solana-dev

Solana Development Skill

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) — the default format for new code; 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 8 plugin clients, transaction v1 by default

• Build clients with createClient() from @solana/kit, then .use(...) plugins. Pass transactionConfig: { version: 1 } to the RPC plugin so every transaction the client plans is v1:

  createClient()
    .use(signer(mySigner))
    .use(solanaRpc({ rpcUrl, transactionConfig: { version: 1, priorityFeeLamports: lamports(5_000n) } }));
  // or solanaLocalRpc / solanaDevnetRpc / solanaMainnetRpc from @solana/kit-plugin-rpc
  

• Transaction v1 is the default for new code. Set version: 1; the planner otherwise defaults to v0. Plugin clients estimate compute and loaded-accounts-data limits by simulation. On manual pipelines, use Kit's resource-estimation helpers instead of guessing limits; use fixed values only for measured overrides or deliberate caps. See transactions-v1.md.
• Manual pipe() + createTransactionMessage({ version: 1 }) is the low-level alternative for when you need control over every step (custom lifetimes, offline signing, bespoke planners) — see kit/advanced.md. It is not the default path.
• 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).