Onboarding Devs Checklist
A chronological ramp for new Solana engineers: toolchain, mental model, first program, client, and team practices. Complete in order over the first two weeks on Agave 4.1.1 / Anchor 0.32.1.
How to Use This Checklist
- Assign a buddy for questions on days 1-5.
- Check off items in repo-specific docs where paths differ.
- Do not skip security and testing items before touching mainnet keys.
Week 0 - Access & Orientation
- Git, issue tracker, and CI access granted.
- Can open PRs and read pipeline logs.
- Read Solana Basics and account model primers.
- Understand accounts, programs, transactions, lamports.
- Join team RPC provider and secrets vault.
- Devnet faucet and CI keys only at first.
- Clone monorepo and run
anchor --version/solana --version.- Expect Solana CLI 3.0.10 and Anchor 0.32.1.
- Run existing test suite locally.
- LiteSVM 0.6.x or
anchor testgreen on laptop.
- LiteSVM 0.6.x or
Week 1 - Environment & First Program
- Complete Environment Setup Checklist.
- Rust 1.91.1, Agave tools, Anchor, local validator path.
- Deploy nothing to mainnet yet.
- Devnet and local only until buddy sign-off.
- Build and test the template program.
anchor buildproduces IDL and.so.
- Walk The Solana Mental-Model Ramp.
- PDAs, CPIs, signers, compute units in order.
- Implement a tiny instruction change with tests.
- Add one account field or log; prove with LiteSVM.
- Open a first PR with program + test only.
- Practice code review guidelines on a small diff.
- Pair on reading transaction logs from a failure.
- Use
solana confirm -vand simulation logs.
- Use
Week 2 - Client & Team Workflow
- Generate or consume IDL client (
@solana/kit7.0.0 or AnchorPy).- Call your devnet program from a script or UI stub.
- Complete First Program & dApp guided path.
- End-to-end devnet deploy + client read/write.
- Run verifiable build command once.
- Understand reproducible deploy artifacts.
- Document your devnet program id in team registry.
- Prevents duplicate deployments.
- Shadow a code review on security-sensitive PR.
- Signer checks, owner checks, arithmetic.
- Read Team Best Practices and agree on branching model.
- Trunk vs release branches, upgrade policy.
- Set up local Surfpool 0.12.0 or test-validator habit.
- Know when to use fork vs clean validator.
- Demo to buddy: explain one PDA your program uses.
- Seeds, bump, and why it is safe.
Applying the Checklist in Order
- Days 1-3 (1-5): orientation without write access to shared mainnet keys.
- Days 4-8 (6-12): hands-on program changes on devnet/local only.
- Days 9-14 (13-20): client integration and team process fluency.
FAQs
How long for experienced Rust devs?
Often 5-7 days to item 14; still complete security review items.
Frontend-only hire?
Skip deep program items but complete mental model and client codegen sections.
Python backend hire?
Emphasize python-for-solana section after item 8.
Block mainnet until when?
Until buddy approves checklist through item 18 and security training done.
Re-onboarding after leave?
Re-run items 6, 10, 13, 15 - toolchains drift quickly.
Contractor onboarding?
Time-boxed access; revoke keys after item 20 demo.
Documentation duty?
Update one doc page related to your first PR before week 2 ends.
Failure criteria?
Cannot explain account model or deploy devnet program - extend week 1.
Manager checkpoints?
End of week 1 (item 12) and week 2 (item 20) syncs.
Certification?
No official cert required - buddy sign-off on this checklist is sufficient.
Related
- Environment Setup Checklist - toolchain install
- The Solana Mental-Model Ramp - concepts in order
- First Program & dApp - guided project
- Solana Basics - fundamentals intro
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.