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Overview

Account messages contain information about Solana account updates. These messages are sent when accounts matching your subscription filters are modified.

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SubscribeUpdateAccount

Wrapper message for account updates in the subscription stream. 
message SubscribeUpdateAccount {
  SubscribeUpdateAccountInfo account = 1;
  uint64 slot = 2;
  bool is_startup = 3;
}

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Fields

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account
SubscribeUpdateAccountInfo
required
The detailed account information including pubkey, data, owner, and other metadata.
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slot
uint64
required
The slot number when this account update occurred.
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is_startup
bool
required
Indicates whether this update is from the initial startup load. If true, this account state existed before your subscription started. If false, this is a new update that occurred during your subscription.Useful for distinguishing between:
  • Historical state (loaded during startup)
  • Real-time updates (occurred after subscription)

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Example

{
  "account": {
    "pubkey": "7xLk17EQQ5KLDLDe44wCmupJKJjTGd8hs3eSVVhCx932",
    "lamports": 1461600,
    "owner": "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA",
    "executable": false,
    "rent_epoch": 361,
    "data": "AQAAAAblHxdW...",
    "write_version": 12345,
    "txn_signature": "5j7s6NiJS3JAkvgkoc18WVAsiSaci2pxB2A6ueCJP4tprA2TFg9wSyTLeYouxPBJEMzJinENTkpA52YStRW5Dia7"
  },
  "slot": 250000000,
  "is_startup": false
}

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SubscribeUpdateAccountInfo

Detailed account information. 
message SubscribeUpdateAccountInfo {
  bytes pubkey = 1;
  uint64 lamports = 2;
  bytes owner = 3;
  bool executable = 4;
  uint64 rent_epoch = 5;
  bytes data = 6;
  uint64 write_version = 7;
  optional bytes txn_signature = 8;
}

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Fields

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pubkey
bytes
required
The public key (address) of the account as 32 bytes. Convert to base58 for the familiar Solana address format.
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lamports
uint64
required
The account’s lamport balance. 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports.
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owner
bytes
required
The public key of the program that owns this account, as 32 bytes. This program has write access to the account’s data.Common owners:
  • 11111111111111111111111111111111 - System Program (regular wallets)
  • TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA - SPL Token Program
  • ATokenGPvbdGVxr1b2hvZbsiqW5xWH25efTNsLJA8knL - Associated Token Account Program
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executable
bool
required
Whether this account contains executable program code. True for program accounts, false for data accounts.
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rent_epoch
uint64
required
The epoch at which this account will next owe rent. Most accounts are now rent-exempt.
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data
bytes
required
The raw account data as bytes. The structure of this data depends on the owning program.
  • For token accounts: Contains mint address, owner, and balance
  • For program accounts: Contains executable code
  • For custom programs: Contains program-specific state
May be sliced if you specified accounts_data_slice in your subscription request.
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write_version
uint64
required
An incrementing version number that increases each time the account is modified. Useful for:
  • Detecting concurrent modifications
  • Ordering updates
  • Implementing optimistic locking
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txn_signature
bytes
Optional transaction signature (64 bytes) of the transaction that caused this account update. Only present for updates caused by transactions, not for startup loads.This field helps you:
  • Link account changes to specific transactions
  • Filter out startup account loads (when null)
  • Track the origin of state changes

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Example: Token Account

{
  "pubkey": "7xLk17EQQ5KLDLDe44wCmupJKJjTGd8hs3eSVVhCx932",
  "lamports": 2039280,
  "owner": "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA",
  "executable": false,
  "rent_epoch": 361,
  "data": "AQAAAAblHxdW9W8pKnE4ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6ZsH6",
  "write_version": 54321,
  "txn_signature": "3Uxv5kZX8xJLtFUV4wQPjZBFJKMKBdJqKDJpqQnqJe3X..."
}

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Example: System Account (Wallet)

{
  "pubkey": "DezXAZ8z7PnrnRJjz3wXBoRgixCa6xjnB7YaB1pPB263",
  "lamports": 5000000000,
  "owner": "11111111111111111111111111111111",
  "executable": false,
  "rent_epoch": 361,
  "data": "",
  "write_version": 98765
}

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Example: Program Account

{
  "pubkey": "TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA",
  "lamports": 1141440,
  "owner": "BPFLoaderUpgradeab1e11111111111111111111111",
  "executable": true,
  "rent_epoch": 361,
  "data": "02000000...",
  "write_version": 1
}

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Data Slicing

You can request only portions of account data using accounts_data_slice in your SubscribeRequest: 
{
  "accounts": {
    "my_filter": {
      "owner": ["TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA"]
    }
  },
  "accounts_data_slice": [
    {
      "offset": 0,
      "length": 32
    }
  ]
}
This will return only the first 32 bytes of each token account’s data (the mint address).

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Processing Account Updates

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Filtering Startup vs Real-Time Updates

if (update.account) {
  if (update.account.is_startup) {
    console.log('Startup account load:', accountPubkey);
    // Initialize your cache/database
  } else {
    console.log('Real-time account update:', accountPubkey);
    // Process the change
  }
}

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Tracking Transaction Origins

if (update.account && update.account.account.txn_signature) {
  console.log('Account modified by transaction:', 
    base58.encode(update.account.account.txn_signature));
}

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Decoding Token Account Data

For SPL token accounts, the data field contains:
  • Bytes 0-31: Mint address
  • Bytes 32-63: Owner address
  • Bytes 64-71: Amount (uint64, little-endian)
  • Byte 72: Delegate option
  • Bytes 73-104: Delegate address (if present)
  • Byte 105: State (0=Uninitialized, 1=Initialized, 2=Frozen)
  • And more…
See the SPL Token documentation for full account structure details.

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