# Shred Stream ### What it is Raw Solana shreds delivered via UDP as they're produced by the block leader. Shreds are the smallest unit of data in Solana's Turbine protocol. ### Latency \~0ms from production — You receive shreds at the same time validators do, before any processing or confirmation. ### Data format Raw binary shreds (1228 bytes max) containing: * Slot number * Shred index * Shred type (data/coding) * Transaction data fragments ### Pros * Absolute lowest latency available * See transactions before anyone using Geyser or RPC * Direct network-level access ### Cons * Requires custom deshredding logic * UDP may lose packets (no retransmission) * High technical complexity * No historical replay * Requires public IP with open UDP port ### Best for * High-frequency trading (HFT) * MEV searchers * Arbitrage bots * Latency-critical applications ### Example use case A MEV bot detects a large swap in shreds, builds a backrun transaction, and submits it before the original transaction is even confirmed. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.thornode.io/infrastructure/thor-shredstream/choose-your-data-source/shred-stream.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.