Session Sharing - Collaborate on Solana Testing with Your Team

Overview

Session Sharing allows you to share your entire testing environment with team members, stakeholders, or collaborators via a simple URL - no technical setup required on their end. Everything is encoded and compressed into the URL using LZ-compression for efficient sharing.

Tip

This feature is live and working in v0.1.7! Click the “Share” button in the UI.

What is Session Sharing?

Session Sharing creates a compressed URL that contains:

• ✅ Complete IDL - Your program’s interface definition
• ✅ All Instructions - With configured accounts and arguments
• ✅ Form Data - All argument values you’ve entered
• ✅ Account Addresses - Every account address you’ve used
• ✅ Cluster Config - The network (devnet/mainnet/local) you’re using
• ✅ Active Instruction - Which instruction was selected

Anyone with the link can interact with your testing environment without:

• ❌ Installing Testship
• ❌ Setting up Solana CLI
• ❌ Building the program
• ❌ Configuring dev tools
• ❌ Having the IDL file

Just click the link and test! 🚀

Use Cases

Demo to Stakeholders

Show your program in action:

• Share a link with investors or clients
• Let them interact with the program safely
• No technical knowledge required
• Real-time updates as they test

Collaborate with Team Members

Work together on testing:

• Share test scenarios with developers
• Let designers see the program in action
• Enable QA team to test thoroughly
• Product managers can validate features

Bug Reports

Make debugging easier:

• Share exact state when bug occurred
• Include transaction history leading to the issue
• Let others reproduce the problem
• Faster issue resolution

Educational Purposes

Teach others about your program:

• Create interactive tutorials
• Share with developers learning your codebase
• Onboard new team members
• Build community around your project

How It Works

Creating a Shareable Link

Step-by-Step:

1. Fill out your form - Configure all accounts and arguments
2. Click the “Share” button in the top-right of the instruction form
3. Choose base URL:
   • https://app.testship.xyz (recommended - hosted version)
   • http://localhost:3000 (if running Testship locally)
   • Custom URL (for self-hosted instances)
4. Copy the generated link - Appears at the bottom
5. Share it - Send via Slack, email, etc.

What gets generated:

https://app.testship.xyz/s#state=N4IgdghgtgpiBcIA...
                        ↑
                        Compressed state (~2-10KB typically)

Accessing a Shared Link

Recipients simply:

1. Click the link - Opens in browser
2. UI loads instantly - With all your configuration
3. Connect wallet - To execute transactions
4. Test immediately - Everything pre-configured!

No backend database - everything is in the URL! 🎉

URL Compression

Testship uses lz-string compression:

• Before compression: ~50KB JSON
• After compression: ~5-15KB base64 URL
• Encoding: compressToEncodedURIComponent()
• Decoding: decompressFromEncodedURIComponent()

This keeps URLs shareable (most platforms support ~100KB URLs).

Technical Implementation

Data Structure

The shared state contains:

interface AppState {
  idl: Idl; // Complete Anchor IDL
  instructions: {
    // Per-instruction state
    [instructionName: string]: {
      formData: Record<string, string | number>;
      accountsAddresses: Map<string, string | null>;
      // Note: signersKeypairs NOT included (security)
    };
  };
  activeInstruction: string | null; // Currently selected
  cluster?: SolanaCluster; // Network config
}

Encoding Process

// 1. Serialize state to JSON
const stateJSON = JSON.stringify(appState);

// 2. Compress using LZ
const compressed = LZ.compressToEncodedURIComponent(stateJSON);

// 3. Build URL
const shareURL = `${baseURL}/s#state=${compressed}`;

Decoding Process

// 1. Extract from URL hash
const hash = window.location.hash; // #state=...
const match = hash.match(/state=([^&]+)/);

// 2. Decompress
const decompressed = LZ.decompressFromEncodedURIComponent(match[1]);

// 3. Parse JSON
const appState = JSON.parse(decompressed);

// 4. Restore React state
setIdl(appState.idl);
setInstructions(appState.instructions);
setActiveInstruction(appState.activeInstruction);

Privacy & Security

✅ What’s Shared (Safe)

• IDL - Public interface definition (already on-chain with your program)
• Account addresses - Public keys (visible on Solana Explorer anyway)
• Form data - Argument values you entered
• Cluster config - Just the network name (devnet/mainnet/etc.)

All of this is public information - nothing sensitive!

❌ What’s NOT Shared (Protected)

• ❌ Private keys - NEVER included in URLs
• ❌ Keypairs - Only generated locally
• ❌ Wallet seed phrases - Stay in your wallet
• ❌ Transaction history - Not included in share links
• ❌ Saved accounts - Local to your browser

Security Notes

• Client-side only - No data sent to external servers
• HTTPS recommended - Use app.testship.xyz not HTTP
• URL visibility - Don’t share links containing sensitive test data publicly
• Temporary nature - Links work as long as the URL is valid
• No expiration - Links don’t expire (unless you want that feature!)

Best Practices

✅ Do This

• Test the link first - Click it yourself before sharing
• Use app.testship.xyz - Hosted version for easy sharing
• Clear instructions - Tell recipients what to expect
• Check URL length - Most platforms support ~100KB URLs
• Use for demos - Perfect for showing off your program

❌ Avoid This

• Don’t share sensitive test data - URLs are visible to anyone
• Don’t include production keys - Only use devnet/testnet
• Don’t exceed URL limits - Very large IDLs might be too big
• Don’t rely on it for long-term storage - It’s for sharing, not archiving

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Bug Report

"Hey team, found a bug in the transfer instruction.
Here's a link with the exact state that causes it:
https://app.testship.xyz/s#state=N4Igdghgtgpi..."

Recipient clicks → Sees exact configuration → Reproduces bug → Fixed!

Example 2: Client Demo

"Check out our new staking feature!
Click this link to try it (devnet):
https://app.testship.xyz/s#state=N4Igdghgtgpi..."

Client clicks → Tests immediately → Gives feedback → You iterate

Example 3: Onboarding

"New to the team? Here's our program running:
https://app.testship.xyz/s#state=N4Igdghgtgpi...
No setup needed - just connect your wallet!"

New dev clicks → Understands program → Productive Day 1

Limitations

Current limitations (to be improved):

• URL length - Very large IDLs (>50KB) might exceed URL limits
• No expiration - Links don’t auto-expire (good or bad depending on use case)
• No analytics - Can’t see who clicked your link
• No password protection - Links are public
• No versioning - Can’t track changes to shared sessions

For most use cases, these limitations are fine!

Troubleshooting

Link Not Working?

1. URL too long

Some platforms (older email clients) have URL limits.
Solution: Share via Slack, Discord, or modern platforms.

2. State fails to decode

Check browser console for errors.
Solution: Generate a new link.

3. IDL not loading

Recipient might have network issues.
Solution: Have them refresh the page.

Next Steps

Learn about Account Suggestions and how Test ship makes testing even faster.