Inspecting Accounts & Programs

Q: How do I decode Anchor account data?

Use anchor account in Anchor projects, or fetch raw bytes and deserialize with your IDL client.

Q: Does program dump include upgrade metadata?

Dump writes executable ELF bytes only. Use program show for authority, slot, and loader metadata.

Q: How do I inspect token mints?

Use spl-token display for human-readable mint fields, or solana account for raw bytes.

Q: Can I inspect accounts on localnet?

Yes - point solana config at http://127.0.0.1:8899 and use the same commands.

Use solana account and solana program to read on-chain state, owners, and executable bytecode metadata without writing a client.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

solana account <ACCOUNT_PUBKEY>
solana account <PUBKEY> --output json
solana program show <PROGRAM_ID>
solana program dump <PROGRAM_ID> program.so

When to reach for this:

Debugging "account not found" or wrong owner errors.
Verifying a deployment's program ID and upgrade authority.
Dumping .so bytecode for size or hash comparison.
Inspecting rent, data length, and lamport balance quickly.

Working Example

# Inspect the System Program (native program)
solana program show 11111111111111111111111111111111
 
# Inspect a wallet or data account
solana account "$(solana address)"
 
# JSON for scripting
solana account "$(solana address)" --output json-compact | jq '.account.lamports, .account.owner'
 
# Dump program binary from devnet/mainnet
solana program dump TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA spl_token.so
ls -la spl_token.so

What this demonstrates:

program show lists owner loader, programdata address, authority, and last deploy slot.
account prints lamports, owner, executable flag, and raw data length.
program dump writes the on-chain ELF to disk for inspection or verification.

Deep Dive

How It Works

Every account stores lamports, an owner pubkey, data bytes, and flags.
Programs are accounts marked executable owned by a loader (BPF Loader v3 for upgradeable programs).
solana account fetches via getAccountInfo RPC under the hood.
Upgradeable programs split program ID and programdata accounts.

Account Output Fields

Field	Meaning
Lamports	Spendable balance + rent-exempt reserve
Owner	Program allowed to write data
Executable	`true` for deployed programs
Data Length	Byte size of account data
Allocated	Total allocated space (may exceed data length)

bash Notes

# Show only program metadata without dumping
solana program show <PROGRAM_ID> --programs
 
# Multiple accounts in one RPC round-trip via client libraries
# CLI inspects one at a time - use @solana/kit for batches

Gotchas

Reading binary as text - account data is not UTF-8 for program-owned accounts. Fix: decode with your IDL, Anchor account structs, or spl-token layout tools.
Wrong cluster - account exists on devnet but not mainnet. Fix: solana config get before debugging missing accounts.
Assuming program ID equals programdata - upgradeable loader uses two accounts. Fix: read ProgramData Address from program show.
Huge account dumps - some accounts are megabytes. Fix: use --output json and parse selectively; avoid piping raw binary to terminal.
Stale upgrade authority display - cached RPC may lag. Fix: query with finalized commitment for authority-sensitive checks.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
Solana Explorer / Solscan	Rich UI and token decoding	Scripting or offline workflows
`@solana/kit` `getAccountInfo`	Batch reads in TypeScript apps	One-off terminal inspection
`anchor account`	Anchor IDL-typed decode	Native programs without IDL
`spl-token account-info`	SPL token account layout	Non-token accounts

FAQs

What does Owner mean on an account?

The program pubkey permitted to mutate account data. Only the owner program can debit lamports or resize data per the runtime rules.

How do I know if an account is a PDA?

PDAs appear as pubkeys off the Ed25519 curve. The CLI does not label PDAs - derive expected addresses client-side and compare.

Why is Data Length zero on my wallet?

System-owned wallet accounts hold lamports only - no custom data payload.

Can I inspect closed accounts?

No - closed accounts are removed from chain state. Keep transaction signatures to prove historical existence.

What is Allocated vs Data Length?

Allocated is reserved space; data length is bytes currently used. Programs may realloc between them.

How do I decode Anchor account data?

Use anchor account <Type> <PUBKEY> in Anchor projects, or fetch raw bytes and deserialize with your IDL client.

Does program dump include upgrade metadata?

Dump writes executable ELF bytes only. Use program show for authority, slot, and loader metadata.

How do I inspect token mints?

Use spl-token display <MINT> for human-readable mint fields, or solana account for raw bytes.

Can I inspect accounts on localnet?

Yes - point solana config at http://127.0.0.1:8899 and use the same commands.

Why does json output differ from text?

JSON includes base64 data fields suitable for scripts; text output truncates large data for readability.

Solana CLI Basics - RPC and cluster setup
Deploying Programs - what program show validates after deploy
spl-token CLI - token-specific account decoding
Core RPC Methods - getAccountInfo details

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.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

solana account <ACCOUNT_PUBKEY>
solana account <PUBKEY> --output json
solana program show <PROGRAM_ID>
solana program dump <PROGRAM_ID> program.so

When to reach for this:

Debugging "account not found" or wrong owner errors.
Verifying a deployment's program ID and upgrade authority.
Dumping .so bytecode for size or hash comparison.
Inspecting rent, data length, and lamport balance quickly.

Working Example

# Inspect the System Program (native program)
solana program show 11111111111111111111111111111111
 
# Inspect a wallet or data account
solana account "$(solana address)"
 
# JSON for scripting
solana account "$(solana address)" --output json-compact | jq '.account.lamports, .account.owner'
 
# Dump program binary from devnet/mainnet
solana program dump TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA spl_token.so
ls -la spl_token.so

What this demonstrates:

program show lists owner loader, programdata address, authority, and last deploy slot.
account prints lamports, owner, executable flag, and raw data length.
program dump writes the on-chain ELF to disk for inspection or verification.

Deep Dive

How It Works

Every account stores lamports, an owner pubkey, data bytes, and flags.
Programs are accounts marked executable owned by a loader (BPF Loader v3 for upgradeable programs).
solana account fetches via getAccountInfo RPC under the hood.
Upgradeable programs split program ID and programdata accounts.

Account Output Fields

Field	Meaning
Lamports	Spendable balance + rent-exempt reserve
Owner	Program allowed to write data
Executable	`true` for deployed programs
Data Length	Byte size of account data
Allocated	Total allocated space (may exceed data length)

bash Notes

# Show only program metadata without dumping
solana program show <PROGRAM_ID> --programs
 
# Multiple accounts in one RPC round-trip via client libraries
# CLI inspects one at a time - use @solana/kit for batches

Gotchas

Reading binary as text - account data is not UTF-8 for program-owned accounts. Fix: decode with your IDL, Anchor account structs, or spl-token layout tools.
Wrong cluster - account exists on devnet but not mainnet. Fix: solana config get before debugging missing accounts.
Assuming program ID equals programdata - upgradeable loader uses two accounts. Fix: read ProgramData Address from program show.
Huge account dumps - some accounts are megabytes. Fix: use --output json and parse selectively; avoid piping raw binary to terminal.
Stale upgrade authority display - cached RPC may lag. Fix: query with finalized commitment for authority-sensitive checks.

Alternatives

Alternative	Use When	Don't Use When
Solana Explorer / Solscan	Rich UI and token decoding	Scripting or offline workflows
`@solana/kit` `getAccountInfo`	Batch reads in TypeScript apps	One-off terminal inspection
`anchor account`	Anchor IDL-typed decode	Native programs without IDL
`spl-token account-info`	SPL token account layout	Non-token accounts

FAQs

What does Owner mean on an account?

The program pubkey permitted to mutate account data. Only the owner program can debit lamports or resize data per the runtime rules.

How do I know if an account is a PDA?

PDAs appear as pubkeys off the Ed25519 curve. The CLI does not label PDAs - derive expected addresses client-side and compare.

Why is Data Length zero on my wallet?

System-owned wallet accounts hold lamports only - no custom data payload.

Can I inspect closed accounts?

No - closed accounts are removed from chain state. Keep transaction signatures to prove historical existence.

What is Allocated vs Data Length?

Allocated is reserved space; data length is bytes currently used. Programs may realloc between them.

How do I decode Anchor account data?

Use anchor account <Type> <PUBKEY> in Anchor projects, or fetch raw bytes and deserialize with your IDL client.

Does program dump include upgrade metadata?

Dump writes executable ELF bytes only. Use program show for authority, slot, and loader metadata.

How do I inspect token mints?

Use spl-token display <MINT> for human-readable mint fields, or solana account for raw bytes.

Can I inspect accounts on localnet?

Yes - point solana config at http://127.0.0.1:8899 and use the same commands.

Why does json output differ from text?

JSON includes base64 data fields suitable for scripts; text output truncates large data for readability.

Solana CLI Basics - RPC and cluster setup
Deploying Programs - what program show validates after deploy
spl-token CLI - token-specific account decoding
Core RPC Methods - getAccountInfo details

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.

Inspecting Accounts & Programs

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Inspecting Accounts & Programs