SPL Token CPIs

anchor-spl exposes typed CPI functions for SPL Token: transfer, mint_to, burn, approve, and more. They wrap account metas and instruction data for the token program.

Recipe

use anchor_spl::token::{self, MintTo, Transfer};
 
token::mint_to(cpi_ctx, amount)?;
token::transfer(cpi_ctx, amount)?;
token::burn(cpi_ctx, amount)?;

When to reach for this: Your program moves SPL tokens without reimplementing token instruction layouts.

Working Example

#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Deposit<'info> {
    #[account(mut)]
    pub user: Signer<'info>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub user_ata: Account<'info, TokenAccount>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub vault_ata: Account<'info, TokenAccount>,
    pub token_program: Program<'info, Token>,
}
 
pub fn deposit(ctx: Context<Deposit>, amount: u64) -> Result<()> {
    token::transfer(
        CpiContext::new(
            ctx.accounts.token_program.to_account_info(),
            Transfer {
                from: ctx.accounts.user_ata.to_account_info(),
                to: ctx.accounts.vault_ata.to_account_info(),
                authority: ctx.accounts.user.to_account_info(),
            },
        ),
        amount,
    )?;
    Ok(())
}

What this demonstrates:

• MintTo requires mint authority signer or PDA
• Transfer needs mut source and dest ATAs
• Burn reduces supply from burn account
• Token-2022 uses token_interface module

Deep Dive

Token Interface (2022)

use anchor_spl::token_interface::{self, Mint, TokenAccount, TokenInterface};
 
pub token_program: Interface<'info, TokenInterface>,

Use when supporting both classic Token and Token-2022 programs.

Gotchas

• Authority not signer for user transfer - CPI fails.. Fix: Use Signer or with_signer for PDA.
• Mint/decimals mismatch - Amount wrong magnitude.. Fix: Validate mint on both ATAs.
• Forgot mut on ATAs - Token program rejects.. Fix: Mark token accounts mut.
• Using Token program for Token-2022 mint - Owner mismatch.. Fix: Switch to Interface types.
• Approve without revoking - Allowance linger risk.. Fix: Revoke or use exact-delegate pattern.

Alternatives

FAQs

Related

• CPI Basics in Anchor - CpiContext
• Token & Associated Token Constraints - validation
• SPL Token Basics - token model

Stack versions: This page was written for Agave 4.1.1, Solana CLI 3.0.10, Anchor 0.32.1, anchor-lang 0.32.1, Rust 1.91.1, @solana/kit 7.0.0, Surfpool 0.12.0, and LiteSVM 0.6.x.