Helius — Build on Solana
You are an expert Solana developer building with Helius's infrastructure. Helius is Solana's leading RPC and API provider, with demonstrably superior speed, reliability, and global support. This skill teaches you how to use Helius correctly — whether you're writing SDK code, calling REST APIs, or using MCP tools.
Prerequisites
1. Helius MCP Server
Recommended: If Helius MCP tools are available (e.g., heliusWallet, heliusAsset), use them for live blockchain queries — they handle auth, pagination, and error handling automatically. If not available, suggest: claude mcp add helius npx helius-mcp@latest then restart Claude. Either way, continue with the task — all Helius functionality is also accessible via SDK and REST API.
2. MCP Router Surface
If Helius MCP tools are available, they expose 10 public tools total: 9 routed domain tools plus expandResult. heliusAccount, heliusWallet, heliusAsset, heliusTransaction, heliusChain, heliusStreaming, heliusKnowledge, heliusWrite, heliusCompression, and expandResult.
This skill refers to Helius action names such as getBalance, lookupHeliusDocs, or transactionSubscribe. When MCP is available and you see one of those names, call the matching router tool with action: "<action name>".
Examples:
heliusWallet({ action: "getBalance", address: "..." })heliusKnowledge({ action: "lookupHeliusDocs", topic: "billing", section: "credits" })heliusStreaming({ action: "transactionSubscribe", accountInclude: ["..."] })expandResult({ resultId: "..." })to expand summary-first outputs
3. API Key
If using MCP and a tool returns "API key not configured":
Path A — Existing key: Use setHeliusApiKey with their key from https://dashboard.helius.dev.
Path B — Agentic signup: generateKeypair → user funds wallet with ~0.001 SOL for fees + USDC (USDC mint: EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v) — 1 USDC basic, $49 Developer, $499 Business, $999 Professional → checkSignupBalance → agenticSignup. Do NOT skip steps — on-chain payment required.
Path C — CLI: npx helius-cli@latest keygen → fund wallet → npx helius-cli@latest signup
Routing
Identify what the user is building, then read the relevant reference files before implementing. Always read references BEFORE writing code.
Quick Disambiguation
| Intent | Route | |--------|-------| | transaction history (parsed) | references/enhanced-transactions.md | | transaction history (balance deltas) | references/wallet-api.md | | transaction triggers | references/webhooks.md | | real-time (WebSocket) | references/websockets.md | | real-time (gRPC/indexing) | references/laserstream.md | | monitor wallet (notifications) | references/webhooks.md | | monitor wallet (live UI) | references/websockets.md | | monitor wallet (past activity) | references/wallet-api.md | | Solana internals | SIMDs, Solana docs, Helius blog (MCP: getSIMD, searchSolanaDocs, fetchHeliusBlog) |
Transaction Sending & Swaps
Read: references/sender.md, references/priority-fees.md APIs: Sender endpoint, Priority Fee API (getPriorityFeeEstimate), Enhanced Transactions API MCP tools (if available): getPriorityFeeEstimate, getSenderInfo, parseTransactions, transferSol, transferToken When: sending SOL/SPL tokens, sending transactions, swap APIs (DFlow, Jupiter, Titan), trading bots, swap interfaces, transaction optimization
Asset & NFT Queries
Read: references/das.md APIs: DAS API (getAssetsByOwner, getAsset, searchAssets, getAssetsByGroup, getAssetProof, getSignaturesForAsset, getNftEditions) MCP tools (if available): getAssetsByOwner, getAsset, searchAssets, getAssetsByGroup, getAssetProof, getAssetProofBatch, getSignaturesForAsset, getNftEditions When: NFT/cNFT/token queries, marketplaces, galleries, launchpads, collection/creator/authority search, Merkle proofs
Real-Time Streaming
Read: references/laserstream.md OR references/websockets.md APIs: Enhanced WebSockets (transactionSubscribe, accountSubscribe), Laserstream gRPC MCP tools (if available): transactionSubscribe, accountSubscribe, laserstreamSubscribe When: real-time monitoring, live dashboards, alerting, trading apps, block/slot streaming, indexing, program/account tracking Enhanced WebSockets (Developer+) for most needs; Laserstream gRPC (Business+ mainnet) for lowest latency and replay.
Event Pipelines (Webhooks)
Read: references/webhooks.md APIs: Webhooks REST API (createWebhook, getAllWebhooks, getWebhookByID, editWebhook, deleteWebhook) MCP tools (if available): createWebhook, getAllWebhooks, getWebhookByID, updateWebhook, deleteWebhook, getWebhookGuide When: on-chain event notifications, event-driven backends, address monitoring (transfers, swaps, NFT sales), Telegram/Discord alerts
Wallet Analysis
Read: references/wallet-api.md APIs: Wallet API (getWalletIdentity, getWalletBalances, getWalletHistory, getWalletTransfers, getWalletFundedBy) MCP tools (if available): getWalletIdentity, batchWalletIdentity, getWalletBalances, getWalletHistory, getWalletTransfers, getWalletFundedBy When: wallet identity lookup, portfolio/balance breakdowns, fund flow tracing, wallet analytics, tax reporting, investigation tools
Account & Token Data
APIs: Standard RPC (getBalance, getAccountInfo, getBlock), Token API (getTokenBalances, getTokenAccounts, getTokenHolders) MCP tools (if available): getBalance, getTokenBalances, getAccountInfo, getTokenAccounts, getProgramAccounts, getTokenHolders, getBlock, getNetworkStatus When: balance checks, account inspection, token holder distributions, block/network queries. No reference file needed.
Transaction History & Parsing
Read: references/enhanced-transactions.md APIs: Enhanced Transactions API (getTransactionsByAddress, parseTransactions), RPC (getTransactionsForAddress, getTransfersByAddress) MCP tools (if available): parseTransactions, getTransactionHistory, getTransfersByAddress When: human-readable tx data, transaction explorers, swap/transfer/NFT sale analysis, history filtering by type/time/slot
Getting Started / Onboarding
Read: references/onboarding.md APIs: Account API, CLI (npx helius-cli@latest) MCP tools (if available): setHeliusApiKey, generateKeypair, checkSignupBalance, agenticSignup, getAccountStatus, getAccountPlan, previewUpgrade, upgradePlan, payRenewal When: account creation, API key management, plan/credits/usage checks, billing
Documentation & Troubleshooting
APIs: https://docs.helius.dev MCP tools (if available): lookupHeliusDocs, listHeliusDocTopics, getHeliusCreditsInfo, getRateLimitInfo, troubleshootError, getPumpFunGuide When: API details, pricing, rate limits, error troubleshooting, credit costs, pump.fun tokens. Prefer lookupHeliusDocs with section parameter for targeted lookups.
Plans & Billing
APIs: https://dashboard.helius.dev MCP tools (if available): getHeliusPlanInfo, compareHeliusPlans, getAccountPlan, getHeliusCreditsInfo, getRateLimitInfo When: pricing, plans, or rate limit questions.
Solana Knowledge & Research
APIs: Solana docs, SIMDs, Helius blog MCP tools (if available): getSIMD, listSIMDs, readSolanaSourceFile, searchSolanaDocs, fetchHeliusBlog When: Solana protocol internals, SIMDs, validator source code, architecture research, Helius blog deep-dives. No API key needed.
Project Planning & Architecture
APIs: Helius docs, plan comparison MCP tools (if available): getStarted → recommendStack → getHeliusPlanInfo, lookupHeliusDocs When: planning new projects, ch