Programming Model

Clock Sysvar

A sysvar (address: SysvarC1ock11111111111111111111111111111111) that provides the current slot, epoch, unix_timestamp, and leader_schedule_epoch. Programs use Clock to implement time-based logic like lockups or vesting schedules. In Anchor, accessed via `Clock::get()` or as a sysvar account in the accounts struct.

IDclock

Plain meaning

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A sysvar (address: SysvarC1ock11111111111111111111111111111111) that provides the current slot, epoch, unix_timestamp, and leader_schedule_epoch. Programs use Clock to implement time-based logic like lockups or vesting schedules. In Anchor, accessed via `Clock::get()` or as a sysvar account in the accounts struct.

Mental model

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Technical context

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Accounts, instructions, PDAs, transactions, and execution flow.

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Clock Sysvar (clock)
Category: Programming Model
Definition: A sysvar (address: SysvarC1ock11111111111111111111111111111111) that provides the current slot, epoch, unix_timestamp, and leader_schedule_epoch. Programs use Clock to implement time-based logic like lockups or vesting schedules. In Anchor, accessed via `Clock::get()` or as a sysvar account in the accounts struct.
Related: Sysvar, Slot, Epoch
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Concept graph

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Branch

Sysvar

Special read-only accounts maintained by the runtime that expose cluster state to programs. Key sysvars include Clock (slot, timestamp), Rent (lamports-per-byte), EpochSchedule (epoch parameters), RecentBlockhashes, StakeHistory, and Fees. Programs access sysvars by including the sysvar account in the instruction or via the sol_get_sysvar syscall.

Branch

Slot

A time window during which a designated leader validator can produce a block. Each slot lasts approximately 400 milliseconds. Slots are numbered sequentially from genesis and grouped into epochs of 432,000 slots (~2-3 days). Not every slot produces a block—a skipped slot means the leader was offline or too slow.

Branch

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

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Programming Model

Sysvar

Special read-only accounts maintained by the runtime that expose cluster state to programs. Key sysvars include Clock (slot, timestamp), Rent (lamports-per-byte), EpochSchedule (epoch parameters), RecentBlockhashes, StakeHistory, and Fees. Programs access sysvars by including the sysvar account in the instruction or via the sol_get_sysvar syscall.

Core Protocol

Slot

A time window during which a designated leader validator can produce a block. Each slot lasts approximately 400 milliseconds. Slots are numbered sequentially from genesis and grouped into epochs of 432,000 slots (~2-3 days). Not every slot produces a block—a skipped slot means the leader was offline or too slow.

Core Protocol

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

Programming Model

Close Account

The process of reclaiming an account's lamports and marking it for deletion. To close an account: transfer all lamports to a recipient, zero out the data, and (in Anchor) set the discriminator to a closed sentinel. The runtime garbage-collects zero-lamport accounts. Failing to zero data enables revival attacks.

Commonly confused with

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Programming Modelsysvar

Sysvar

Special read-only accounts maintained by the runtime that expose cluster state to programs. Key sysvars include Clock (slot, timestamp), Rent (lamports-per-byte), EpochSchedule (epoch parameters), RecentBlockhashes, StakeHistory, and Fees. Programs access sysvars by including the sysvar account in the instruction or via the sol_get_sysvar syscall.

Related terms

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Programming Modelsysvar

Sysvar

Special read-only accounts maintained by the runtime that expose cluster state to programs. Key sysvars include Clock (slot, timestamp), Rent (lamports-per-byte), EpochSchedule (epoch parameters), RecentBlockhashes, StakeHistory, and Fees. Programs access sysvars by including the sysvar account in the instruction or via the sol_get_sysvar syscall.

Core Protocolslot

Slot

A time window during which a designated leader validator can produce a block. Each slot lasts approximately 400 milliseconds. Slots are numbered sequentially from genesis and grouped into epochs of 432,000 slots (~2-3 days). Not every slot produces a block—a skipped slot means the leader was offline or too slow.

Core Protocolepoch

Epoch

A period of 432,000 slots (approximately 2-3 days) that defines a staking cycle. At each epoch boundary, the leader schedule is recalculated based on stake weights, stake activations/deactivations take effect, and inflation rewards are distributed to validators and delegators.

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Programming Model

Account

The fundamental data storage unit on Solana. Every piece of state is stored in an account identified by a 32-byte public key. Accounts hold a lamport balance, an owner program, a data byte array (up to 10MB), and an executable flag. Only the owning program can modify an account's data, but anyone can credit lamports to it.

Programming Model

Program

Executable code deployed on-chain, equivalent to a smart contract on other blockchains. Programs are stateless—they store no data themselves but read/write data in separate accounts they own. Programs are compiled to SBF bytecode and loaded via the BPF Loader. Every program has a unique Program ID (its account's public key).

Programming Model

Instruction

A single operation within a transaction that invokes a program. An instruction specifies: (1) the program ID to call, (2) an array of account metas (pubkey, is_signer, is_writable), and (3) an opaque data byte array. Programs decode the instruction data to determine which operation to perform.

Programming Model

Transaction

An atomic unit of execution containing one or more instructions, a recent blockhash, and one or more signatures. All instructions in a transaction execute sequentially and atomically—if any instruction fails, the entire transaction reverts. Transactions have a 1,232-byte size limit (matching IPv6 MTU) and a default 200,000 CU budget.