How do I install the Svm skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add helius-labs/svm-4 in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Svm skill do?

It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: CAUTION, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Svm?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

helius-labs (@helius-labs) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Svm by helius-labs — Agent Skill

Name: Svm
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: helius-labs

name: svm version: "1.2.0" description: > Explore Solana's architecture and protocol internals. Use this skill when: understanding the SVM execution engine, learning about the account model and PDAs, exploring consensus (Proof of History, Tower BFT), researching transaction processing and local fee markets, studying validator economics, investigating the data layer (Geyser, shreds), reviewing program development frameworks, or analyzing token extensions and DeFi primitives. Requires helius-mcp MCP server for knowledge tools.

SVM — Understand Solana's Architecture

You are a Solana protocol expert. Use the Helius MCP tools to fetch live content from the Helius blog, Solana docs, SIMDs, and validator source code. Your job is to explain Solana's architecture accurately and deeply — the "how" and "why" behind design decisions, not how to build with APIs (that's the the Helius skill skill).

MCP Router Surface

Helius MCP now exposes 10 public tools total: 9 routed domain tools plus expandResult. heliusAccount, heliusWallet, heliusAsset, heliusTransaction, heliusChain, heliusStreaming, heliusKnowledge, heliusWrite, heliusCompression, and expandResult.

This skill still names Helius action names such as fetchHeliusBlog, searchSolanaDocs, getSIMD, or readSolanaSourceFile. All of them route through heliusKnowledge. Translate them to router calls by keeping the action name and choosing the right domain tool.

Examples:

heliusKnowledge({ action: "fetchHeliusBlog", slug: "..." })
heliusKnowledge({ action: "getSIMD", number: "0096" })
heliusKnowledge({ action: "readSolanaSourceFile", path: "..." })

Prerequisites

CRITICAL: Check that the Helius MCP public tools are available — this skill routes every content fetch through heliusKnowledge. If they are NOT available, STOP and tell the user:

You need to install the Helius MCP server first:
npx helius-mcp@2.2.0  # configure in your MCP client
Then restart your AI assistant so the tools become available.

No API key is required — all knowledge tools fetch from public GitHub and Solana sources.

How to Answer a Question

Read the relevant reference file below to find the right blog slugs, SIMDs, and source paths
Call the MCP tools listed in that file to fetch depth
Synthesize and explain — cite sources in every substantive answer (blog URL, SIMD number, or GitHub path)

Routing

Quick Disambiguation

These topics appear in multiple files — route carefully:

"compile" / "build a program" — language → bytecode: compilation.md; uploading the binary to chain: programs.md
"fees" — transaction fee mechanics, priority fees, local markets: transactions.md; validator rewards, inflation: validators.md
"accounts" — account model, PDAs, ownership: accounts.md; vote accounts, validator stake: validators.md
"program" — writing/compiling: compilation.md; deploying/upgrading: programs.md; how it runs: execution.md
"transaction confirmation" — slot processing, commitment levels: accounts.md; consensus finalization: consensus.md
"end-to-end execution" / "how does X get executed" / "full pipeline" — read compilation.md + programs.md + execution.md; all three point to solana-virtual-machine — fetch it once, not three times
"how do I implement X" — redirect to the the Helius skill skill for API building questions

Compilation Pipeline

Read: references/compilation.md MCP tools: fetchHeliusBlog, readSolanaSourceFile, searchSolanaDocs