| name | solana-mobile |
| description | Scaffold, configure, and troubleshoot Solana Mobile apps for Android using the solana-mobile CLI, Expo, and React Native. Use when creating a new Solana mobile app, picking a template, adding Solana to an existing Expo app, checking the Android toolchain, managing Android emulators, or producing a development build. |
Solana Mobile projects
Set up and maintain Solana Mobile apps. The solana-mobile CLI does the scaffolding,
environment checks, and emulator management — prefer it over hand-rolled setup.
Run it without installing:
npx solana-mobile@latest --help
pnpx solana-mobile@latest and bun x solana-mobile@latest work too. Match whichever
package manager the project already uses.
Non-negotiable constraint
Mobile Wallet Adapter requires a development build. Expo Go will not work — MWA depends
on native Android modules that Expo Go does not bundle. If someone reports wallet
connection failing in Expo Go, that is the cause; there is no workaround, they need
expo run:android.
Android is the only platform with wallet support. iOS builds run, but no MWA.
First: work out which situation you are in
Create a new project
npx solana-mobile@latest create
Interactive by default. To skip the prompts, name the project and template:
npx solana-mobile@latest create my-app --template expo-kit-wallet
Useful flags:
| Flag | Effect |
|---|
-t, --template <id> | Pick a template non-interactively |
--pm <manager> | Package manager to use |
--minimal | Use the minimal template |
--list-templates | Print the template catalog |
--list-template-ids | Print template ids as a JSON array |
--skip-install | Do not install dependencies |
--skip-git | Do not initialise a git repo |
-d, --dry-run | Show what would happen, write nothing |
Choosing a template
Templates come in two families. Pick an expo-kit-* template. @solana/kit is the current
Solana client library, and these are the templates the CLI maintains most actively.
Reach for expo-web3js-* only when the user is deliberately continuing an existing
@solana/web3.js codebase, or asks for it by name. If they ask without a reason, say kit is the
better starting point before going along with it — a new app on web3.js starts life needing a
migration.
expo-kit-minimal is the clearest reference for how the kit pieces fit together, and worth
reading even when building on a different template.
| Template | Stack | Use for |
|---|
expo-kit-wallet | Kit + MWA + Uniwind | Best default. Wallet connect, sign, send already wired |
expo-kit-minimal | Kit | Bare starting point, no UI kit |
expo-kit-uniwind | Kit + Uniwind | Tailwind-style styling, no wallet yet |
expo-kit-privy | Kit + Privy + Uniwind | Privy auth instead of, or alongside, MWA |
expo-web3js-wallet | web3.js + MWA | Legacy wallet app |
expo-web3js-paper | web3.js + RN Paper | Legacy, Material UI |
expo-web3js-minimal | web3.js | Legacy bare starting point |
Template ids are also accepted in full gh:solana-mobile/templates/mobile/<name> form.
Re-run --list-templates rather than trusting this table if a template seems missing — the
catalog ships with the CLI, not with this skill.
After scaffolding
cd my-app && npm run android
That runs expo run:android, which builds and installs the development build. The first
Android build is slow (Gradle cold start); later builds reuse the cache.
Check the environment
Before debugging a build failure, check the toolchain:
npx solana-mobile@latest doctor
It reports on the local Android and Node toolchain with recommendations for anything
missing. --json gives a stable report worth parsing when you need to branch on a specific
check; --verbose adds resolved paths and diagnostics.
Run doctor first whenever a build fails for reasons that are not obviously in app code.
Manage Android emulators
npx solana-mobile@latest emu list
npx solana-mobile@latest emu status
npx solana-mobile@latest emu create
npx solana-mobile@latest emu start my_phone
npx solana-mobile@latest emu stop my_phone
emu is an alias for emulator. Subcommands: create, delete, images, list,
start, status, stop. System images live under emu images (install, list,
delete).
Create a named emulator on a specific device profile:
npx solana-mobile@latest emu create local_phone --device pixel_9
Testing wallet flows on an emulator
A fresh emulator has no wallet app installed, so MWA has nothing to connect to. Install an
MWA-compatible wallet APK into the emulator first, or test on a physical Android device.
Anything gated on the Seeker Genesis Token needs a real Seeker device — see the
seeker-genesis-token skill.
Reference material
Related skills
solana-mobile-wallet — connecting wallets, signing, sending transactionsseeker-genesis-token — verifying Seeker device ownershipseeker-domains — .skr domain name resolution
For general non-mobile Solana work — Anchor or Pinocchio programs, Codama client generation,
testing, security review — use the Solana Foundation's solana-dev skill instead. create
installs it into .agents/skills/solana-dev/, so a scaffolded project already has it.
Links
