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Shank

Shank is a collection of Rust crates and a CLI that uses annotations in Solana Rust programs to extract an IDL file. Its crates also provide derive macros, convert annotated types into a Solita-compatible IDL, and generate Rust implementation blocks for selected annotations such as account seeds.

Explore the practical guide ↓

Independent OpenViST project profile, based on linked sources.

Shank — OpenViST project profile in Developer Tools.
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Understand the project

Practical overview

When it fits

Use Shank when a Solana Rust program’s annotations need to be processed into an IDL, particularly when that IDL will feed a Solita SDK-generation workflow.

Who it is for

  • Rust developers working on Solana programs who need to extract an IDL from annotated source.
  • Teams that use a Solita-based process to generate program SDKs from IDL.
  • Developers building Rust tooling that generates implementation blocks from annotations such as account seeds.

Documented uses

  • Add Shank macro annotations to a Rust program library.
  • Extract annotated program information into an IDL file with the CLI.
  • Provide a Solita-compatible IDL as input to a program SDK generation stage.
  • Generate Rust implementation blocks from selected annotations.
Before you choose

Requirements & limits

  • The documented workflow starts with Rust program annotations; the CLI extracts an IDL from a specified crate.
  • Shank produces the IDL, while Solita is identified as the downstream tool that uses it to generate program SDKs.
  • The project is organized as Rust crates plus a CLI, rather than as a hosted application.

Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.

Source-based practical guide

Set up Shank annotations in a Rust library

Prepare a Rust program to use Shank annotations before extracting its IDL.

Before you start

  • A Rust program or library to annotate.

Steps

  1. Consult the shank-cli README for Shank usage and installation instructions.

  2. Install and include the top-level shank crate in the library to add macro annotations.

Expected outcome

The library is set up to use Shank macro annotations; the CLI is the documented next stage for extracting IDL.

Guide limitations

  • The main README does not provide the shank-cli installation commands or explain which annotations to add.
  • This guide does not cover running the CLI or generating an SDK.
Documentation 1 ↗Documentation 2 ↗
Evidence and transparency

Sources & review

Official repository ↗Guide documentation ↗
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Sources checked
17 October 2026
Original website title
metaplex-foundation/shank · Official homepage title · retained in its source language
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