Developer Tools

solana program deploy

The Solana CLI command for deploying programs to the network, replacing the older solana deploy command. Usage: solana program deploy target/deploy/program.so. The command creates a buffer account, uploads the ELF binary in chunks, and finalizes deployment via the Upgradeable BPF Loader. Supports --program-id to specify the program keypair and --upgrade-authority for setting the upgrade authority. Also used for program upgrades by deploying new bytecode to an existing program ID.

IDsolana-program-deploy

Plain meaning

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The Solana CLI command for deploying programs to the network, replacing the older solana deploy command. Usage: solana program deploy target/deploy/program.so. The command creates a buffer account, uploads the ELF binary in chunks, and finalizes deployment via the Upgradeable BPF Loader. Supports --program-id to specify the program keypair and --upgrade-authority for setting the upgrade authority. Also used for program upgrades by deploying new bytecode to an existing program ID.

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solana program deploy (solana-program-deploy)
Category: Developer Tools
Definition: The Solana CLI command for deploying programs to the network, replacing the older solana deploy command. Usage: solana program deploy target/deploy/program.so. The command creates a buffer account, uploads the ELF binary in chunks, and finalizes deployment via the Upgradeable BPF Loader. Supports --program-id to specify the program keypair and --upgrade-authority for setting the upgrade authority. Also used for program upgrades by deploying new bytecode to an existing program ID.
Related: Solana CLI, Upgradeable BPF Loader, Buffer Account
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Concept graph

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Branch

Solana CLI

The official command-line tool for interacting with Solana clusters. Key commands: `solana balance`, `solana transfer`, `solana program deploy`, `solana config set --url`, `solana airdrop` (devnet). Configuration in `~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml` sets the default cluster URL and keypair path.

Branch

Upgradeable BPF Loader

The current BPF Loader (BPFLoaderUpgradeab1e111...) that supports deploying and upgrading programs. It creates three accounts: the program account (thin proxy with executable flag), the program data account (holds the actual ELF bytecode), and records the upgrade authority. Programs can be made immutable by setting the authority to None.

Branch

Buffer Account

A temporary account used during Solana program deployment to hold the program's ELF binary before it is written to the program data account. The deployer creates a buffer account, uploads the compiled SBF binary in chunks via the Upgradeable BPF Loader's Write instruction, and then issues a Deploy or Upgrade instruction that copies the buffer contents to the final program data account. Buffer accounts can be closed after deployment to reclaim rent.

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Developer Tools

Solana CLI

The official command-line tool for interacting with Solana clusters. Key commands: `solana balance`, `solana transfer`, `solana program deploy`, `solana config set --url`, `solana airdrop` (devnet). Configuration in `~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml` sets the default cluster URL and keypair path.

Programming Model

Upgradeable BPF Loader

The current BPF Loader (BPFLoaderUpgradeab1e111...) that supports deploying and upgrading programs. It creates three accounts: the program account (thin proxy with executable flag), the program data account (holds the actual ELF bytecode), and records the upgrade authority. Programs can be made immutable by setting the authority to None.

Programming Model

Buffer Account

A temporary account used during Solana program deployment to hold the program's ELF binary before it is written to the program data account. The deployer creates a buffer account, uploads the compiled SBF binary in chunks via the Upgradeable BPF Loader's Write instruction, and then issues a Deploy or Upgrade instruction that copies the buffer contents to the final program data account. Buffer accounts can be closed after deployment to reclaim rent.

Developer Tools

Solana Rust SDK (solana-sdk)

The Rust crate (solana-sdk) providing types and utilities for building Solana clients and programs. For on-chain programs, use `solana-program` (no-std compatible subset). For off-chain clients, use `solana-sdk` (full features including keypair generation, transaction signing). The SDK includes types like Pubkey, Instruction, Transaction, and Account.

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Developer Toolssolana-rust-sdk

Solana Rust SDK (solana-sdk)

The Rust crate (solana-sdk) providing types and utilities for building Solana clients and programs. For on-chain programs, use `solana-program` (no-std compatible subset). For off-chain clients, use `solana-sdk` (full features including keypair generation, transaction signing). The SDK includes types like Pubkey, Instruction, Transaction, and Account.

Aliassolana-sdkAliassolana-program
Developer Toolssolana-cli

Solana CLI

The official command-line tool for interacting with Solana clusters. Key commands: `solana balance`, `solana transfer`, `solana program deploy`, `solana config set --url`, `solana airdrop` (devnet). Configuration in `~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml` sets the default cluster URL and keypair path.

Aliassolana-cliAliassolana
Developer Toolssolana-mobile-stack

Solana Mobile Stack (SMS)

A comprehensive mobile development toolkit for building Solana-native Android dApps, including an SDK for wallet integration, a Seed Vault for secure key management, and the Solana dApp Store for distribution outside traditional app stores. SMS enables mobile-first interaction with Solana programs, token management, and transaction signing from Android devices.

AliasSMSAliasSolana Mobile
Related terms

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Developer Toolssolana-cli

Solana CLI

The official command-line tool for interacting with Solana clusters. Key commands: `solana balance`, `solana transfer`, `solana program deploy`, `solana config set --url`, `solana airdrop` (devnet). Configuration in `~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml` sets the default cluster URL and keypair path.

Programming Modelupgradeable-loader

Upgradeable BPF Loader

The current BPF Loader (BPFLoaderUpgradeab1e111...) that supports deploying and upgrading programs. It creates three accounts: the program account (thin proxy with executable flag), the program data account (holds the actual ELF bytecode), and records the upgrade authority. Programs can be made immutable by setting the authority to None.

Programming Modelbuffer-account

Buffer Account

A temporary account used during Solana program deployment to hold the program's ELF binary before it is written to the program data account. The deployer creates a buffer account, uploads the compiled SBF binary in chunks via the Upgradeable BPF Loader's Write instruction, and then issues a Deploy or Upgrade instruction that copies the buffer contents to the final program data account. Buffer accounts can be closed after deployment to reclaim rent.

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Developer Tools

Anchor Framework

The most popular framework for building Solana programs in Rust. Anchor provides macros (#[program], #[account], #[derive(Accounts)]) that auto-generate boilerplate for account validation, serialization, discriminators, and error handling. It includes a CLI (anchor init/build/test/deploy), IDL generation, and TypeScript client generation. Reduces program code by ~80% compared to native development.

Developer Tools

#[account] Macro (Anchor)

The Anchor macro applied to structs to define on-chain account data layouts. `#[account]` auto-derives Borsh serialization, adds an 8-byte discriminator prefix (SHA-256 of 'account:<Name>'), and implements space calculation. Optional attributes: `#[account(zero_copy)]` for zero-copy deserialization of large accounts.

Developer Tools

#[derive(Accounts)] (Anchor)

The Anchor macro that defines the accounts struct for an instruction. Each field specifies an account with validation constraints. Account types include: `Account<'info, T>` (deserialized), `Signer<'info>` (must sign), `Program<'info, T>` (program reference), `SystemAccount<'info>`, and `UncheckedAccount<'info>` (no validation, use carefully).

Developer Tools

Anchor Constraints

Declarative validation rules on Anchor account fields. Key constraints: `#[account(mut)]` (writable), `#[account(init, payer=x, space=n)]` (create), `#[account(seeds=[...], bump)]` (PDA validation), `#[account(has_one=field)]` (field equality), `#[account(constraint = expr)]` (custom boolean), `#[account(close=target)]` (close and reclaim rent).