@solana-developers/helpers

Solana web3.js v1 helpers

The @solana-developers/helpers package contains Solana helper functions, for use in the browser and/or node.js, made by the Solana Foundation's Developer Relations team and contributions from Anza, Turbin3, Unboxed Software, and StarAtlas.

[!IMPORTANT]
@solana-developers/helpers is for Solana web3.js version 1. The updated version of this package which is compatible with Solana web3.js version 2 is called gill. Learn more here:

• npm registry - https://www.npmjs.com/package/gill
• source repository - https://github.com/solana-foundation/gill

What can I do with this module?

Account & Keypair Management:

Make multiple keypairs at once

Get a keypair from a keypair file

Get a keypair from an environment variable

Add a new keypair to an env file

Load or create a keypair and airdrop to it if needed

Token Operations:

Make a token mint with metadata

Create multiple accounts with balances of different tokens in a single step

Transaction & Compute Management:

Confirm a transaction

Get the logs for a transaction

Get simulated compute units (CUs) for transaction instructions

Get an airdrop if your balance is below some amount

Error Handling & Utilities:

Resolve a custom error message

Get a Solana Explorer link for a transaction, address, or block

Anchor Program Interaction:

Parse account data with IDL

Parse transaction events

Decode Anchor transaction

Installation

npm i @solana-developers/helpers

Contributing

PRs are very much welcome! Read the CONTRIBUTING guidelines for the Solana course then send a PR!

Helpers for the browser and node.js

Make multiple keypairs at once

Usage:

makeKeypairs(amount);

In some situations - like making tests for your onchain programs - you might need to make lots of keypairs at once. You can use makeKeypairs() combined with JS destructuring to quickly create multiple variables with distinct keypairs.

const [sender, recipient] = makeKeypairs(2);

Make a token mint with metadata

The makeTokenMint makes a new token mint. A token mint is effectively the factory that produces token of a particular type. So if you want to make a new token, this is the right function for you!

Unlike older tools, the function uses Token Extensions Metadata and Metadata Pointer to put all metadata into the Mint Account, without needing an external Metadata account. If you don't know what that means, just know that things are simpler than they used to be!

Parameters

• connection: Connection.
• mintAuthority: Keypair of the account that can make new tokens.
• name: string, name of the token.
• symbol: string, like a ticker symbol. Usually in all-caps.
• decimals: number, how many decimal places the new token will have.
• uri: string, URI to a JSON file containing at minimum a value for image.
• additionalMetadata: additional metadata as either Record<string, string> or Array<[string, string]>(optional).
• updateAuthority: PublicKey (optional) - public key of the account that can update the token.
• freezeAuthority: PublicKey (optional) - public key of the freeze account, default to null

const mintAddress = await makeTokenMint(
  connection,
  mintAuthority,
  "Unit test token",
  "TEST",
  9,
  "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/solana-developers/professional-education/main/labs/sample-token-metadata.json",
);

Create users, mints and token accounts in a single step

Frequently, tests for onchain programs need to make not just users with SOL, but also token mints and give each user some balance of each token. To save this boilerplate, createAccountsMintsAndTokenAccounts() handles making user keypairs, giving them SOL, making mints, creating associated token accounts, and minting tokens directly to the associated token accounts.

Eg, to make two new users, and two tokens:

• the first user with million of the first token, none of the second token, and 1 SOL
• the second user with none of the first token, 1 million of the second token, and 1 SOL

Just run:

const usersMintsAndTokenAccounts = await createAccountsMintsAndTokenAccounts(
  [
    [1_000_000_000, 0], // User 0 has 1_000_000_000 of token A and 0 of token B
    [0, 1_000_000_000], // User 1 has 0 of token A and 1_000_000_000 of token B
  ],
  1 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL,
  connection,
  payer,
);

The returned usersMintsAndTokenAccounts will be an object of the form:

{
  users: <Array<Keypair>>
  mints: <Array<Keypair>>,
  tokenAccounts: <Array<Array><PublicKey>>>
}

tokenAccounts are indexed by the user, then the mint. Eg, the ATA of user[0] for mint[0] is tokenAccounts[0][0].

Resolve a custom error message

Usage:

getCustomErrorMessage(programErrors, errorMessage);

Sometimes Solana transactions throw an error with a message like:

failed to send transaction: Transaction simulation failed: Error processing Instruction 0: custom program error: 0x10

Usage:

getCustomErrorMessage();

Allows you to turn this message into a more readable message from the custom program, like:

This token mint cannot freeze accounts

Just:

• Get the errors from the specific program's error.rs file - for example, there are the errors for the Token Program

• Save the errors into an array

// Token program errors
// https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-program-library/blob/master/token/program/src/error.rs
const tokenProgramErrors = [
  "Lamport balance below rent-exempt threshold",
  "Insufficient funds",
  "Invalid Mint",
  "Account not associated with this Mint",
  "Owner does not match",
  "Fixed supply",
  "Already in use",
  "Invalid number of provided signers",
  "Invalid number of required signers",
  "State is unititialized",
  "Instruction does not support native tokens",
  "Non-native account can only be closed if its balance is zero",
  "Invalid instruction",
  "State is invalid for requested operation",
  "Operation overflowed",
  "Account does not support specified authority type",
  "This token mint cannot freeze accounts",
  "Account is frozen",
  "The provided decimals value different from the Mint decimals",
  "Instruction does not support non-native tokens",
];

Then run:

const errorMessage = getCustomErrorMessage(
  tokenProgramErrors,
  "failed to send transaction: Transaction simulation failed: Error processing Instruction 0: custom program error: 0x10",
);

And errorMessage will now be:

"This token mint cannot freeze accounts";

Get an airdrop if your balance is below some amount

Usage:

airdropIfRequired(connection, publicKey, lamports, maximumBalance);

Request and confirm an airdrop in one step. As soon as the await returns, the airdropped tokens will be ready to use, and the new balance of tokens will be returned. The maximumBalance is used to avoid errors caused by unnecessarily asking for SOL when there's already enough in the account, and makes airdropIfRequired() very handy in scripts that run repeatedly.

To ask for 0.5 SOL, if the balance is below 1 SOL, use:

const newBalance = await airdropIfRequired(
  connection,
  keypair.publicKey,
  0.5 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL,
  1 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL,
);

Get a Solana Explorer link for a transaction, address, or block

Usage:

getExplorerLink(type, identifier, clusterName);

Get an explorer link for an address, block or transaction (tx works too).

getExplorerLink("address", "dDCQNnDmNbFVi8cQhKAgXhyhXeJ625tvwsunRyRc7c8", "mainnet-beta");

Will return "https://explorer.solana.com/address/dDCQNnDmNbFVi8cQhKAgXhyhXeJ625tvwsunRyRc7c8". The cluster name isn't included since mainnet-beta is the default.

getExplorerLink("address", "dDCQNnDmNbFVi8cQhKAgXhyhXeJ625tvwsunRyRc7c8", "devnet");

Will return "https://explorer.solana.com/address/dDCQNnDmNbFVi8cQhKAgXhyhXeJ625tvwsunRyRc7c8?cluster=devnet"

getExplorerLink("block", "241889720", "mainnet-beta");

Will return "https://explorer.solana.com/block/241889720"

Confirm a transaction

Usage:

confirmTransaction(connection, transaction);

Confirm a transaction, and also gets the recent blockhash required to confirm it.

await confirmTransaction(connection, transaction);

Get the logs for a transaction

Usage:

getLogs(connection, transaction);

Get the logs for a transaction signature:

const logs = await getLogs(connection, transaction);

The logs will be an array of strings, eg:

[
  "Program 11111111111111111111111111111111 invoke [1]",
  "Program 11111111111111111111111111111111 success",
];

This a good way to assert your onchain programs return particular logs during unit tests.

Get simulated compute units (CUs) for transaction instructions

Usage:

getSimulationComputeUnits(connection, instructions, payer, lookupTables);

Get the compute units required for an array of instructions. Create your instructions:

const sendSol = SystemProgram.transfer({
  fromPubkey: payer.publicKey,
  toPubkey: recipient,
  lamports: 1_000_000,
});

Then use getSimulationComputeUnits to get the number of compute units the instructions will use:

const units = await getSimulationComputeUnits(connection, [sendSol], payer.publicKey);

You can then use ComputeBudgetProgram.setComputeUnitLimit({ units }) as the first instruction in your transaction. See How to Request Optimal Compute Budget for more information on compute units.

addComputeInstructions

Adds compute unit instructions for a transaction if they don't already exist:

const updatedInstructions = await addComputeInstructions(
  connection,
  instructions,
  lookupTables,
  payer.publicKey,
  10000, // priority fee default 10000 microLamports
  { multiplier: 1.1 }, // compute unit buffer default adds 10%
);

// Returns instructions array with:
// 1. setComputeUnitPrice instruction (if not present)
// 2. setComputeUnitLimit instruction based on simulation (if not present)
// The limit is calculated by simulating the transaction and adding the specified buffer

This function:

• Adds priority fee instruction if not present
• Simulates transaction to determine required compute units
• Adds compute unit limit instruction with buffer
• Returns the updated instructions array

Node.js specific helpers

Get a keypair from a keypair file

Usage:

getKeypairFromFile(filename);

Gets a keypair from a file - the format must be the same as Solana CLI uses, ie, a JSON array of numbers:

To load the default keypair ~/.config/solana/id.json, just run:

const keyPair = await getKeypairFromFile();

or to load a specific file:

const keyPair = await getKeypairFromFile("somefile.json");

or using home dir expansion:

const keyPair = await getKeypairFromFile("~/code/solana/demos/steve.json");

Get a keypair from an environment variable

Usage:

getKeypairFromEnvironment(environmentVariable);

Gets a keypair from a secret key stored in an environment variable. This is typically used to load secret keys from env files.

const keypair = await getKeypairFromEnvironment("SECRET_KEY");

Add a new keypair to an env file

Usage:

addKeypairToEnvFile(keypair, environmentVariable, envFileName);

Saves a keypair to the environment file.

await addKeypairToEnvFile(testKeypair, "SECRET_KEY");

or to specify a file name:

await addKeypairToEnvFile(testKeypair, "SECRET_KEY", ".env.local");

This will also reload the env file.

Load or create a keypair and airdrop to it if needed

Usage:

initializeKeypair(connection, options);

Loads in a keypair from the filesystem, or environment and then airdrops to it if needed.

How the keypair is initialized is dependent on the initializeKeypairOptions:

interface initializeKeypairOptions {
  envFileName?: string;
  envVariableName?: string;
  airdropAmount?: number | null;
  minimumBalance?: number;
  keypairPath?: string;
}

By default, the keypair will be retrieved from the .env file. If a .env file does not exist, this function will create one with a new keypair under the optional envVariableName.

To load the keypair from the filesystem, pass in the keypairPath. When set, loading a keypair from the filesystem will take precedence over loading from the .env file.

If airdropAmount amount is set to something other than null or 0, this function will then check the account's balance. If the balance is below the minimumBalance, it will airdrop the account airdropAmount.

To initialize a keypair from the .env file, and airdrop it 1 sol if it's beneath 0.5 sol:

const keypair = await initializeKeypair(connection);

To initialize a keypair from the .env file under a different variable name:

const keypair = await initializeKeypair(connection, {
  envVariableName: "TEST_KEYPAIR",
});

To initialize a keypair from the filesystem, and airdrop it 3 sol:

const keypair = await initializeKeypair(connection, {
  keypairPath: "~/.config/solana/id.json",
  airdropAmount: LAMPORTS_PER_SOL * 3,
});

The default options are as follows:

const DEFAULT_AIRDROP_AMOUNT = 1 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL;
const DEFAULT_MINIMUM_BALANCE = 0.5 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL;
const DEFAULT_ENV_KEYPAIR_VARIABLE_NAME = "PRIVATE_KEY";

Secret key format

Secret keys can be read in either the more compact base58 format (base58.encode(randomKeypair.secretKey);), like:

# A random secret key for demo purposes
SECRET_KEY=QqKYBnj5mcgUsS4vrCeyMczbTyV1SMrr7SjSAPj7JGFtxfrgD8AWU8NciwHNCbmkscbvj4HdeEen42GDBSHCj1N

Or the longer, 'array of numbers' format JSON.stringify(Object.values(randomKeypair.secretKey));:

# A random secret key for demo purposes
SECRET_KEY=[112,222,91,246,55,109,221,4,23,148,251,127,212,180,44,249,182,139,18,13,209,208,6,7,193,210,186,249,148,237,237,1,70,118,1,153,238,134,239,75,187,96,101,138,147,130,181,71,22,82,44,217,194,122,59,208,134,119,98,53,136,108,44,105]

We always save keys using the 'array of numbers' format, since most other Solana apps (like the CLI SDK and Rust tools) use the 'array of numbers' format.

Development

To run tests, open a terminal tab, and run:

solana-test-validator

Then in a different tab, run:

npm run test

The tests use the node native test runner.

If you'd like to run a single test, use:

esrun --node-test-name-pattern="getCustomErrorMessage" src/index.test.ts

To just run tests matching the name getCustomErrorMessage.

Transaction Utilities

sendTransaction

Sends a transaction with compute unit optimization and automatic retries. This function:

• Automatically sets compute units based on simulation
• Adds priority fees for faster processing
• Handles retries and confirmation
• Provides detailed status updates

const signature = await sendTransaction(connection, transaction, [payer]);

The function is also customizable if you do not like the defaults:

const signature = await sendTransaction(
  connection,
  transaction,
  [payer],
  10000, // priority fee in microLamports
  {
    computeUnitBuffer: { multiplier: 1.1 }, // add 10% buffer to compute units
    onStatusUpdate: (status) => console.log(status),
    commitment: "confirmed",
    maxRetries: 10,
    initialDelayMs: 2000,
  },
);

The function will:

• Skip compute preparation if transaction is already signed
• Skip compute preparation if transaction already has compute budget instructions
• Add compute budget instructions if needed
• Handle retries and confirmation automatically
• Provide status updates: "created" → "signed" → "sent" → "confirmed"

For RPC providers that support priority fees:

• Helius: minimum 10000 microLamports
• Triton: see their priority fee API
• Quicknode: see their priority fee estimation

sendVersionedTransaction

Sends a versioned transaction with compute unit optimization and automatic retries.

async function sendVersionedTransaction(
  connection: Connection,
  instructions: Array<TransactionInstruction>,
  signers: Keypair[],
  priorityFee: number = 10000,
  lookupTables?: Array<AddressLookupTableAccount> | [],
  options?: SendTransactionOptions & {
    computeUnitBuffer?: ComputeUnitBuffer;
  },
): Promise<string>;

Example:

const signature = await sendVersionedTransaction(
  connection,
  instructions,
  [payer],
  10000,
  lookupTables,
  {
    computeUnitBuffer: { multiplier: 1.1 },
    onStatusUpdate: (status) => console.log(status),
  },
);

createLookupTable

Creates a new address lookup table and extends it with additional addresses.

async function createLookupTable(
  connection: Connection,
  sender: Keypair,
  additionalAddresses: PublicKey[],
  priorityFee: number = 10000,
): Promise<[PublicKey, AddressLookupTableAccount]>;

Example:

const [lookupTableAddress, lookupTableAccount] = await createLookupTable(connection, payer, [
  account1.publicKey,
  account2.publicKey,
  account3.publicKey,
]);
// Can either cache the lookup table address and lookup table account for reuse, or use them directly
const signature = await sendVersionedTransaction(
  connection,
  instructions,
  [payer],
  10000,
  [lookupTableAccount],
  {
    onStatusUpdate: (status) => console.log(status),
  },
);

These utilities help with:

• Creating and sending versioned transactions
• Managing compute units and priority fees
• Using address lookup tables to fit more accounts in a single transaction
• Automatic transaction retries and status updates

Anchor IDL Utilities

Loading IDLs

Get an IDL from a local file:

const idl = await getIdlByPath("./idl/program.json");

Or fetch it from the chain:

const idl = await getIdlByProgramId(
  new PublicKey("verifycLy8mB96wd9wqq3WDXQwM4oU6r42Th37Db9fC"),
  connection,
);

Parse Account Data

Usage:

const idl = await getIdlByProgramId(programId, connection);
const data = await getIdlParsedAccountData(idl, "counter", accountAddress, connection);

// Decoded Data: { count: <BN: 2> }

Fetches and parses an account's data using an Anchor IDL file. This is useful when you need to decode account data from Anchor programs.

Parse Transaction Events

Usage:

const idl = await getIdlByPath("./idl/program.json");
const events = await parseAnchorTransactionEvents(idl, signature, connection);

// Events will be an array of:
// {
//   name: "GameCreated",
//   data: { gameId: "123", player: "..." }
// }

Parses all Anchor events emitted in a transaction. This helps you track and verify program events after transaction execution.

Decode Anchor Transaction

Usage:

const idl = await getIdlByProgramId(programId, connection);
const decoded = await decodeAnchorTransaction(idl, signature, connection);

// Print human-readable format
console.log(decoded.toString());

// Access specific instruction data
decoded.instructions.forEach((ix) => {
  console.log(`Instruction: ${ix.name}`);
  console.log(`Arguments: ${JSON.stringify(ix.data)}`);
  console.log(`Accounts: ${ix.accounts.map((acc) => acc.name).join(", ")}`);
});

Provides detailed decoding of all Anchor instructions in a transaction, including:

• Instruction names and arguments
• All involved accounts with their roles (signer/writable)
• Account data for program-owned accounts
• Human-readable string representation

Changelog

2.8.1

• Fix issue with CJS import of Anchor's NodeWallet to use the correct Wallet class exported
• Fixed type errors on ArrayBuffers and Uint8Arrays

2.8

• Added sendVersionedTransaction() to send a versioned transaction with lookup tables. Also adds priority fee support.
• Added createLookupTable() to easily create a lookup table and extend it with additional addresses
• Added getIdlByProgramId() to fetch an IDL from a program on-chain
• Added getIdlByPath() to parse an IDL from a local file path
• Added getIdlParsedAccountData() to parse account data using an IDL
• Added parseAnchorTransactionEvents() to parse anchor transaction events using an IDL
• Added decodeAnchorTransaction() to decode a transaction completely using an IDL
• Fixed account data parsing in decodeAnchorTransaction()

2.7

• Added sendTransaction() to send transactions with compute unit optimization and automatic retries.
• Removed sendTransactionWithRetry() as sendTransaction() is more convenient.
• Fixed the node specific imports for the Anchor transaction helpers

2.6

• Added Transaction send helpers. prepareTransactionWithCompute() and sendTransactionWithRetry()
• Added Transaction Parser helper functions getIdlParsedAccountData(), parseAnchorTransactionEvents() and getIdlParsedInstructionData()
• Fixed createAccountsMintsAndTokenAccounts() function to use correct commitment and not max blockhash
• Fixed confirmTransaction() to not use correct commitment

2.5

• Add makeTokenMint()
• 2.5.4 includes a few fixes to build system and TS types that were missing in earlier 2.5.x releases
• 2.5.6 includes a fix for esm module post-build script

2.4

• Add createAccountsMintsAndTokenAccounts()

2.3

Improved browser support by only loading node-specific modules when they are needed. Thanks @piotr-layerzero!

2.2

• Add getSimulationComputeUnits()

2.1

• Add initializeKeypair()
• Change documentation to be task based.

2.0

• Breaking: Replace both requestAndConfirmAirdropIfRequired() and requestAndConfirmAirdrop() with a single function, airdropIfRequired(). See [README.md]!
• Fix error handling in confirmTransaction() to throw errors correctly.
• Added getLogs() function

1.5

• Added getExplorerLink()

1.4

• Added requestAndConfirmAirdropIfRequired()

1.3

• Now just helpers. The old node-helpers package is marked as deprecated.
• Added requestAndConfirmAirdrop()
• Added getCustomErrorMessage()

1.2

• Added addKeypairToEnvFile()

1.0

Original release.