction engine, a permissionless marketplace where searchers compete fairly to include bundles in Solana blocks.

Block Chef is Toby's MEV auction engine: an open marketplace where searchers compete fairly to include their bundles in Solana blocks.

It sits at the core of Toby's infrastructure, handling everything from bundle intake to final delivery. Every MEV opportunity that flows through Toby passes through Block Chef before reaching a validator.

Architecture: Two-Layer System

Block Chef operates as a two-layer system. Each layer handles a distinct stage of the MEV pipeline.

Head Chef (Gatekeeper Layer)

Head Chef is the control layer. It receives bundles and tipped transactions from searchers, inspects them, and tags each one against OpenMEV's community-approved guidelines. Transactions that violate the rules (sandwich attacks, front-running, other predatory patterns) are rejected here. Only compliant bundles pass through to the next stage.

Think of Head Chef as the bouncer. It decides what gets into the kitchen.

Sous Chef (Execution Layer)

Sous Chef takes the approved bundles from Head Chef and builds them into partial block proposals. It maintains a permissioned mempool, conducts auctions based on tip amounts and bundle validity, and assembles the final block proposal for the validator.

Sous Chef is the line cook. It takes the approved ingredients and builds the dish.

Together, these two layers handle the full pipeline: intake, filtering, auction, and block assembly.

Regular Solana transactions are unaffected. Block Chef only handles MEV-specific bundles, operating as a specialized layer alongside Solana's native Gulf Stream transaction flow.

How It Works

1. Searchers identify opportunities. Bots and traders spot profitable MEV opportunities like arbitrage between DEXs, liquidations, or other extractable value.

2. Bundles are submitted to Block Chef. Searchers package their transactions into bundles and send them via the API.

3. Head Chef filters and tags incoming bundles. Each bundle is checked against OpenMEV's guidelines. Harmful patterns like sandwich attacks are detected and rejected. Filtering rules are governed by the OpenMEV Council ($TOBY token holders).

4. Sous Chef auctions approved bundles. Valid bundles compete in an open auction based on tip amount and bundle validity. No backroom deals, no whitelisting. Winning bundles are assembled into partial block proposals.

5. Block proposals are relayed to the block leader. The assembled proposals are sent to the validator currently responsible for producing the next block.

6. MEV rewards are distributed. Rewards flow back through the ecosystem: 85% to stakers, 10% to validators, 5% protocol fee to Toby's treasury.

Bundles are encrypted until validators receive them. This eliminates front-running at the infrastructure level. No one can see or exploit bundle contents during the auction process. The entire cycle completes in ~200ms to stay in sync with Solana's ~400ms block times.

Why an Open Auction Matters

Most MEV infrastructure on Solana today is gated or centralized. Block Chef takes a different approach:

• Permissionless -- Anyone can submit bundles. No whitelisting, no application process, no gatekeepers.

• Fair competition -- Bundles compete on merit: tip amount + validity. Relationships don't determine who wins.

• Transparent governance -- Auction rules and filtering criteria are set by the OpenMEV Council, made up of $TOBY token holders. The community decides what's allowed.

• No front-running -- Bundle encryption ensures no participant can extract value from someone else's submission before it's processed.

Higher competition among searchers means better MEV capture and higher yields for stakers across the Toby ecosystem.

For Searchers

Block Chef is built to be searcher-friendly:

• Submit bundles via the Block Chef API -- standard interface, no special access required

• Competitive tip structure -- higher tips increase your bundle's priority in the auction

• Lower hardware costs -- pair Block Chef with Laser Stream for real-time market data feeds, reducing the infrastructure you need to run independently

• Integration guide -- see the Searcher Integration Guide for setup details and API reference

Whether you're a solo searcher or a large operation, you compete on the same terms. The best bundles win.

Technical Reference

Bundle Lifecycle

Every bundle moves through four states:

submitted → [Head Chef] → filtered / accepted → [Sous Chef] → auctioned → included / expired

Bundle Submission (Devnet)

const response = await fetch("https://blockchef.toby.so/v1/bundles", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "X-Toby-Key": process.env.TOBY_API_KEY,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    transactions: [serializedTx1, serializedTx2],
    tip: serializedTipTx,
    metadata: { strategy: "arbitrage", targetSlot: currentSlot + 1 },
  }),
});

Auction Response

{
  "bundleId": "bc_7f3a8b2c1d4e5f6a",
  "status": "accepted",
  "headChef": {
    "tags": ["arbitrage", "dex_raydium"],
    "complianceScore": 1.0
  },
  "sousChef": {
    "auctionPosition": 3,
    "competingBundles": 47,
    "estimatedInclusion": 0.89
  }
}

Tip Floor Query

Check the current minimum tip for competitive inclusion:

curl -s -H "X-Toby-Key: $TOBY_API_KEY" \
  https://blockchef.toby.so/v1/tipfloor | jq

{
  "currentSlot": 284719400,
  "tipFloor": {
    "p50": 0.0012,
    "p75": 0.0031,
    "p90": 0.0089
  },
  "activeBundles": 142,
  "unit": "SOL"
}

⚠️ Devnet Only: The endpoints above are for the devnet environment. Mainnet URLs will be published at launch.