solana-dev

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: solana-dev
description: 'Use when user asks to "build a Solana dapp", "write an Anchor program", "create a token", "debug Solana errors", "set up wallet connection", "test my Solana program", "fuzz my Solana program", "deploy to devnet", "send a v1 transaction", "support larger transactions", "fix maxSupportedTransactionVersion", or "explain Solana concepts" (rent, accounts, PDAs, CPIs). Also for program architecture — state layout, reducing compute units, throughput bottlenecks, instruction naming — and quick on-chain lookups via public RPC + curl (balance, transaction, token account). End-to-end playbook: wallet connection, Anchor/Pinocchio programs, Codama clients, Surfpool/LiteSVM/Mollusk testing, security review, and the v1 transaction format (SIMD-0385, 4096-byte transactions). Prefers @solana/kit plugin clients (createClient + .use(); kit 8 for v1), @solana/kit-plugin-wallet + @solana/react for wallets, web3.js v3 (RC) as the legacy migration target, and Surfpool for local networks.'
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires Node.js 20.18+, Rust toolchain, Solana CLI, Anchor CLI
metadata:
  author: Solana Foundation
  version: "2.4.0"
---

# Solana Development Skill (Kit-first)

## What this Skill is for
Use this Skill when the user asks for:
- Solana dApp UI work (React / Next.js)
- Wallet connection + signing flows
- Transaction building / sending / confirmation UX
- Transaction v1 / larger transactions (SIMD-0385) — sending, reading, indexing
- On-chain program development (Anchor or Pinocchio)
- Program architecture — state layout, PDA seed conventions, naming, parallelization, cranks, vault topology
- Client SDK generation (typed program clients)
- Local testing (Surfpool, LiteSVM, Mollusk) and fuzz testing (Trident, cargo-fuzz)
- Security hardening and audit-style reviews
- Confidential transfers (Token-2022 ZK extension)
- **Toolchain setup, version mismatches, GLIBC errors, dependency conflicts**
- **Upgrading Anchor/Solana CLI versions, migration between versions**
- **Migrating web3.js v1 code to web3.js v3 or Kit**

## Default stack decisions (opinionated)

1) **SDK: @solana/kit (v7+) first**
- Build clients with `createClient()` from `@solana/kit`, then `.use(...)` plugins:
  ```ts
  createClient()
    .use(signer(mySigner))
    .use(solanaRpc({ rpcUrl }));
  // or solanaLocalRpc / solanaDevnetRpc / solanaMainnetRpc from @solana/kit-plugin-rpc
  ```
- Default to `signer()` / `signerFromFile()` / `generatedSigner()` from
  `@solana/kit-plugin-signer` — they set both `payer` and `identity` to the same keypair (the
  common case). For fresh local/devnet signers, install the RPC/LiteSVM plugin after
  `generatedSigner()`, then fund with `airdropSigner(...)`. Reach for the role-specific variants
  (`payer()` + `identity()`) only when fees and authority must come from different keypairs.
- Use `@solana-program/*` program plugins (e.g., `tokenProgram()`) for fluent instruction APIs.
- Prefer Kit types (`Address`, `Signer`, transaction message APIs, codecs).
- **Transaction v1** (4096-byte transactions, SIMD-0385) is the one exception to the plugin-client default: `rpcTransactionPlanner` throws on `version: 1` today, so v1 needs `@solana/kit` 8 and the manual `pipe()` path. See [transactions-v1.md](references/transactions-v1.md).

2) **UI: Kit plugin client + @solana/react**
- Wallet connection via `walletSigner()` from `@solana/kit-plugin-wallet` (Wallet Standard discovery; the connected wallet fills the payer/identity roles), with React hooks from `@solana/kit-plugin-wallet/react`.
- Client bindings via `@solana/react` v7 (`ClientProvider`, typed `useClient<AppClient>`, data hooks, SWR/TanStack adapters). Its legacy Wallet Standard hooks are being deprecated — don't use them.
- Do **not** use `@solana/client` / `@solana/react-hooks` (framework-kit) or `@solana/wallet-adapter-*` for new work.

3) **Legacy compatibility: web3.js v3 (RC)**
- web3.js v3 (`@solana/web3.js@rc`) is the classic class-based API rebuil