NFT Best Practices
Rules for launching and maintaining standards-compliant, future-proof Solana NFTs on Agave 4.1.1.
How to Use This List
- Apply A when choosing a standard for a new collection
- Review B before mainnet mint and metadata upload
- Use C for production wallet/marketplace integrations
A - Standard Selection
- Default new collections to Metaplex Core. Single-account model, lower rent, modern plugins.
- Use cNFT (Bubblegum) for 10k+ supply. Full mint accounts are cost-prohibitive at scale.
- Use Token Metadata only when required. Legacy marketplace or pNFT ruleset requirements.
- Verify collections on-chain. Unverified collection fields are spoofable.
- Document royalty policy honestly. Enforcement varies by marketplace.
B - Metadata & Launch
- Store media on Arweave or pinned IPFS. Avoid naked HTTPS uris for production art.
- Run
sugar validatebefore upload. Catch json/image index mismatches early. - Rehearse full mint on devnet. Guards, payment, and reveal flows included.
- Revoke update authority after final reveal. If immutability is promised.
- Pin creator splits summing to 100%. Invalid metadata breaks marketplace indexing.
- Automate reveal crank. Do not leave hidden placeholder metadata forever.
C - Reads & Integrations
- Use DAS API for wallet galleries. Not raw GPA across metadata PDAs.
- Paginate
getAssetsByOwnerandgetAssetsByGroup. Respect provider rate limits. - Use asset.id from DAS for cNFTs. Mint pubkey alone is insufficient for compressed assets.
- Cache metadata with refresh control. Off-chain JSON can change if uri is mutable.
- Token-gate on verified collection grouping. Not name string matching alone.
- Pair DAS reads with @solana/kit 7.0.0 for txs. Separate URLs for DAS vs standard RPC.
FAQs
Best standard in 2026?
Metaplex Core for most new on-chain NFTs; Bubblegum for mass scale.
Biggest launch mistake?
Unverified collection or mutable uri on permanent-storage promise.
Skip Candy Machine?
OK for small manual mints; CM still valuable for guarded public drops on Token Metadata.
Royalties guaranteed?
No - disclose marketplace-dependent enforcement.
Test checklist?
Devnet mint, DAS read, marketplace test listing, transfer to second wallet.
Storage minimum?
Arweave or pinned IPFS for image + json; validate gateway resolution.
Core vs cNFT decision?
Core: hundreds to low thousands. cNFT: thousands to millions.
pNFT complexity?
Only if ruleset enforcement required - otherwise prefer Core simplicity.
Indexer choice?
DAS for reads; custom Geyser only for business logic DAS lacks.
Security review?
Audit mint authority, update authority, treasury PDAs, and guard configs.
Related
- NFT Basics on Solana - standards overview
- Metaplex Core - recommended default
- Metadata & Storage - hosting
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.