LiteSVM for TypeScript

Solana test suites that spin up solana-test-validator take seconds per test — you're waiting on process startup, RPC connections, and network round-trips. LiteSVM runs the same tests in milliseconds. No external process, no network, everything in-memory inside your test runner.

Tested against: @solana/kit@6.8.0, @solana/kit-plugin-litesvm@0.10.0, @solana/kit-plugin-signer@0.10.0, @solana-program/system@0.12.0, @solana-program/token@0.13.0. These plugin packages are new and evolving quickly — if you hit a mismatch, check testing/package.json for the exact versions the docs and test suite run against.

You assemble a Kit client from @solana/kit by installing plugins with .use(): a signer plugin (@solana/kit-plugin-signer), the LiteSVM plugin (@solana/kit-plugin-litesvm), and any program plugins you need. The result exposes client.sendTransaction(), client.rpc, and direct access to account state, clock, and sysvars — all without leaving your process.

Quick Start

Install Dependencies

pnpm add @solana/kit @solana/kit-plugin-litesvm @solana/kit-plugin-signer @solana-program/system

Create Your Client

import { createClient, generateKeyPairSigner, lamports } from "@solana/kit";
import { litesvm } from "@solana/kit-plugin-litesvm";
import { signer } from "@solana/kit-plugin-signer";

// Payer first, then the LiteSVM transport.
const mySigner = await generateKeyPairSigner();
const client = createClient().use(signer(mySigner)).use(litesvm());

// Fund the payer
client.svm.airdrop(client.payer.address, lamports(5_000_000_000n));

// Check the balance
const balance = client.svm.getBalance(client.payer.address);
console.log("Balance:", balance, "lamports");

createClient() returns an empty shell — each .use(plugin) layers capabilities onto it. The signer() plugin must come before litesvm() because the transport plugin needs a payer to attach to. signer(mySigner) is shorthand for installing the same keypair as both payer and identity — use payer() or identity() from the same package if you want to split those roles. This ordering is the same for solanaRpc() when you're on a real network.

Prefer a one-line setup for quick experiments? The litesvm() bundle includes an airdrop, so you can chain .use(generatedPayerWithSol(lamports(10_000_000_000n))) from @solana/kit-plugin-signer to auto-generate and fund a payer.

Understanding the Client

After .use(signer(...)).use(litesvm()), the client exposes:

Property	Description
`client.payer`	The `TransactionSigner` you installed with the `signer()` plugin (also set as `client.identity`)
`client.identity`	The wallet signer that owns accounts, tokens, and authorities
`client.svm`	Direct `LiteSVM` instance for account management, transactions, and configuration
`client.rpc`	Kit-compatible RPC interface (subset: `getAccountInfo`, `getBalance`, `getEpochSchedule`, `getLatestBlockhash`, `getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption`, `getMultipleAccounts`, `getSlot`, `requestAirdrop`)
`client.sendTransaction(s)`	Plan, sign, and send instructions as a transaction
`client.airdrop`	Request SOL from the LiteSVM faucet
`client.getMinimumBalance`	Compute minimum lamports for rent exemption

Using client.svm

Direct access to LiteSVM for:

Account management (setAccount, getAccount, airdrop)
Transaction execution (sendTransaction, simulateTransaction)
Configuration (withSigverify, withBlockhashCheck, etc.)
Time manipulation (warpToSlot, getClock)

import { address, lamports } from "@solana/kit";

// Fund an account
client.svm.airdrop(address, lamports(1_000_000_000n));

// Set account state directly
client.svm.setAccount({
  address: myAddress,
  data: new Uint8Array([1, 2, 3]),
  executable: false,
  lamports: lamports(1_000_000n),
  programAddress: address("11111111111111111111111111111111"),
  space: 3n
});

// Get the latest blockhash
const blockhash = client.svm.latestBlockhash();

Using client.rpc

Kit-compatible RPC interface for standard operations:

// Get account info (returns base64-encoded data)
const { value: account } = await client.rpc.getAccountInfo(address).send();

// Get multiple accounts in one call
const { value: accounts } = await client.rpc
  .getMultipleAccounts([addr1, addr2, addr3])
  .send();

// Get latest blockhash
const { value: blockhash } = await client.rpc.getLatestBlockhash().send();

The RPC layer only supports base64 encoding. Requesting other encodings will throw an error.

Configuration

Configure LiteSVM using builder methods on client.svm:

const client = createClient().use(signer(mySigner)).use(litesvm());

// Configure for testing
client.svm
  .withSigverify(false) // Skip signature verification
  .withBlockhashCheck(false) // Skip blockhash validation
  .withSysvars() // Enable Clock, Rent, etc.
  .withBuiltins() // Enable ed25519, secp256k1
  .withTransactionHistory(100n); // Store transaction history

Sending Transactions

Layer in program plugins after the transport — they hang instruction builders off the client so you never touch a raw TransactionMessage:

import { createClient, generateKeyPairSigner, lamports } from "@solana/kit";
import { litesvm } from "@solana/kit-plugin-litesvm";
import { signer } from "@solana/kit-plugin-signer";
import { systemProgram } from "@solana-program/system";

const mySigner = await generateKeyPairSigner();
const client = createClient()
  .use(signer(mySigner))
  .use(litesvm())
  .use(systemProgram());

client.svm.airdrop(client.payer.address, lamports(10_000_000_000n));

const recipient = await generateKeyPairSigner();

// Build and send in one call
await client.system.instructions
  .transferSol({
    source: client.payer,
    destination: recipient.address,
    amount: lamports(1_000_000_000n)
  })
  .sendTransaction();

SVM → RPC Flow

You can set state via SVM and read it via RPC:

import { address, lamports } from "@solana/kit";

// Set account directly via SVM
client.svm.setAccount({
  address: myAddress,
  data: new Uint8Array([0xde, 0xad, 0xbe, 0xef]),
  executable: false,
  lamports: lamports(1_000_000n),
  programAddress: address("11111111111111111111111111111111"),
  space: 4n
});

// Read via RPC (returns base64-encoded data)
const { value } = await client.rpc.getAccountInfo(myAddress).send();
console.log("Data:", value?.data); // ['3q2+7w==', 'base64']

What's Next

This covers the core client — creating accounts, sending instructions, and reading state. If your tests involve SPL tokens (mints, ATAs, transfers), the token testing guide shows how the tokenProgram() plugin collapses ~40 lines of setup into 3 calls. For a full API reference, see the API docs.

Getting Started