Rent-Free Solana Programs

The Light SDK pays rent-exemption for PDAs, token accounts, and mints. Program logic stays mostly untouched.

Rent cost (per account)	Solana / SPL	Light SDK
Token account	~2,000,000 lamports	~11,000 lamports
Avg. DeFi pool

~$2 | ~$0.02 |

Workflow

1. 1. Clarify intent

- Recommend plan mode, if it's not activated - Use AskUserQuestion to resolve blind spots - All questions must be resolved before execution

1. 2. Identify references and skills

- Match task to domain references below - Locate relevant documentation and examples

1. 3. Write plan file (YAML task format)

- Use AskUserQuestion for anything unclear — never guess or assume - Identify blockers: permissions, dependencies, unknowns - Plan must be complete before execution begins

1. 4. Execute

- Use Task tool with subagents for parallel research - Subagents load skills via Skill tool - Track progress with TodoWrite

1. 5. When stuck: spawn subagent with Read, Glob, Grep, DeepWiki MCP access and load INLINECODE8

Domain References

Audience	Reference
Anchor pattern	references/anchor.md
Pinocchio pattern

references/pinocchio.md | | Client SDK (LightProgramInterface) | references/client-sdk.md | | Testing | references/testing.md | | CPI instructions | references/instructions.md | | FAQ | references/faq.md | | Router integration | references/router.md |

When to use which

Criteria	Anchor	Pinocchio
Framework	INLINECODE9, #[light_program] macro	INLINECODE11, LightProgramPinocchio derive
State struct

Option<CompressionInfo> + LightAccount derive | CompressionInfo (non-optional) + bytemuck::Pod + Zeroable + #[repr(C)] | | Account creation | #[light_account(init, ...)] attribute or CreateTokenAccountCpi | CreateTokenAccountCpi, CreateMints batch pattern | | Compress/decompress handlers | Auto-generated by #[light_program] macro | Route ProgramAccounts::COMPRESS_ACCOUNTS_IDEMPOTENT etc. in entrypoint | | Program ID constant | Not needed (macro derives it) | pub const ID: Pubkey = pubkey_array!(...) + LIGHT_CPI_SIGNER required | | Dependencies | light-sdk, light-sdk-macros, light-token, light-anchor-spl | light-account-pinocchio, light-token-pinocchio, bytemuck |

DeFi integration

For DeFi programs (AMMs, lending, vaults): the Anchor and Pinocchio patterns above apply directly. DeFi-specific references:

Task	Reference
Router/aggregator integration (cold account loading)	references/router.md
LightProgramInterface trait (client SDK for routers)

references/client-sdk.md |

Hot vs Cold Model

After extended inactivity (multiple epochs without writes), accounts auto-compress to cold state. Programs only interact with hot accounts. Clients load cold accounts back on-chain via create_load_instructions.

	Hot (active)	Cold (inactive)
Storage	On-chain	Compressed
Latency

Normal | +0-200ms |
| Tx size | Normal | +100-2400 bytes |
| CU | Normal | +15k-400k CU |
| Program code | No change | No change |

The hot path has zero overhead.

External References

Resource	Link
Anchor AMM reference	cp-swap-reference
Pinocchio swap reference

pinocchio-swap | | Anchor counter (rent-free PDA) | basic-macros/counter | | Pinocchio counter (zero-copy PDA) | pinocchio/counter |

SDK references

Package	Link
INLINECODE34	docs.rs
INLINECODE35

docs.rs | | light-sdk-pinocchio | docs.rs | | light-token | docs.rs | | light-token-pinocchio | docs.rs | | light-account-pinocchio | docs.rs | | light-token-client | docs.rs | | light-client | docs.rs | | light-program-test | docs.rs |

Security

This skill does not pull, store, or transmit external secrets. It provides code patterns, documentation references, and development guidance only.

• - No credentials consumed. The skill requires no API keys, private keys, or signing secrets. env: [] is declared explicitly.
• User-provided configuration. RPC endpoints, wallet keypairs, and authentication tokens (Privy, wallet adapters) are configured in the user's own application code — the skill only demonstrates how to use them.
• Install source. npx skills add Lightprotocol/skills installs from the public GitHub repository (Lightprotocol/skills). Verify the source before running.
• Subagent scope. This skill may spawn read-only subagents that use Read, Glob, and Grep to search the local repository. Restrict the working directory to your project.
• Audited protocol. Light Protocol smart contracts are independently audited. Reports are published at github.com/Lightprotocol/light-protocol/tree/main/audits.