Permanent delegate

Configure the PermanentDelegate extension to grant irrevocable transfer and burn authority over all token accounts using Light Token.

A designated authority gains irrevocable transfer and burn rights over every token account for a mint, set once at initialization and enforced permanently.

Set the compression_only flag when creating token accounts for this mint. Use transferInterface for transfers as usual.

Key Parameters

PermanentDelegate is configured with one parameter:

Parameter	Description
delegate	The public key granted permanent, irrevocable transfer and burn authority over all token accounts for this mint.

Unlike standard delegates set per token account, the permanent delegate operates at the mint level. Token account owners cannot revoke this authority. Only the current permanent delegate can reassign the role to a new account.

Use PermanentDelegate With Light Token

Agent skill

Install the agent skill:

npx skills add https://zkcompression.com

See the AI tools guide for dedicated skills.

Guide

Setup

npm install @lightprotocol/compressed-token@beta \
            @lightprotocol/stateless.js@beta \
            @solana/spl-token

Snippets below assume rpc, payer, mint, owner, recipient, and amount are defined. See the full examples for runnable setup.

import { createRpc } from "@lightprotocol/stateless.js";

const rpc = createRpc(RPC_ENDPOINT);

Create a Token-2022 Mint With Permanent Delegate

Instruction

import {
    Keypair,
    SystemProgram,
    Transaction,
    sendAndConfirmTransaction,
} from "@solana/web3.js";
import { createRpc } from "@lightprotocol/stateless.js";
import { LightTokenProgram } from "@lightprotocol/compressed-token";
import {
    TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
    ExtensionType,
    getMintLen,
    createInitializeMint2Instruction,
    createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction,
} from "@solana/spl-token";

const rpc = createRpc(RPC_ENDPOINT);

const mintKeypair = Keypair.generate();
const decimals = 9;

// Calculate space for mint + PermanentDelegate extension
const mintLen = getMintLen([ExtensionType.PermanentDelegate]);
const rentExemptBalance =
    await rpc.getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption(mintLen);

// Create account
const createAccountIx = SystemProgram.createAccount({
    fromPubkey: payer.publicKey,
    lamports: rentExemptBalance,
    newAccountPubkey: mintKeypair.publicKey,
    programId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
    space: mintLen,
});

// Initialize PermanentDelegate extension
const initPermanentDelegateIx = createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction(
    mintKeypair.publicKey,
    payer.publicKey, // permanent delegate authority
    TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
);

// Initialize mint
const initMintIx = createInitializeMint2Instruction(
    mintKeypair.publicKey,
    decimals,
    payer.publicKey, // mint authority
    null,            // freeze authority
    TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
);

// Register interface PDA with Light Token
const createSplInterfaceIx = await LightTokenProgram.createSplInterface({
    feePayer: payer.publicKey,
    mint: mintKeypair.publicKey,
    tokenProgramId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
});

const tx = new Transaction().add(
    createAccountIx,
    initPermanentDelegateIx,
    initMintIx,
    createSplInterfaceIx
);

const signature = await sendAndConfirmTransaction(rpc, tx, [
    payer,
    mintKeypair,
]);

Action

import "dotenv/config";
import {
    Keypair,
    SystemProgram,
    Transaction,
    sendAndConfirmTransaction,
} from "@solana/web3.js";
import { createRpc } from "@lightprotocol/stateless.js";
import { LightTokenProgram } from "@lightprotocol/compressed-token";
import {
    TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
    ExtensionType,
    getMintLen,
    createInitializeMint2Instruction,
    createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction,
} from "@solana/spl-token";
import { homedir } from "os";
import { readFileSync } from "fs";

// devnet:
// const RPC_URL = `https://devnet.helius-rpc.com?api-key=${process.env.API_KEY!}`;
// const rpc = createRpc(RPC_URL);
// localnet:
const rpc = createRpc();

const payer = Keypair.fromSecretKey(
    new Uint8Array(
        JSON.parse(readFileSync(`${homedir()}/.config/solana/id.json`, "utf8"))
    )
);

(async function () {
    const mintKeypair = Keypair.generate();
    const decimals = 9;

    // 1. Calculate space including the PermanentDelegate extension
    const mintLen = getMintLen([ExtensionType.PermanentDelegate]);
    const rentExemptBalance = await rpc.getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption(
        mintLen
    );

    // 2. Create the mint account
    const createMintAccountIx = SystemProgram.createAccount({
        fromPubkey: payer.publicKey,
        lamports: rentExemptBalance,
        newAccountPubkey: mintKeypair.publicKey,
        programId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
        space: mintLen,
    });

    // 3. Initialize the PermanentDelegate extension
    const initPermanentDelegateIx =
        createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction(
            mintKeypair.publicKey,
            payer.publicKey, // permanent delegate authority
            TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID
        );

    // 4. Initialize the mint
    const initializeMintIx = createInitializeMint2Instruction(
        mintKeypair.publicKey,
        decimals,
        payer.publicKey, // mint authority
        null, // freeze authority
        TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID
    );

    // 5. Register the SPL interface PDA with Light Token
    const createSplInterfaceIx = await LightTokenProgram.createSplInterface({
        feePayer: payer.publicKey,
        mint: mintKeypair.publicKey,
        tokenProgramId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
    });

    const tx = new Transaction().add(
        createMintAccountIx,
        initPermanentDelegateIx,
        initializeMintIx,
        createSplInterfaceIx
    );

    const signature = await sendAndConfirmTransaction(rpc, tx, [
        payer,
        mintKeypair,
    ]);

    console.log("Mint:", mintKeypair.publicKey.toBase58());
    console.log("Tx:", signature);
})();

createMintInterface creates a basic Token 2022 mint with an interface PDA. To include the PermanentDelegate extension, use the instruction approach shown in the other tab.

Create Interface PDA for Existing Mint

If you already have a Token-2022 mint with PermanentDelegate, create an interface PDA with Light Token.

import { LightTokenProgram } from "@lightprotocol/compressed-token";
import { TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID } from "@solana/spl-token";

const createSplInterfaceIx = await LightTokenProgram.createSplInterface({
    feePayer: payer.publicKey,
    mint: mintKeypair.publicKey,
    tokenProgramId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID,
});

AI Prompt

Create a Token-2022 mint with PermanentDelegate and register with Light Token

CopiedCopy promptOpen in Cursor

---
description: Create a Token-2022 mint with PermanentDelegate and register with Light Token
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebFetch, AskUserQuestion, Task, TaskCreate, TaskGet, TaskList, TaskUpdate, TaskOutput, mcp__deepwiki, mcp__zkcompression
---

## Create a Token-2022 mint with PermanentDelegate and register with Light Token

Context:
- Guide: https://zkcompression.com/light-token/extensions/permanent-delegate
- Skills and resources index: https://zkcompression.com/skill.md
- SPL to Light reference: https://zkcompression.com/api-reference/solana-to-light-comparison
- Packages: @lightprotocol/compressed-token, @lightprotocol/stateless.js, @solana/spl-token
- Restriction: compression_only accounts required

SPL equivalent: createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction() + createMint()
Light Token: createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction() + LightTokenProgram.createSplInterface()

### 1. Index project
- Grep `@solana/spl-token|Connection|Keypair|PermanentDelegate|TOKEN_2022` across src/
- Glob `**/*.ts` for project structure
- Identify: RPC setup, existing mint logic, entry point for T22 mint with permanent delegate
- Task subagent (Grep/Read/WebFetch) if project has multiple packages to scan in parallel

### 2. Read references
- WebFetch the guide above — follow the Instruction tab for the full flow
- WebFetch skill.md — check for a dedicated skill and resources matching this task
- TaskCreate one todo per phase below to track progress

### 3. Clarify intention
- AskUserQuestion: what is the goal? (new T22 mint with permanent delegate, register existing T22 mint, migrate existing SPL code)
- AskUserQuestion: does the project already use Token-2022?
- Summarize findings and wait for user confirmation before implementing

### 4. Create plan
- Based on steps 1–3, draft an implementation plan: which files to modify, what code to add, dependency changes
- Verify existing connection/signer setup is compatible with the cookbook prerequisites
- Ensure the delegate address is correct — this authority is irrevocable once set
- If anything is unclear or ambiguous, loop back to step 3 (AskUserQuestion)
- Present the plan to the user for approval before proceeding

### 5. Implement
- Add deps if missing: Bash `npm install @lightprotocol/compressed-token @lightprotocol/stateless.js @solana/spl-token`
- Create T22 mint: getMintLen([ExtensionType.PermanentDelegate]) → SystemProgram.createAccount → createInitializePermanentDelegateInstruction(delegate) → createInitializeMint2Instruction
- Register with Light Token: LightTokenProgram.createSplInterface({ mint, tokenProgramId: TOKEN_2022_PROGRAM_ID })
- Transfer: createTransferInterfaceInstructions() from @lightprotocol/compressed-token/unified
- Write/Edit to create or modify files
- TaskUpdate to mark each step done

### 6. Verify
- Bash `tsc --noEmit`
- Bash run existing test suite if present
- Confirm delegate address is intentional (irrevocable)
- TaskUpdate to mark complete

### Tools
- mcp__zkcompression__SearchLightProtocol("<query>") for API details
- mcp__deepwiki__ask_question("Lightprotocol/light-protocol", "<q>") for architecture
- Task subagent with Grep/Read/WebFetch for parallel lookups
- TaskList to check remaining work

Related Guides

Transfer interface

Wrap and unwrap

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