Solana

---

name: Solana description: Assist with Solana transactions, token accounts, priority fees, and program interactions. metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"◎","os":["linux","darwin","win32"]}}

---

Rent and Account Creation

Every Solana account must hold a minimum SOL balance (~0.00089 SOL for basic accounts) to be rent-exempt — accounts below this get deleted

Sending SOL to a new address that has never received anything will fail if the amount doesn't cover rent-exempt minimum

Token accounts require separate rent deposits — each new token type a wallet holds costs ~0.002 SOL to create

Close unused token accounts to recover rent: spl-token close returns the SOL to owner

Token Accounts (SPL Tokens)

Unlike Ethereum, Solana wallets don't automatically hold tokens — each token needs an Associated Token Account (ATA) created first

First-time token transfers must create the recipient's ATA — sender pays ~0.002 SOL account creation fee

"Account not found" error usually means the ATA doesn't exist yet, not that the wallet is invalid

One wallet can have multiple ATAs for the same token (non-associated) — always use the ATA address for standard transfers

Transaction Fees and Priority

Base fee is ~0.000005 SOL (5000 lamports) per signature — much cheaper than Ethereum

Priority fee = compute units × price in micro-lamports — set via SetComputeUnitPrice instruction

During congestion (NFT mints, popular DEX), transactions without priority fees get dropped, not queued

Default compute unit limit is 200k per instruction — complex programs may need SetComputeUnitLimit to increase

Transaction Lifecycle

Solana transactions expire after ~60 seconds (based on blockhash age) — no permanent mempool like Bitcoin/Ethereum

"Dropped" means tx was never included and expired. "Failed" means it was included but reverted. Completely different outcomes

If transaction shows "confirmed" but not "finalized", wait — finalized means 31+ confirmations and is irreversible

Preflight simulation catches most errors before broadcast — disable with skipPreflight: true only if you know why

Common Error Messages

"Insufficient funds for rent" — account would drop below rent-exempt minimum after transaction

"Account not found" — the account doesn't exist on-chain (never created or was closed)

"Blockhash not found" — transaction expired, need fresh blockhash and re-sign

"Program failed to complete" — smart contract error, check logs with solana confirm -v

RPC and APIs

Public RPCs (api.mainnet-beta.solana.com) have strict rate limits — production apps need paid RPC (Helius, QuickNode, Triton)

getRecentPrioritizationFees RPC gives current priority fee market — essential for landing txs during congestion

Solscan.io and Solana.fm are the main block explorers — both show decoded instruction data

For token metadata (name, symbol, image), query Metaplex on-chain or use Helius/SimpleHash APIs

Wallet and Security

Phantom, Solflare, Backpack are the main wallets — each has slightly different transaction simulation UI

"Approve" prompts in Solana can drain entire wallet if malicious — read the simulation carefully

Burner wallets are common practice for minting/airdrops — never connect main wallet to unknown sites

Unlike Ethereum's infinite approvals, most Solana programs take tokens directly — no separate revoke step needed