1---
2title: IDL & Client Code Generation
3description: Generate type-safe program clients from IDLs using Codama, eliminating hand-maintained serializers across languages.
4---
5 
6# IDLs + client generation (Codama / Shank / Kinobi)
7 
8## Goal
9Never hand-maintain multiple program clients by manually re-implementing serializers.
10Prefer an IDL-driven, code-generated workflow.
11 
12## Codama (preferred)
13- Use Codama as the "single program description format" to generate:
14  - TypeScript clients (including Kit-friendly output)
15  - Rust clients (when available/needed)
16  - documentation artifacts
17 
18## Anchor → Codama
19If the program is Anchor:
201) Produce Anchor IDL from the build
212) Convert Anchor IDL to Codama nodes (nodes-from-anchor)
223) Render a Kit-native TypeScript client (codama renderers)
23 
24## Native Rust → Shank → Codama
25If the program is native:
261) Use Shank macros to extract a Shank IDL from annotated Rust
272) Convert Shank IDL to Codama
283) Generate clients via Codama renderers
29 
30## Repository structure recommendation
31- `programs/<name>/` (program source)
32- `idl/<name>.json` (Anchor/Shank IDL)
33- `codama/<name>.json` (Codama IDL)
34- `clients/ts/<name>/` (generated TS client)
35- `clients/rust/<name>/` (generated Rust client)
36 
37## Generation guardrails
38- Codegen outputs should be checked into git if:
39  - you need deterministic builds
40  - you want users to consume the client without running codegen
41- Otherwise, keep codegen in CI and publish artifacts.
42 
43## "Do not do this"
44- Do not write IDLs by hand unless you have no alternative.
45- Do not hand-write Borsh layouts for programs you own; use the IDL/codegen pipeline.
46