Tutorial

Your first Zoltar question

You will create a yes-or-no question in Zoltar's global registry and then find it again in the question browser. Every market and every fork starts from a question like this one.

Before you start

Zoltar is the base layer: it records questions and keeps the REP ledger of each universe. Zoltar and branching universes explains the model.

Run bun run app:serve:zoltar and open http://localhost:4153/?simulate=1&genesis=yes&simScenario=deployed. That browser-local simulator has the contracts deployed and no questions yet; the screenshots below come from it. It never reflects live chain state.

Write the question

  1. Select Create question and keep the Binary question type.
  2. Enter a Title, for example Will it rain in Lisbon on 1 June 2027?
  3. In Description, name the source and say when the answer is Invalid, for example Resolves Yes if IPMA reports measurable rain at its Lisbon station on 1 June 2027 (UTC). Invalid if IPMA publishes no reading.
  4. Enter an End time after the event. Leave Start time blank to start immediately.
The Create question form with the Binary type, the title Will it rain in Lisbon on 1 June 2027?, a description naming IPMA as the source and the Invalid condition, an end time of 2 June 2027, and a draft preview with Yes, No, and Invalid outcomes.
The question form. The draft preview shows exactly what will be recorded on chain.

A question cannot be edited after it is created, so check the preview before you submit.

Create it

Select Create question below the preview and confirm the transaction. The confirmation card shows the Question ID, the end time, and the Outcomes Yes, No, and Invalid.

The created question card for Will it rain in Lisbon on 1 June 2027?, with its description, question type Binary, question ID, end time, outcomes Yes, No, and Invalid, a Use for fork button that stays disabled until the question ends, and a Create another question button.
The new question. The question ID identifies the question in every universe.

Find it in the registry

  1. Select Browse questions.
  2. Your question appears automatically under Downloaded (1).
The Questions list with the Downloaded tab selected, showing Will it rain in Lisbon on 1 June 2027?, marked Binary, with its end time and a Use for fork button that stays disabled until the question ends.
The registry. Questions are global: any universe can use this one, and anyone can find it here.

That is a complete question. To put collateral behind a question, follow Your first shared security portfolio; each simulator keeps its own chain. Use for fork instead starts a universe fork once the question has ended, which Zoltar and branching universes explains.