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txtx/surfpool

Surfpool is the best place to train before surfing Solana

🌊 Overview

Surfpool is your drop-in replacement for solana-test-validator, designed for builders who want to work with real mainnet state — without downloading the entire chain.

But Surfpool goes further: it introduces Infrastructure as Code for Solana, empowering developers to define, deploy, and operate both on-chain and off-chain infrastructure declaratively and reproducibly.

It’s built local-first and offline-ready, so you can spin up networks on your laptop — and then promote the exact same setup to the cloud when it’s showtime.

Surfpool in action: 101 Series

Surfpool 101 series

💡 Key Features

🪄 Drop-in replacement for solana-test-validator

Spin up local networks that mirror mainnet state instantly — no 2 TB snapshots, no heavy setup (yes, even runs on a Raspberry Pi). Surfpool has been battle-tested by hundreds of developers with existing Solana tools — including solana-cli, anchor, and Kit — so you can plug it into your workflow without changing a thing.

🧩 IDL-to-SQL

Transform your on-chain IDL into a fully queryable SQL schema. Surfpool’s IDL-to-SQL engine bridges programs and databases — automatically generating tables and syncing chain data to local SQLite/Postgres for instant indexing and analytics.

🛡️ Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Web3

Define your stack once — then deploy and tweak it thousands of times before mainnet, with minimal friction. Inspired by Terraform, Surfpool’s IaC makes your setup reproducible by design: your local environment is optimized for speed and feedback, while production is optimized for safety and scales gracefully.

🎮 Cheatcodes for Builders

Simulate, debug, and replay transactions — all without touching mainnet. Includes Stream Oracles, Universal Faucet, Transaction Inspector, and Time Travel for fast, fearless experimentation.

☁️ Surfpool Studio → Surfpool Cloud

Surfpool Studio is your local dashboard to visualize, inspect, and manage your networks in real time. Surfpool Cloud extends that same experience to the cloud — letting you index mainnet data and run large-scale simulations with the same developer experience. It’s serverless, backend-as-a-service, and built for analytics at scale.

Installation

Install pre-built binaries:

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install txtx/taps/surfpool

# Updating surfpool for Homebrew users
brew tap txtx/taps
brew reinstall surfpool

# Linux (Snap Store)
# Note: there have been errors updating the Snap Store to the latest version
# While this is being resolved, Linux users should install from source

Install from source:

# Clone repo
git clone https://github.com/txtx/surfpool.git

# Set repo as current directory
cd surfpool

# Build
cargo surfpool-install

Surfpool can also be used through our public docker image:

docker run surfpool/surfpool --version

Verify installation:

surfpool --version

Usage

Start a local Solana network with:

surfpool start

If inside an Anchor project, Surfpool will:

  • Automatically generate infrastructure as code (similar to Terraform).

  • Deploy your Solana programs to the local network.

  • Provide a clean, structured environment to iterate safely.

The command:

surfpool start --help

Is documenting all the options available.

Crypto Infrastructure as Code: A New Standard in Web3

Infrastructure as code (IaC) transforms how teams deploy and operate Solana programs:

  • Declarative & Reproducible – Clearly defines environments, making deployments consistent.

  • Auditable – Security teams can review not just the code of your Solana programs, but the way you will be deploying and operating your protocol.

  • Seamless Transition to Mainnet – Test with the exact infrastructure that will go live.

With Surfpool, every developer learns to deploy Solana programs the right way—scalable, secure, and production-ready from day one.

🤖 MCP

  • Surfpool is getting agentic friendly, thanks to a built-in MCP. We'll be adding more tools over time, the first use case we're covering is "Start a local network with 10 users loaded with SOL, USDC, JUP and TRUMP tokens" (#130 - @BretasArthur1, @lgalabru)
  • To get started, make surfpool available globally by opening the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P) and selecting > Cursor Settings > MCP > Add new global MCP server:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "surfpool": {
      "command": "surfpool",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Architecture & How to Contribute

Surfpool is built on the low-level solana-svm API, utilizing the excellent LiteSVM wrapper. This approach provides greater flexibility and significantly faster boot times, ensuring a smooth developer experience.

We are actively developing Surfpool and welcome contributions from the community. If you'd like to get involved, here’s how:

Your contributions help shape the future of Surfpool, making it an essential tool for Solana developers worldwide.