solana

Check wallet balance

$ solana balance

$ solana balance [address]

$ solana config get

$ solana config set --url [devnet|testnet|mainnet-beta]

$ solana-keygen new

$ solana airdrop [amount]

$ solana transfer [recipient_address] [amount]

$ solana program deploy [path/to/program.so]

solana [flags] [options] subcommand

solana is the command-line interface for interacting with the Solana blockchain. It provides tools for managing wallets, transferring tokens, deploying programs (smart contracts), staking, and querying blockchain state.
The CLI connects to Solana clusters via JSON-RPC. Three main clusters are available: mainnet-beta (production), testnet (testing), and devnet (development). Configuration is stored in ~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml.
Keypairs for signing transactions can be generated with solana-keygen and are typically stored as JSON files. The CLI is the primary interface for Solana validators and program developers.

-u, --url URL

URL for Solana's JSON RPC endpoint or cluster moniker (devnet, testnet, mainnet-beta).

Filepath or URL to a keypair for signing transactions.

Configuration file to use.

Do not use address labels in output.

Skip the preflight transaction simulation.

Skip validation of seed phrases.

Use QUIC protocol when sending transactions.

Output format: json, json-compact.

Print help information.

Print version information.

balance

Get your balance or that of a specified address.

Transfer SOL between accounts.

Request an airdrop of SOL (devnet/testnet only).

Get and set CLI configuration.

Show account contents.

Get your public key.

Deploy a Solana program.

Manage stake accounts.

Publish or get validator information.

Get information about the current epoch.

Get current slot.

Get current block height.

Stream transaction logs.

Confirm a transaction by signature.

Airdrops are only available on devnet and testnet, not mainnet. Transactions require SOL for fees. Private keys should be protected; never share keypair files. The CLI requires network connectivity to the configured cluster. Rate limits may apply on public RPC endpoints.

Solana was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 and launched its mainnet beta in 2020. The CLI has been the primary tool for interacting with Solana since its inception. Development transitioned from Solana Labs to Anza (the Agave client) in 2024, with the CLI continuing as the first place new functionality is deployed. Solana is known for high throughput and low transaction costs.

solana-keygen(1), anchor(1), spl-token(1)