Squads Protocol Development Guide

Squads Protocol is Solana's premier smart account infrastructure, securing over $10 billion in digital assets. This guide covers all three main products: Squads V4 Multisig, Smart Account Program, and Grid.

Overview

Squads Protocol provides:

• Squads V4 Multisig - Multi-signature wallet for teams with proposals, voting, time locks, spending limits, and program upgrade management
• Smart Account Program - Account abstraction infrastructure with session keys, passkeys, programmable policies, and direct debits
• Grid - Open finance infrastructure for stablecoin rails, neobank platforms, and enterprise payment systems

Program IDs

Eclipse Mainnet:

Quick Start

Installation

# Squads V4 Multisig SDK
npm install @sqds/multisig @solana/web3.js

# Grid SDK
npm install @sqds/grid

# Grid React Native SDK
npm install @sqds/grid-react-native

Basic Setup

import * as multisig from "@sqds/multisig";
import { Connection, Keypair, PublicKey } from "@solana/web3.js";

// Setup connection
const connection = new Connection("https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com", "confirmed");

// Load wallet
const wallet = Keypair.fromSecretKey(/* your secret key */);

// Program ID constant
const SQUADS_PROGRAM_ID = new PublicKey("SQDS4ep65T869zMMBKyuUq6aD6EgTu8psMjkvj52pCf");

Squads V4 Multisig

Squads V4 is the latest version of the multisig protocol, featuring enhanced security, time locks, spending limits, and batch transactions.

Core Concepts

Multisig Account: The main account that holds configuration (members, threshold, time lock settings).

Vault: A PDA controlled by the multisig where assets are stored. Each multisig can have multiple vaults (indexed 0, 1, 2...).

Proposal: A request to execute a transaction that requires approval from multisig members.

Transaction: The actual instruction(s) to be executed once a proposal is approved.

Permission System

Members can have different permissions:

import { Permission, Permissions } from "@sqds/multisig/lib/types";

// All permissions (can initiate, vote, and execute)
const fullPermissions = Permissions.all();

// Specific permissions
const voteOnly = Permissions.fromPermissions([Permission.Vote]);
const initiateAndVote = Permissions.fromPermissions([Permission.Initiate, Permission.Vote]);
const executeOnly = Permissions.fromPermissions([Permission.Execute]);

Creating a Multisig

import * as multisig from "@sqds/multisig";

const { Permissions } = multisig.types;

// Generate a unique create key (one-time use)
const createKey = Keypair.generate();

// Derive the multisig PDA
const [multisigPda] = multisig.getMultisigPda({
  createKey: createKey.publicKey,
});

// Create a 2-of-3 multisig
const signature = await multisig.rpc.multisigCreateV2({
  connection,
  createKey,
  creator: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  configAuthority: null, // Immutable config
  threshold: 2,
  members: [
    { key: member1.publicKey, permissions: Permissions.all() },
    { key: member2.publicKey, permissions: Permissions.all() },
    { key: member3.publicKey, permissions: Permissions.fromPermissions([Permission.Vote]) },
  ],
  timeLock: 0, // No time lock (in seconds)
  rentCollector: null,
});

console.log("Multisig created:", multisigPda.toString());
console.log("Transaction:", signature);

Vault Operations

Vaults are PDAs that hold the multisig's assets:

// Derive vault PDA (index 0 is the default vault)
const [vaultPda] = multisig.getVaultPda({
  multisigPda,
  index: 0,
});

console.log("Vault address:", vaultPda.toString());

// Check vault balance
const balance = await connection.getBalance(vaultPda);
console.log("Vault balance:", balance / 1e9, "SOL");

Important: Always send funds to the vault PDA, not the multisig account itself.

Creating a Vault Transaction

import { SystemProgram, LAMPORTS_PER_SOL } from "@solana/web3.js";

// Get current transaction index
const multisigAccount = await multisig.accounts.Multisig.fromAccountAddress(
  connection,
  multisigPda
);
const transactionIndex = BigInt(Number(multisigAccount.transactionIndex) + 1);

// Derive transaction PDA
const [transactionPda] = multisig.getTransactionPda({
  multisigPda,
  index: transactionIndex,
});

// Create a transfer instruction
const transferIx = SystemProgram.transfer({
  fromPubkey: vaultPda,
  toPubkey: recipientPubkey,
  lamports: 0.1 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL,
});

// Create the vault transaction
const signature = await multisig.rpc.vaultTransactionCreate({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
  creator: wallet.publicKey,
  vaultIndex: 0,
  ephemeralSigners: 0,
  transactionMessage: new TransactionMessage({
    payerKey: vaultPda,
    recentBlockhash: (await connection.getLatestBlockhash()).blockhash,
    instructions: [transferIx],
  }),
});

console.log("Vault transaction created:", transactionPda.toString());

Creating and Managing Proposals

// Derive proposal PDA
const [proposalPda] = multisig.getProposalPda({
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
});

// Create proposal for the transaction
const createProposalSig = await multisig.rpc.proposalCreate({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
  creator: wallet,
});

console.log("Proposal created:", proposalPda.toString());

Voting on Proposals

// Approve the proposal
const approveSig = await multisig.rpc.proposalApprove({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
  member: wallet,
});

console.log("Proposal approved");

// Or reject the proposal
const rejectSig = await multisig.rpc.proposalReject({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
  member: wallet,
  memo: "Reason for rejection",
});

Executing Approved Transactions

// Check if proposal is approved and ready
const proposal = await multisig.accounts.Proposal.fromAccountAddress(
  connection,
  proposalPda
);

if (proposal.status.__kind === "Approved") {
  // Execute the vault transaction
  const executeSig = await multisig.rpc.vaultTransactionExecute({
    connection,
    feePayer: wallet,
    multisigPda,
    transactionIndex,
    member: wallet.publicKey,
  });

  console.log("Transaction executed:", executeSig);
}

Spending Limits

Spending limits allow members to execute transactions up to a certain amount without full multisig approval:

// Create a spending limit
const createSpendingLimitSig = await multisig.rpc.configTransactionCreate({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  transactionIndex,
  creator: wallet.publicKey,
  actions: [{
    __kind: "AddSpendingLimit",
    createKey: spendingLimitCreateKey.publicKey,
    vaultIndex: 0,
    mint: SOL_MINT, // or token mint
    amount: BigInt(1 * LAMPORTS_PER_SOL), // 1 SOL
    period: multisig.types.Period.Day,
    members: [trustedMember.publicKey],
    destinations: [allowedDestination],
  }],
});

// Use spending limit (no proposal needed)
const useSpendingLimitSig = await multisig.rpc.spendingLimitUse({
  connection,
  feePayer: wallet,
  multisigPda,
  me