Developer framework for building SPEL programs — inspired by Anchor for Solana.
Write your program logic with proc macros. Get IDL generation, a full CLI with TX submission, and project scaffolding for free.
cargo install --path spel-cli # installs as "spel"
spel init my-program
cd my-programThis generates a complete project:
my-program/
├── Cargo.toml # Workspace
├── Makefile # build, idl, cli, deploy, inspect, setup
├── README.md
├── my_program_core/ # Shared types (guest + host)
│ └── src/lib.rs
├── methods/
│ └── guest/ # RISC Zero guest (runs on-chain)
│ └── src/bin/my_program.rs
└── examples/
└── src/bin/
├── generate_idl.rs # One-liner IDL generator
└── my_program_cli.rs # Three-line CLI wrapper
make build # Build the guest binary (risc0)
make idl # Generate IDL from #[lez_program] annotations
make deploy # Deploy to sequencer
make cli ARGS="--help" # See auto-generated commands
make cli ARGS="-p <binary> initialize --owner-account <BASE58>"#![no_main]
use nssa_core::account::AccountWithMetadata;
use nssa_core::program::AccountPostState;
use spel_framework::prelude::*;
risc0_zkvm::guest::entry!(main);
#[lez_program]
mod my_program {
#[allow(unused_imports)]
use super::*;
#[instruction]
pub fn initialize(
#[account(init, pda = literal("state"))]
state: AccountWithMetadata,
#[account(signer)]
owner: AccountWithMetadata,
) -> SpelResult {
// Your logic here
Ok(SpelOutput::states_only(vec![
AccountPostState::new_claimed(state.account.clone(), Claim::Authorized),
AccountPostState::new(owner.account.clone()),
]))
}
#[instruction]
pub fn transfer(
#[account(mut, pda = literal("state"))]
state: AccountWithMetadata,
recipient: AccountWithMetadata,
#[account(signer)]
sender: AccountWithMetadata,
amount: u128,
) -> SpelResult {
// Your logic here
Ok(SpelOutput::states_only(vec![
AccountPostState::new(state.account.clone()),
AccountPostState::new(recipient.account.clone()),
AccountPostState::new(sender.account.clone()),
]))
}
}| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
#[account(mut)] |
Account is writable |
#[account(init)] |
Account is being created (use new_claimed) |
#[account(signer)] |
Account must sign the transaction |
#[account(pda = literal("seed"))] |
PDA derived from a constant string |
#[account(pda = account("other"))] |
PDA derived from another account's ID |
#[account(pda = arg("create_key"))] |
PDA derived from an instruction argument |
members: Vec<AccountWithMetadata> |
Variable-length trailing account list |
When the CLI derives PDA accounts during transaction execution, it prints the seed inputs used for each derivation:
PDA vault → 4Lp3gkH...
seeds: [program_id, "state"]
PDA token_account → 7xQ2m...
seeds: [program_id, Account(owner), Arg(create_key)]
Seeds always start with program_id, followed by the seeds declared in the account attribute. Constant strings appear quoted, account references as Account(name), and instruction arguments as Arg(name).
Accounts marked with #[account(signer)] or #[account(init)] get automatic runtime checks before your handler runs:
- Signer: Verifies
is_authorizedis true, returnsSpelError::Unauthorizedif not - Init: Verifies account is in default state, returns
SpelError::AccountAlreadyInitializedif not
No manual checking needed in your instruction handlers.
If your Instruction enum lives in a shared core crate (used by both on-chain program and CLI), you can tell the macro to use it instead of generating one:
#[lez_program(instruction = "my_core::Instruction")]
mod my_program {
// ...
}Every program gets a full CLI for free. The wrapper is just:
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
spel_cli::run().await;
}This provides:
- Auto-generated subcommands from IDL instructions
- Type-aware argument parsing (u128, [u8; N], base58 accounts, ProgramId, etc.)
- Automatic PDA computation from IDL seeds
- risc0-compatible serialization
- Transaction building and submission with wallet integration
--dry-runmode for testinginspectsubcommand to extract ProgramId from binaries
Types that represent on-chain account data can be annotated with #[account_type]. This causes them to appear in the generated IDL so spel inspect can decode raw account bytes into readable JSON.
use spel_framework::prelude::*;
#[account_type]
#[derive(BorshSerialize, BorshDeserialize)]
pub struct VaultState {
pub owner: AccountId,
pub balance: u128,
pub locked: bool,
}
#[account_type]
#[derive(BorshSerialize, BorshDeserialize)]
pub enum TokenHolding {
Fungible { definition_id: AccountId, balance: u128 },
NftMaster { definition_id: AccountId, print_balance: u128 },
}Types referenced by an #[account_type] (such as helper enums or nested structs) are collected automatically — they do not need their own annotation:
// No annotation needed — picked up automatically because VaultState references it
#[derive(BorshSerialize, BorshDeserialize)]
pub enum VaultStatus { Active, Frozen }The IDL generator embeds all annotated types in the accounts array and all transitively referenced helper types in the types array of the generated JSON. No file paths or external references — the IDL is fully self-contained.
The IDL generator is also a one-liner:
spel_framework::generate_idl!("../methods/guest/src/bin/my_program.rs");It reads the #[lez_program] annotations at compile time and generates a complete JSON IDL describing instructions, arguments, accounts, and PDA seeds.
The generated IDL is a superset of the lssa-lang IDL spec. In addition to our core fields, each instruction includes:
- discriminator -- SHA256 of global:name, first 8 bytes, matching lssa-lang convention
- execution -- public/private_owned flags (default: public execution)
- variant -- PascalCase variant name
Each account field includes:
- visibility -- list of visibility tags (default: public)
These fields are optional and backward-compatible -- existing IDL consumers that do not know about them will simply ignore them.
# Scaffold a new project (no --idl needed)
spel init my-program
# Inspect program binaries (no --idl needed)
spel inspect program.bin
# Generate IDL from a program source file (includes all #[account_type] definitions)
spel generate-idl methods/guest/src/bin/my_program.rs > my_program-idl.json
# Decode on-chain account data using a type from the IDL
spel inspect <account-id> --idl my_program-idl.json --type VaultState
# Same, but supply raw borsh bytes directly instead of fetching from the network
spel inspect <account-id> --idl my_program-idl.json --type VaultState --data <borsh-hex>
# Show available commands
spel --idl program-idl.json --help
# Dry run an instruction — resolve everything (PDAs, accounts, serialized data,
# signer nonces) and print without submitting. Accepts --dry-run (text default),
# --dry-run=text, or --dry-run=json.
spel --idl program-idl.json --dry-run -p program.bin -- \
create-vault --token-name "MYTKN" --initial-supply 1000000
# Machine-readable dry run for scripting / golden tests
spel --idl program-idl.json --dry-run=json -p program.bin -- \
create-vault --token-name "MYTKN" --initial-supply 1000000 | jq .
# Submit a transaction
spel --idl program-idl.json -p program.bin -- \
create-vault --token-name "MYTKN" --initial-supply 1000000
# Use --program-id instead of binary (skips loading the file)
spel --idl program-idl.json --program-id <64-char-hex> create-vault --token-name "MYTKN" --initial-supply 1000000
# Compute a PDA from the IDL
spel --idl program-idl.json --program-id <64-char-hex> pda vault --create-key my-multisig
# PDA derivation output shows seed inputs:
# PDA vault → 4Lp3gkH...
# seeds: [program_id, "state"]
# Auto-fill program IDs from binaries
spel --idl program-idl.json -p treasury.bin --bin-token token.bin \
create-vault --token-name "MYTKN" --initial-supply 1000000
# Get help for a specific instruction
spel --idl program-idl.json create-vault --help| IDL Type | CLI Format |
|---|---|
u8, u32, u64, u128 |
Decimal number |
[u8; N] |
Hex string (2×N chars) or UTF-8 string (≤N chars, right-padded) |
[u32; 8] / program_id |
Comma-separated u32s: "0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0" |
Vec<u8> |
Comma-separated decimal bytes: "0,1,2" |
Vec<u32> |
Comma-separated decimal u32s: "0,200,0,0,0" |
Vec<[u8; 32]> |
Comma-separated hex or base58: "addr1,addr2" |
rest accounts |
Comma-separated base58/hex: --foo-account "addr1,addr2" |
Option<T> |
Value or "none" |
| Account IDs | Base58 or 64-char hex |
Once types are annotated with #[account_type] and the IDL is generated, you can decode any on-chain account into JSON:
# Generate the IDL (embeds all annotated account types)
spel generate-idl methods/guest/src/bin/token.rs > token-idl.json
# Fetch and decode a live account from the network
spel inspect 3f2a...bc01 --idl token-idl.json --type TokenHoldingAccount: 3f2a...bc01
Data: 33 bytes
Hex: 01aabbccdd...
{
"NftMaster": {
"definition_id": "aabbccddee...",
"print_balance": "99"
}
}
For accounts with nested types (e.g. TokenMetadata referencing MetadataStandard), the IDL contains both and decoding works transparently:
spel inspect 9d1c...f4 --idl token-idl.json --type TokenMetadata{
"definition_id": "aabbccddee...",
"standard": "Simple",
"uri": "https://example.com/metadata.json",
"creators": "Alice",
"primary_sale_date": "1720000000"
}You can also pass raw borsh bytes directly with --data to decode without a network connection — useful during development and testing:
spel inspect 0000...0000 \
--idl token-idl.json \
--type TokenHolding \
--data 00<32-byte-definition-id-hex>00000000000000000000000000000064Some instructions need signatures from accounts whose keys live on different machines. A transaction's authorization is checked against its witness set, so all signers must sign the same message bytes, and those bytes contain every signer's nonce. The CLI coordinates this through a partial-transaction file that travels between signers.
# Machine A: build the full transaction, sign with local keys, and write
# the partial transaction to a file instead of submitting. Repeat
# --co-signer for each additional required signer. Needs a node
# connection to fetch nonces for all signers.
spel --idl program-idl.json -p program.bin \
--co-signer <account-id> --export handover.json -- \
admin-transfer --caller <current-admin> --evidence <new-admin> ...
# --export and --co-signer are global flags and belong before the "--"
# separator. Misplaced after it they are rejected with an error, the CLI
# never falls through to a live submission.
# The file travels to the co-signer over any channel.
# Machine B: inspect and sign. Shows the summary embedded by machine A
# next to fields decoded locally from the message bytes, asks for
# confirmation, then signs for every required signer whose key this
# wallet holds. Works offline.
spel sign handover.json
# Anyone: submit once all witnesses are collected. Needs a node.
spel submit handover.jsonThe file is JSON: the borsh-serialized message in hex, the ordered list
of required signers, and the collected witnesses. The signers order
matches the nonce order inside the message. The full format is
documented in spel-cli/src/blob.rs.
A signature authorizes exactly the message bytes in the file being
signed, and every already-collected witness is verified against those
same bytes before signing, so nobody can swap the message under
existing signatures. What the prompt cannot do is read intent into raw
instruction data. To verify a blob independently, rebuild the claimed
transaction on your own machine with the same arguments and --export,
and compare the decoded fields, instruction data included, against
what the prompt shows. The two exports differ only in nonces fetched
at different times.
A partial transaction goes stale when any listed signer's on-chain nonce changes. Signing is a local operation and cannot detect this, staleness surfaces at submission, which fails with a clear error, and the flow restarts with a fresh export.
--export works without --co-signer too, for preparing a transaction
on one machine and submitting it from another. It only supports public
transactions and cannot be combined with --dry-run.
| Crate | Description |
|---|---|
spel-framework |
Umbrella crate — re-exports macros + core with a prelude |
spel-framework-core |
IDL types, error types, SpelOutput |
spel-framework-macros |
Proc macros: #[lez_program], #[instruction], generate_idl! |
spel |
Generic IDL-driven CLI with TX submission + project scaffolding |
spel-client-gen |
Code generator — produces typed Rust FFI clients from IDL JSON |
If your guest build fails with:
riscv32-unknown-elf-gcc: error: unrecognized command-line option '-m64'
error: failed to run custom build command for `ring v0.17.14`
This is caused by the LEZ workspace enabling risc0-zkvm default features (bonsai, client), which pull in reqwest → rustls → ring. The ring crate cannot cross-compile for riscv32.
Root cause: logos-blockchain/logos-execution-zone issue #468
Workaround: fork the LEZ repo, apply this one-line change to Cargo.toml, and patch your workspace:
- risc0-zkvm = { version = "3.0.5", features = ["std"] }
+ risc0-zkvm = { version = "3.0.5", default-features = false, features = ["std"] }Then in your workspace Cargo.toml:
[patch."https://github.com/logos-blockchain/logos-execution-zone.git"]
nssa_core = { git = "https://github.com/YOUR-USER/logos-execution-zone.git", branch = "fix-risc0-defaults" }
nssa = { git = "https://github.com/YOUR-USER/logos-execution-zone.git", branch = "fix-risc0-defaults" }Once the upstream fix is merged, remove the [patch] section and update your LEZ dependency tag.
MIT