Durable transaction nonces are a mechanism for getting around the typical
short lifetime of a transaction's recent_blockhash
.
They are implemented as a Solana Program, the mechanics of which can be read
about in the proposal.
Full usage details for durable nonce CLI commands can be found in the CLI reference.
Authority over a nonce account can optionally be assigned to another account. In
doing so the new authority inherits full control over the nonce account from the
previous authority, including the account creator. This feature enables the
creation of more complex account ownership arrangements and derived account
addresses not associated with a keypair. The --nonce-authority <AUTHORITY_KEYPAIR>
argument is used to specify this account and is supported by the following
commands
create-nonce-account
new-nonce
withdraw-from-nonce-account
authorize-nonce-account
The durable transaction nonce feature uses an account to store the next nonce value. Durable nonce accounts must be rent-exempt, so need to carry the minimum balance to achieve this.
A nonce account is created by first generating a new keypair, then create the account on chain
- Command
solana-keygen new -o nonce-keypair.json
solana create-nonce-account nonce-keypair.json 1
- Output
2SymGjGV4ksPdpbaqWFiDoBz8okvtiik4KE9cnMQgRHrRLySSdZ6jrEcpPifW4xUpp4z66XM9d9wM48sA7peG2XL
{% hint style="info" %} To keep the keypair entirely offline, use the Paper Wallet keypair generation instructions instead {% endhint %}
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
Creating a durable nonce transaction requires passing the stored nonce value as
the value to the --blockhash
argument upon signing and submission. Obtain the
presently stored nonce value with
- Command
solana nonce nonce-keypair.json
- Output
8GRipryfxcsxN8mAGjy8zbFo9ezaUsh47TsPzmZbuytU
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
While not typically needed outside a more useful transaction, the stored nonce value can be advanced by
- Command
solana new-nonce nonce-keypair.json
- Output
44jYe1yPKrjuYDmoFTdgPjg8LFpYyh1PFKJqm5SC1PiSyAL8iw1bhadcAX1SL7KDmREEkmHpYvreKoNv6fZgfvUK
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
Inspect a nonce account in a more human friendly format with
- Command
solana nonce-account nonce-keypair.json
- Output
balance: 0.5 SOL
minimum balance required: 0.00136416 SOL
nonce: DZar6t2EaCFQTbUP4DHKwZ1wT8gCPW2aRfkVWhydkBvS
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
Withdraw funds from a nonce account with
- Command
solana withdraw-from-nonce-account nonce-keypair.json ~/.config/solana/id.json 0.5
- Output
3foNy1SBqwXSsfSfTdmYKDuhnVheRnKXpoPySiUDBVeDEs6iMVokgqm7AqfTjbk7QBE8mqomvMUMNQhtdMvFLide
{% hint style="info" %} Close a nonce account by withdrawing the full balance {% endhint %}
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
Reassign the authority of a nonce account after creation with
- Command
solana authorize-nonce-account nonce-keypair.json nonce-authority.json
- Output
3F9cg4zN9wHxLGx4c3cUKmqpej4oa67QbALmChsJbfxTgTffRiL3iUehVhR9wQmWgPua66jPuAYeL1K2pYYjbNoT
{% hint style="info" %} Full usage documentation {% endhint %}
To make use of durable nonces with other CLI subcommands, two arguments must be supported.
--nonce
, specifies the account storing the nonce value--nonce-authority
, specifies an optional nonce authority
The following subcommands have received this treatment so far
Here we demonstrate Alice paying Bob 1 SOL using a durable nonce. The procedure is the same for all subcommands supporting durable nonces
First we need some accounts for Alice, Alice's nonce and Bob
$ solana-keygen new -o alice.json
$ solana-keygen new -o nonce.json
$ solana-keygen new -o bob.json
Alice will need some funds to create a nonce account and send to Bob. Airdrop her some SOL
$ solana airdrop -k alice.json 10
10 SOL
Now Alice needs a nonce account. Create one
{% hint style="info" %}
Here, no separate nonce authority is employed, so alice.json
has full authority over the nonce account
{% endhint %}
$ solana create-nonce-account -k alice.json nonce.json 1
3KPZr96BTsL3hqera9up82KAU462Gz31xjqJ6eHUAjF935Yf8i1kmfEbo6SVbNaACKE5z6gySrNjVRvmS8DcPuwV
Alice attempts to pay Bob, but takes too long to sign. The specified blockhash expires and the transaction fails
$ solana pay -k alice.json --blockhash expiredDTaxfagttWjQweib42b6ZHADSx94Tw8gHx3W7 bob.json 1
[2020-01-02T18:48:28.462911000Z ERROR solana_cli::cli] Io(Custom { kind: Other, error: "Transaction \"33gQQaoPc9jWePMvDAeyJpcnSPiGUAdtVg8zREWv4GiKjkcGNufgpcbFyRKRrA25NkgjZySEeKue5rawyeH5TzsV\" failed: None" })
Error: Io(Custom { kind: Other, error: "Transaction \"33gQQaoPc9jWePMvDAeyJpcnSPiGUAdtVg8zREWv4GiKjkcGNufgpcbFyRKRrA25NkgjZySEeKue5rawyeH5TzsV\" failed: None" })
Alice retries the transaction, this time specifying her nonce account and the blockhash stored there
{% hint style="info" %}
Remember, alice.json
is the nonce authority in this example
{% endhint %}
$ solana nonce-account nonce.json
balance: 1 SOL
minimum balance required: 0.00136416 SOL
nonce: F7vmkY3DTaxfagttWjQweib42b6ZHADSx94Tw8gHx3W7
$ solana pay -k alice.json --blockhash F7vmkY3DTaxfagttWjQweib42b6ZHADSx94Tw8gHx3W7 --nonce nonce.json bob.json 1
HR1368UKHVZyenmH7yVz5sBAijV6XAPeWbEiXEGVYQorRMcoijeNAbzZqEZiH8cDB8tk65ckqeegFjK8dHwNFgQ
The transaction succeeds! Bob receives 1 SOL from Alice and Alice's stored nonce advances to a new value
$ solana balance -k bob.json
1 SOL
$ solana nonce-account nonce.json
balance: 1 SOL
minimum balance required: 0.00136416 SOL
nonce: 6bjroqDcZgTv6Vavhqf81oBHTv3aMnX19UTB51YhAZnN