Exploring Solana Actions and Blinks Uncovering Their Functionality and New Use Cases

Introduction
Solana Actions and Blockchain Links (Blinks) are two major innovations of Solana, which are expected to completely change the way users interact with the blockchain. They promise to enhance the overall user experience of various network platforms by implementing user-friendly seamless integrated transactions. Whether it’s sponsoring your favorite influencer, subscribing to premium content, or voting in a DAO, Actions and Blinks enable creators to effortlessly connect with their audience in new ways anywhere on the internet. Imagine a user being able to post a link on Twitter (e.g., donate.com/to/USER_ADDRESS), and the website directly displaying a sponsorship widget in the tweet:


The use cases and possibilities they bring are endless. In this article, we will explore what Solana Actions and Blinks are, how they work, and how to use them to enhance the interaction between users and the Solana blockchain.
Understanding this article does not require coding experience, but it would be helpful if you have a basic understanding of Solana Pay, as Actions are an extension of Solana Pay. Let’s get started.
Please note that Solana Actions and Blinks are new technologies, and the information provided in this article is based on their current technical specifications. As technology develops, new features and functionalities may be introduced.
Solana Actions
Solana Actions provide a standardized way to deliver signable transactions or messages directly from applications to users. These transactions can be executed on the chain. Here’s how they work:
GET request: The client sends a GET request to the Action URL to retrieve metadata for available actions. The metadata response includes the application’s program name, icon, and available actions, which is useful for rendering the user interface for actions.
POST request: After the user selects an action, the client sends a POST request to the Action URL to retrieve signable transactions or messages. The user’s wallet then signs and sends the transaction to the blockchain.
Actions Workflow
Initial GET request: The client retrieves metadata about available actions on the URL (a website can choose to do this, or Chrome extensions/wallets can do this when known action URLs are detected).
Display UI: The client application displays a user interface for executing actions based on the metadata obtained from the GET request.
User interaction: The user selects an action, triggering a POST request to retrieve a transaction.
Transaction generation: The Action URL generates and returns an encoded transaction based on the user’s selection.
Transaction signing: The wallet prompts the user to sign and send the transaction to the network.


Great! Now we know how Solana Actions work, but how do clients support them? This is where Blockchain Links (Blinks) come in. Let’s explore Blinks next.
Blockchain Links (Blinks)
Blinks are client applications that convert Solana Actions into shareable, metadata-rich UIs for interacting with and executing Actions. Here’s how they do it:
Detect Action URL: The Blink URL contains operation request parameters pointing to the Solana Action URL. Blinks detect this parameter.
Parse Action: The Blink client introspects the action query parameters and provides the Action API link.
User interface: The client presents a rich user interface, allowing the user to complete the entire lifecycle of an action (e.g., a sponsorship or voting button).
Execute Actions: Users can complete the entire lifecycle of an action, including signing transactions with their wallets.
URL Scheme Mechanism
The Solana Action URL scheme used by Blinks is as follows:
solana-action: where is the URL of the Action API. Links using query parameters must be URL encoded to avoid conflicts with other protocol parameters.
Blinks’ Actions Detection
Blinks can detect actions in any of the following three ways:


Action Identity and Verification
Solana Actions can include an Action Identity, which is used to categorize on-chain activities to specific verifiable providers. This identity is included in a transaction as a special format message using the Memo instruction, allowing indexers and analytics platforms to track and verify the source of the action.
Summary
Solana Actions and Blinks are expected to simplify and enhance the interaction of users with blockchain transactions. They can seamlessly integrate blockchain functionality into various applications and web interfaces, making blockchain interaction more accessible and user-friendly.
Here are some ideas that might help you think about how to use Solana Actions and Blinks in your project:
Use Cases:
Sponsoring/paying users: Share a “Donate to me” Blink on Twitter, allowing fans to donate SOL immediately.
Subscribing to premium content: Users can subscribe to premium content (e.g., purchasing NFTs) through a Blink on a Discord channel. Updates to on-chain metadata can reflect new subscriptions and trigger bot authorization to access exclusive channels.
Jupiter token exchange: Share exchange links on YouTube or Twitch, allowing users to exchange tokens directly through the video player.
DAO voting: Share a DAO proposal link on Twitter, allowing users to vote after reading updates from the DAO.