The Anchor workflow

Create a workspace

anchor init scaffolds a workspace with programs/, tests/ and an Anchor.toml that names the cluster and wallet.

anchor init my_program
cd my_program

Build and sync the program ID

anchor build compiles the program and generates the IDL. anchor keys sync writes the program keypair's address into declare_id! and Anchor.toml.

anchor build
anchor keys sync

Design accounts first

Write the #[derive(Accounts)] structs and constraints before handler logic. The Account constraints lesson shows how real projects do it.

• Lesson: Anchor account constraints
• Anchor docs

Use the IDL on the client

The generated IDL in target/idl drives typed clients. Check the Anchor docs for the client package that matches your Anchor version.

• Anchor docs: Clients

Commands and APIs change, so the official Solana docs and Anchor docs are the source of truth.