Wallets & Explorers

Wallets hold keypairs and sign transactions. Explorers let you inspect accounts, programs, and transaction logs on any cluster. Together they form the daily devnet workflow every Solana builder uses.

Recipe

Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.

# Fund devnet wallet
solana airdrop 2
solana balance
 
# Open transaction in explorer
open "https://explorer.solana.com/tx/<SIGNATURE>?cluster=devnet"

When to reach for this:

• Onboarding new developers with devnet SOL
• Debugging failed transactions via explorer logs
• Inspecting program accounts and upgrade authority
• Sharing transaction links with teammates
• Verifying deployment on the correct cluster

Working Example

#!/bin/bash
# devnet-explorer-workflow.sh
 
set -e
solana config set --url devnet
 
# Create and fund
solana-keygen new --no-bip39-passphrase -o ./dev.json --force
solana airdrop 1 ./dev.json || echo "Airdrop rate-limited - try https://faucet.solana.com"
 
# Send a visible transaction
RECIPIENT=$(solana-keygen pubkey ./dev.json)
SIG=$(solana transfer "$RECIPIENT" 0.001 --from ./dev.json --allow-unfunded-recipient --output json | jq -r .signature)
 
echo "Transaction: https://explorer.solana.com/tx/$SIG?cluster=devnet"
echo "Wallet:      https://explorer.solana.com/address/$RECIPIENT?cluster=devnet"
 
# Inspect on CLI
solana confirm -v "$SIG"

import { createSolanaRpc, address } from "@solana/kit";
 
const rpc = createSolanaRpc("https://api.devnet.solana.com");
const sig = "YOUR_SIGNATURE";
 
const tx = await rpc
  .getTransaction(sig, { encoding: "json", maxSupportedTransactionVersion: 0 })
  .send();
 
console.log("Slot:", tx?.slot);
console.log("Error:", tx?.meta?.err);
console.log("CU consumed:", tx?.meta?.computeUnitsConsumed);
console.log("Log messages:", tx?.meta?.logMessages);

What this demonstrates:

• Faucet CLI airdrop is the fastest devnet funding path
• Explorer URLs require ?cluster=devnet for non-mainnet views
• getTransaction returns logs, CU, and error details programmatically
• solana confirm -v mirrors explorer instruction breakdown in the terminal

Deep Dive

How It Works

• Wallets store keypairs locally (browser extension, mobile app, or CLI file)
• When a dapp requests a signature, the wallet shows the transaction for approval
• Explorers index RPC data to render human-readable transaction views
• Each cluster has separate ledger data - explorer cluster param must match

Explorer Views

Devnet Faucets

• CLI: solana airdrop 2 (rate-limited)
• Web: https://faucet.solana.com (devnet/testnet)
• Local: unlimited on solana-test-validator

Gotchas

• Explorer without cluster param on devnet - shows mainnet data (tx not found). Fix: always append ?cluster=devnet.
• Airdrop rate limits - CLI rejects after a few requests. Fix: use web faucet or wait, or switch to local validator.
• Trusting explorer token balances for security - explorers are read-only views, not oracles. Fix: verify on-chain via RPC for critical checks.
• Sharing mainnet private keys with devnet tools - key works on both; accidental mainnet tx is possible. Fix: separate keypair files per environment.
• Missing transaction on explorer - RPC lag or wrong cluster. Fix: wait a few seconds; verify cluster and signature.
• Wallet auto-connect on wrong cluster - Phantom and others have network selectors. Fix: match wallet network to dapp RPC.

Alternatives

FAQs

solana airdrop 2

Related

• Clusters & Networks - devnet vs mainnet
• Keypairs & Addresses - wallet key management
• How a Transaction Flows - reading confirmation status

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.