solana_skill

Overview

This skill helps you construct, inspect, and troubleshoot Solana transactions, token accounts, priority fees, and program interactions. It explains rent-exemption, ATA handling, fee mechanics, transaction lifecycle, common error messages, and recommended RPC usage. Use it to avoid common pitfalls and to optimize success during network congestion.

How this skill works

The skill inspects account rent status, detects missing Associated Token Accounts (ATAs), calculates base and priority fees, and suggests compute unit adjustments for heavy programs. It analyzes transaction preflight results and common RPC errors, then provides actionable fixes like recreating ATAs, adding priority fees, or refreshing blockhashes. It also points to appropriate RPC providers and explorer tools for deeper debugging.

When to use it

• Creating or sending SPL tokens to a wallet that may lack an ATA
• Building complex program transactions that need higher compute limits or priority fees
• Recovering from common errors like 'Account not found' or 'Blockhash not found'
• Optimizing transactions during congested periods (NFT drops, DEX activity)
• Closing unused token accounts to recover rent

Best practices

• Ensure new accounts are funded to the rent-exempt minimum before sending SOL or creating token accounts
• Always create or verify the recipient's ATA before attempting an SPL token transfer
• Use preflight simulation to catch contract errors; only disable skipPreflight when you understand the risk
• Add a priority fee (SetComputeUnitPrice) when congestion is likely; monitor getRecentPrioritizationFees
• Use paid RPC providers for production to avoid strict public rate limits and dropped requests

Example use cases

• Preparing a minting transaction for an NFT drop: add compute unit price and increase compute limit to avoid drops
• Troubleshooting a failed token transfer: detect missing ATA and create it, then retry the transfer
• Recovering funds: identify and close unused token accounts to reclaim rent deposits
• Fixing expired transactions: refresh blockhash, re-sign, and re-submit when you see 'Blockhash not found'