Getting Started

This section is for getting from evaluation to a first working setup.

Keep the product model simple:

  • use sof when you need local ingest, local state, plugins, or operations control
  • use sof-tx when you need transaction construction and submission
  • use both when one service observes traffic and submits from that local view

The other thing to get clear early:

  • ingress determines how early your host sees traffic
  • SOF is useful because it gives you one reusable runtime across those ingress choices

Use Before You Start for the full latency and trust model.

  1. Choose the Right SOF Path
  2. Before You Start
  3. Common Questions
  4. Install SOF
  5. First Runtime Bring-Up
  6. Crates
  7. Operations

Repository and contributor material lives under Maintain SOF.

Who This Is For

  • teams embedding a local Solana observer/runtime
  • execution services that want local blockhash or leader inputs
  • operators bringing up SOF on a VPS, dedicated host, or custom ingress stack

What To Decide Early

  • are you using sof, sof-tx, or both
  • what ingress reaches your host earliest
  • whether you want public-edge independence or trusted low-latency ingress
  • whether the first version needs only observation or also local submission

Once those decisions are clear, the crate guides and operations pages become much easier to read.

SOF 2026