> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://emeditweb.gitbook.io/pulsar-stellar-sdk/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://emeditweb.gitbook.io/pulsar-stellar-sdk/faq.md).

# FAQ

### Why do I need to install `@stellar/stellar-sdk` if I'm only using the Indexer?

`@stellar/stellar-sdk` is a required peer dependency because `@pulsar-stellar/sdk` uses it for XDR decoding. The dependency is imported at module load time to handle the core serialization format, so it is necessary even if you never use the live RPC path or transaction building helpers.

### Why does `liveEventStream()` never finish?

The `liveEventStream` tail reads directly from the live Stellar RPC. Unlike the Indexer which holds a fixed historical dataset up to a certain point, the RPC has no "end" signal. It simply waits for the next ledger to close. Consequently, `liveEventStream` polls forever. It is your responsibility to manually `break` out of the `for await` loop when you decide you've collected enough events.

### What happens if the Soroban protocol introduces new data types?

The Pulsar decoder is built for forward-compatibility. If it encounters a new `ScVal` variant that it does not recognize, it degrades gracefully rather than throwing an error. The event will yield an object like `{ type: 'unknown', xdr: '<base64>' }`, preserving the original data. This ensures your integration doesn't crash, and allows you to decode the raw XDR yourself if necessary.

### Why do the properties on `DecodedEvent` look different from my contract bindings?

`DecodedEvent` represents the event exactly as it was emitted on the wire by the Soroban runtime (e.g., lowercase names, explicit separation of topics and data). Code generated by `@stellar/stellar-sdk` CLI bindings creates a "call-oriented" view that capitalizes names and flattens properties into a single `data` object.

Pulsar provides helper functions like `asDepositEvent()` and `asTransferEvent()` to opt-in to bridging the wire-faithful representation into the call-oriented representation.


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