RPC/API Matrix

Aptos exposes multiple application interfaces. The Aptos API documentation describes REST, Indexer GraphQL, Transaction Stream API, and Faucet API roles; the Aptos REST API reference documents the fullnode REST surface.

Interface	Status	Best For	Transport	Production Notes
Fullnode REST API	Standard	Wallets, explorers, account/state reads, transaction simulation and submission	HTTP	Put behind HTTPS, authentication, quotas, and abuse monitoring; port 8080 is the node API.
Indexer GraphQL	Standard	NFT, Aptos Objects, and custom Move contract queries	HTTP	Serve from an indexer database; scale separately from fullnodes and document schema ownership.
Transaction Stream gRPC	Standard	Historical plus real-time transaction ingestion into processors	HTTP/2	Protect cursor/checkpoint state and run idempotent processors with retry/backfill controls.
Faucet API	Standard	Devnet/test environment token minting	dev/test only	Never enable for production; apply strict quotas in shared test environments.

info

Use REST for source-of-truth chain access and indexing interfaces for derived product data. Do not make GraphQL a hidden dependency for transaction submission.