solana-kit-migration

Start by scanning your codebase for v1 patterns like new Connection(), Keypair.fromSecretKey(), and new Transaction(). Replace them with createSolanaRpc(), await createKeyPairSignerFromBytes(), and pipe-based transaction messages, adding .send() to all RPC calls.

Use @solana/kit for new projects without Anchor dependencies, since it offers smaller bundles, faster confirmations, and stronger type safety. Stay on web3.js v1 if you depend on Anchor or SDKs that have not migrated yet.

No, Anchor currently requires @solana/web3.js v1 and does not support Kit. For mixed codebases, use @solana/compat to convert between v1 PublicKey/Keypair types and Kit Address/KeyPairSigner types.

Kit RPC methods return a request builder, not the result, so you must append .send() to execute the call. Most responses are also wrapped, so destructure with const { value } = await rpc.getBalance(addr).send().

Kit uses native BigInt for all lamport amounts, so write values like 1_000_000_000n or use the lamports() helper. Mixing number and bigint throws errors, and JSON.stringify requires converting bigints to strings first.

Avoid migrating when your project depends on Anchor, when critical SDKs like Metaplex or Raydium lack Kit support, or when a large stable codebase has hundreds of migration points without clear performance or bundle-size benefits.