Getting Test SOL

This example shows how to request an airdrop of SOL on the Solana devnet for testing purposes.

Code

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Solana Cookbook - Getting Test SOL
"""

import asyncio
from solana.rpc.async_api import AsyncClient
from solders.keypair import Keypair

async def main():
    keypair = Keypair()

    async with AsyncClient("https://api.devnet.solana.com") as client:
        # Request airdrop (1 SOL = 1_000_000_000 lamports)
        res = await client.request_airdrop(keypair.pubkey(), 1_000_000_000)
        print(f"Airdrop signature: {res.value}")

        # Check balance
        balance = await client.get_balance(keypair.pubkey())
        print(f"Balance: {balance.value} lamports")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Explanation

1. Create a keypair: Generate a new keypair for testing
2. Request airdrop: Use request_airdrop() to get 1 SOL from the devnet faucet
3. Check balance: Verify the airdrop was successful by checking the account balance

Key Points

• Devnet only: Airdrops are only available on devnet and testnet, not mainnet
• Amount limits: Each airdrop request is limited to 1 SOL
• Rate limits: There are rate limits on airdrop requests per account
• Lamports: 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports

Usage

python getting_test_sol.py

This will output:

Airdrop signature: 5J8...abc
Balance: 1000000000 lamports

Alternative Methods

You can also get test SOL from: - Solana Faucet - Web interface - solana airdrop CLI command