GraceDB Overview

The Gravitational-Wave Candidate Event Database (GraceDB) is a service operated by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. It provides a centralized location for aggregating and retrieving information about candidate gravitational-wave events. GraceDB provides an API for programmatic access, and a client package is available for interacting with the API.

Attention LVK Users: As of October 2022, LVAlert has been decomissioned and replaced by igwn-alert. For more information on transitioning your workflows, please consult:
  • The LVAlert to igwn-alert transition guide
  • The igwn-alert User Guide

  • Useful information

  • Information about GW alerts and real-time data products is available in the LIGO/Virgo Public Alert Guide.
  • Real-time status of the LIGO Data Grid.
  • Need help? Send an email to computing-help@igwn.org, or LIGO/Virgo users can report issues on the GraceDB Gitlab page.

  • GraceDB Notifications

    GraceDB notifies registered users of Gravitational-Wave candidate detections in real-time during LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observation periods. Current notifications mechanisms are:

    • Phone alerts (calls/SMS) are disabled
    • Email alerts are disabled
    • igwn-alert messages to kafka://kafka.scimma.org/ are enabled
      • Messages are sent to group: gracedb

    Server code version: 2.18.1