Solana Basics

9 examples to get you started with Solana fundamentals - 6 basic and 3 intermediate. Covers accounts, programs, transactions, SOL, clusters, and the developer workflow on Agave 4.1.1.

Prerequisites

Install the Solana CLI 3.0.10 and create a default keypair on devnet.

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.anza.xyz/v3.0.10/install)"
solana --version
solana config set --url devnet
solana-keygen new --no-bip39-passphrase -o ~/.config/solana/id.json
solana airdrop 2

For TypeScript client examples, use @solana/kit 7.0.0:

npm install @solana/kit@7.0.0

Basic Examples

1. Read an Account Balance

Every address on Solana maps to an account - even if it holds zero lamports.

import { createSolanaRpc, address, lamports } from "@solana/kit";
 
const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");
const pubkey = address("11111111111111111111111111111111");
 
const { value } = await rpc.getBalance(pubkey).send();
console.log(`Balance: ${Number(lamports(value)) / 1e9} SOL`);

Balances are stored in lamports (u64), not SOL floats
getBalance returns lamports directly from the account's lamport field
Uninitialized addresses return 0 - no account exists until funded

Related: SOL, Lamports & Units - precision and conversions

2. Understand the Account Model

Accounts are the single abstraction for all on-chain state.

// Conceptual layout - every account has these fields
pub struct Account {
    pub lamports: u64,      // SOL balance in lamports
    pub data: Vec<u8>,      // arbitrary byte buffer
    pub owner: Pubkey,      // program allowed to write data
    pub executable: bool,   // true for deployed programs
    pub rent_epoch: u64,    // rent tracking (legacy field)
}

Programs are accounts with executable = true and code in data
Data accounts hold program state - owned by the program that interprets them
Only the owner program can mutate an account's data (with signer exceptions)

Related: The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM - accounts vs contracts

3. Send a Simple Transfer

A transaction with one System Program instruction moves SOL between accounts.

solana transfer <RECIPIENT_PUBKEY> 0.1 --allow-unfunded-recipient

The CLI builds a transaction with the System Program Transfer instruction
The sender keypair signs as fee payer and as the source account authority
--allow-unfunded-recipient creates the destination if it has no account yet

Related: How a Transaction Flows - client to confirmation

4. Inspect a Transaction

Use the CLI or RPC to see instructions, signers, and compute units consumed.

solana confirm -v <SIGNATURE>

-v prints each instruction's program ID, accounts, and data
Logs show compute units (CU) consumed per instruction
Failed transactions still appear on-chain with error codes in logs

Related: Keypairs & Addresses - who signs what

5. Choose the Right Cluster

Solana runs multiple independent clusters with different purposes.

solana config set --url devnet      # free test SOL, public RPC
solana config set --url testnet     # validator testing, less stable
solana config set --url mainnet-beta # production - real SOL
solana-test-validator               # local Agave 4.1.1 node

Devnet is the default for application development
Local validator gives full control and zero network latency
Mainnet-beta requires real SOL and priority fees during congestion

Related: Clusters & Networks - when to use each

6. Understand Slots and Timing

Solana targets ~400 ms slots; leaders produce blocks per slot.

solana slot
solana block-time $(solana slot)

A slot is a time window where one validator is the block producer
An epoch is a fixed number of slots (~432,000 slots, ~2 days)
Skipped slots happen when the assigned leader is offline or slow

Related: Slots, Blocks & Epochs - epoch schedule details

Intermediate Examples

7. Build a Transaction with @solana/kit

Kit uses a functional pipe to assemble versioned transactions.

import {
  createSolanaRpc,
  createTransactionMessage,
  setTransactionMessageFeePayer,
  setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash,
  appendTransactionMessageInstruction,
  pipe,
  address,
  getSignatureFromTransaction,
  signTransactionMessageWithSigners,
} from "@solana/kit";
import { getTransferSolInstruction } from "@solana-program/system";
 
const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");
const feePayer = address("YOUR_FEE_PAYER_PUBKEY");
const recipient = address("RECIPIENT_PUBKEY");
 
const { value: blockhash } = await rpc.getLatestBlockhash().send();
 
const transferIx = getTransferSolInstruction({
  source: feePayer,
  destination: recipient,
  amount: 100_000_000n, // 0.1 SOL in lamports
});
 
const txMessage = pipe(
  createTransactionMessage({ version: 0 }),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageFeePayer(feePayer, m),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash(blockhash, m),
  (m) => appendTransactionMessageInstruction(transferIx, m),
);
 
// Sign with your keypair signer, then send via sendTransaction

Kit separates message building from signing and sending
Amounts are always bigint lamports - never JavaScript floats
Version 0 transactions support address lookup tables for more accounts

Related: Wallets & Explorers - devnet workflow

8. Generate and Use a Keypair

Ed25519 keypairs are the root of identity and signing on Solana.

solana-keygen new --outfile ./dev-wallet.json --no-bip39-passphrase
solana-keygen pubkey ./dev-wallet.json

import { createKeyPairSignerFromBytes } from "@solana/kit";
import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 
const secret = JSON.parse(readFileSync("./dev-wallet.json", "utf8"));
const signer = await createKeyPairSignerFromBytes(Uint8Array.from(secret));
console.log(signer.address);

The JSON file is a 64-byte secret key array - treat it like a password
Public keys (addresses) are 32-byte Ed25519 points, base58-encoded
Never commit keypair files to version control

Related: Keypairs & Addresses - signing model

9. Trace a Transaction End-to-End

Follow a transfer from client submission to finalized confirmation.

# 1. Send
SIG=$(solana transfer <RECIPIENT> 0.01 --output json | jq -r .signature)
 
# 2. Poll confirmation
solana confirm $SIG --commitment confirmed
 
# 3. Inspect in explorer
echo "https://explorer.solana.com/tx/$SIG?cluster=devnet"

Processed - node has seen it; may still be dropped
Confirmed - supermajority voted on the block containing it
Finalized - block is rooted and cannot be rolled back

Related: How a Transaction Flows - full pipeline

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.

Prerequisites

Install the Solana CLI 3.0.10 and create a default keypair on devnet.

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.anza.xyz/v3.0.10/install)"
solana --version
solana config set --url devnet
solana-keygen new --no-bip39-passphrase -o ~/.config/solana/id.json
solana airdrop 2

For TypeScript client examples, use @solana/kit 7.0.0:

npm install @solana/kit@7.0.0

Basic Examples

1. Read an Account Balance

Every address on Solana maps to an account - even if it holds zero lamports.

import { createSolanaRpc, address, lamports } from "@solana/kit";
 
const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");
const pubkey = address("11111111111111111111111111111111");
 
const { value } = await rpc.getBalance(pubkey).send();
console.log(`Balance: ${Number(lamports(value)) / 1e9} SOL`);

Balances are stored in lamports (u64), not SOL floats
getBalance returns lamports directly from the account's lamport field
Uninitialized addresses return 0 - no account exists until funded

Related: SOL, Lamports & Units - precision and conversions

2. Understand the Account Model

Accounts are the single abstraction for all on-chain state.

// Conceptual layout - every account has these fields
pub struct Account {
    pub lamports: u64,      // SOL balance in lamports
    pub data: Vec<u8>,      // arbitrary byte buffer
    pub owner: Pubkey,      // program allowed to write data
    pub executable: bool,   // true for deployed programs
    pub rent_epoch: u64,    // rent tracking (legacy field)
}

Programs are accounts with executable = true and code in data
Data accounts hold program state - owned by the program that interprets them
Only the owner program can mutate an account's data (with signer exceptions)

Related: The Solana Mental Model vs. EVM - accounts vs contracts

3. Send a Simple Transfer

A transaction with one System Program instruction moves SOL between accounts.

solana transfer <RECIPIENT_PUBKEY> 0.1 --allow-unfunded-recipient

The CLI builds a transaction with the System Program Transfer instruction
The sender keypair signs as fee payer and as the source account authority
--allow-unfunded-recipient creates the destination if it has no account yet

Related: How a Transaction Flows - client to confirmation

4. Inspect a Transaction

Use the CLI or RPC to see instructions, signers, and compute units consumed.

solana confirm -v <SIGNATURE>

-v prints each instruction's program ID, accounts, and data
Logs show compute units (CU) consumed per instruction
Failed transactions still appear on-chain with error codes in logs

Related: Keypairs & Addresses - who signs what

5. Choose the Right Cluster

Solana runs multiple independent clusters with different purposes.

solana config set --url devnet      # free test SOL, public RPC
solana config set --url testnet     # validator testing, less stable
solana config set --url mainnet-beta # production - real SOL
solana-test-validator               # local Agave 4.1.1 node

Devnet is the default for application development
Local validator gives full control and zero network latency
Mainnet-beta requires real SOL and priority fees during congestion

Related: Clusters & Networks - when to use each

6. Understand Slots and Timing

Solana targets ~400 ms slots; leaders produce blocks per slot.

solana slot
solana block-time $(solana slot)

A slot is a time window where one validator is the block producer
An epoch is a fixed number of slots (~432,000 slots, ~2 days)
Skipped slots happen when the assigned leader is offline or slow

Related: Slots, Blocks & Epochs - epoch schedule details

Intermediate Examples

7. Build a Transaction with @solana/kit

Kit uses a functional pipe to assemble versioned transactions.

import {
  createSolanaRpc,
  createTransactionMessage,
  setTransactionMessageFeePayer,
  setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash,
  appendTransactionMessageInstruction,
  pipe,
  address,
  getSignatureFromTransaction,
  signTransactionMessageWithSigners,
} from "@solana/kit";
import { getTransferSolInstruction } from "@solana-program/system";
 
const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");
const feePayer = address("YOUR_FEE_PAYER_PUBKEY");
const recipient = address("RECIPIENT_PUBKEY");
 
const { value: blockhash } = await rpc.getLatestBlockhash().send();
 
const transferIx = getTransferSolInstruction({
  source: feePayer,
  destination: recipient,
  amount: 100_000_000n, // 0.1 SOL in lamports
});
 
const txMessage = pipe(
  createTransactionMessage({ version: 0 }),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageFeePayer(feePayer, m),
  (m) => setTransactionMessageLifetimeUsingBlockhash(blockhash, m),
  (m) => appendTransactionMessageInstruction(transferIx, m),
);
 
// Sign with your keypair signer, then send via sendTransaction

Kit separates message building from signing and sending
Amounts are always bigint lamports - never JavaScript floats
Version 0 transactions support address lookup tables for more accounts

Related: Wallets & Explorers - devnet workflow

8. Generate and Use a Keypair

Ed25519 keypairs are the root of identity and signing on Solana.

solana-keygen new --outfile ./dev-wallet.json --no-bip39-passphrase
solana-keygen pubkey ./dev-wallet.json

import { createKeyPairSignerFromBytes } from "@solana/kit";
import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 
const secret = JSON.parse(readFileSync("./dev-wallet.json", "utf8"));
const signer = await createKeyPairSignerFromBytes(Uint8Array.from(secret));
console.log(signer.address);

The JSON file is a 64-byte secret key array - treat it like a password
Public keys (addresses) are 32-byte Ed25519 points, base58-encoded
Never commit keypair files to version control

Related: Keypairs & Addresses - signing model

9. Trace a Transaction End-to-End

Follow a transfer from client submission to finalized confirmation.

# 1. Send
SIG=$(solana transfer <RECIPIENT> 0.01 --output json | jq -r .signature)
 
# 2. Poll confirmation
solana confirm $SIG --commitment confirmed
 
# 3. Inspect in explorer
echo "https://explorer.solana.com/tx/$SIG?cluster=devnet"

Processed - node has seen it; may still be dropped
Confirmed - supermajority voted on the block containing it
Finalized - block is rooted and cannot be rolled back

Related: How a Transaction Flows - full pipeline

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.

Solana Basics

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Solana Basics