Create a Program with Compressed PDAs

Overview to compressed PDA core features and guide for program development

Compressed PDAs provide full functionality of accounts at PDAs, without per-account rent cost.

Creation	Regular PDA Account	Compressed PDA	Cost Reduction
100-byte PDA	~ 0.0016 SOL	~ 0.00001 SOL	160x

Compressed PDAs are derived using a specific program address and seed, like regular PDAs. Custom programs invoke the Light System program[^1] to create and update accounts, instead of the System program.

Compressed PDAs at a Glance

Rent free PDAs

Create accounts at program-derived addresses without upfront rent exempt balance.

Full PDA Functionality

Persistent unique identification and program ownership.

Composable

CPI support between compressed and regular PDAs.

Start Building

Developing with compressed PDAs works similar to regular PDAs and involves minimal setup:

Prerequisites

Required versions:

• Rust: 1.86.0 or later
• Solana CLI: 2.2.15
• Anchor CLI: 0.31.1
• Zk compression CLI: 0.27.0 or later
• Node.js: 23.5.0 or later

Install Solana CLI:

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.solana.com/v2.2.15/install)"

Install Anchor CLI:

cargo install --git https://github.com/coral-xyz/anchor avm --force
avm install latest
avm use latest

Install the Light CLI:

npm -g i @lightprotocol/zk-compression-cli

### verify installation
light --version

Initialize your Program

Instantiate a template Solana program with compressed accounts with all required dependencies.

light init testprogram

The light init command creates only Anchor-based projects . For Pinocchio programs, manually configure dependencies using light-sdk-pinocchio.

Dependencies

Rust Crates

• light-sdk - Core SDK for compressed accounts in native and anchor programs
• light-sdk-pinocchio Core SDK for compressed accounts in pinocchio programs
• light-client - RPC client and indexer for interacting with compressed accounts
• light-program-test - Testing utilities for compressed programs.

TypeScript/JavaScript Packages

• @lightprotocol/stateless.js - Client library for interacting with compressed accounts
• @lightprotocol/zk-compression-cli - Command-line tools for ZK compression development

Build and Test

Now cd testprogram and run:

anchor build
# Success: Finished `release` profile [optimized] target(s), after compiling.
# Note: Stack offset warnings are expected and don't prevent compilation

cargo test-sbf

# Success: test result: ok. 1 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

Common Errors

assert.h file not found - during compilation.

Fix:
In your terminal, run:
1. export CC=$(xcrun -find clang)
2. export SDKROOT=$(xcrun --show-sdk-path)
3. cargo clean
4. anchor build


Example log:
The following warnings were emitted during compilation:

warning: blake3@1.5.1: In file included from c/blake3_neon.c:1:
warning: blake3@1.5.1: c/blake3_impl.h:4:10: fatal error: 'assert.h' file not found
warning: blake3@1.5.1:     4 | #include <assert.h>
warning: blake3@1.5.1:       |          ^~~~~~~~~~
warning: blake3@1.5.1: 1 error generated.

error: failed to run custom build command for `blake3 v1.5.1`

Caused by:
  process didn't exit successfully: `/Users/you/testprogram/target/release/build/blake3-ac41d29c2eabe052/build-script-build` (exit status: 1)
  --- stdout
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_PURE
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_NO_NEON
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_NEON
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_NEON
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_NO_NEON
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CARGO_FEATURE_PURE
  cargo:rustc-cfg=blake3_neon
  OUT_DIR = Some(/Users/you/testprogram/target/release/build/blake3-735a4c71d985df30/out)
  TARGET = Some(aarch64-apple-darwin)
  OPT_LEVEL = Some(3)
  HOST = Some(aarch64-apple-darwin)
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CC_aarch64-apple-darwin
  CC_aarch64-apple-darwin = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CC_aarch64_apple_darwin
  CC_aarch64_apple_darwin = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_CC
  HOST_CC = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CC
  CC = Some(/Users/you/.local/share/solana/install/releases/1.18.22/solana-release/bin/sdk/sbf/dependencies/platform-tools/llvm/bin/clang)
  RUSTC_WRAPPER = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CC_ENABLE_DEBUG_OUTPUT
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CRATE_CC_NO_DEFAULTS
  CRATE_CC_NO_DEFAULTS = None
  DEBUG = Some(false)
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
  MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CFLAGS_aarch64-apple-darwin
  CFLAGS_aarch64-apple-darwin = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin
  CFLAGS_aarch64_apple_darwin = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=HOST_CFLAGS
  HOST_CFLAGS = None
  cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=CFLAGS
  CFLAGS = None
  cargo:warning=In file included from c/blake3_neon.c:1:
  cargo:warning=c/blake3_impl.h:4:10: fatal error: 'assert.h' file not found
  cargo:warning=    4 | #include <assert.h>
  cargo:warning=      |          ^~~~~~~~~~
  cargo:warning=1 error generated.

  --- stderr


  error occurred: Command env -u IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET "/Users/you/.local/share/solana/install/releases/1.18.22/solana-release/bin/sdk/sbf/dependencies/platform-tools/llvm/bin/clang" "-O3" "-ffunction-sections" "-fdata-sections" "-fPIC" "--target=arm64-apple-darwin" "-mmacosx-version-min=14.4" "-Wall" "-Wextra" "-std=c11" "-o" "/Users/you/testprogram/target/release/build/blake3-735a4c71d985df30/out/db3b6bfb95261072-blake3_neon.o" "-c" "c/blake3_neon.c" with args clang did not execute successfully (status code exit status: 1).

Program Examples

Example	Description
basic-operations/anchor	Anchor programs to create, update, close, reinitialize and burn compressed accounts with Rust and TypeScript tests
basic-operations/native-rust	Native Solana program implementation to create, update, close, reinitialize and burn compressed accounts with Rust tests
Counter (Anchor)	Full compressed account lifecycle (create, increment, decrement, reset, close) using Anchor framework
Counter (Native)	Native Solana program implementation with Rust tests
Counter (Pinocchio)	Pinocchio implementation using light-sdk-pinocchio with Rust tests
Create-and-Update	Create new compressed accounts and update existing ones within a single instruction and one validity proof
Read-Only	Create compressed accounts and read them on-chain
Account Comparison	Compare compressed accounts with standard Solana accounts
ZK-ID	Program that uses zero-knowledge proofs for identity verification with compressed accounts

Next Steps

Start building with compressed accounts using our guides or program examples.