Troubleshooting

Known failure signatures

Symptom	Real cause	Fix
`Failed to parse ELF file: invalid file header`	Default build targets SBPF v3, validator can't run it	`anchor build --arch v0 --tools-version v1.57`
`Program is not deployed` / `Unsupported program id` on fresh `anchor test`	Known Anchor bug: test suite can start before validator finishes booting	Run validator, build, and deploy as 3 separate manual steps
`Upgrade authority mismatch`	Stale/leftover validator ledger from a previous session	`solana-test-validator --reset`, or kill orphaned validator and delete `.anchor/test-ledger`
`esbuild` platform mismatch error	`node_modules` installed on the wrong OS (Windows vs WSL)	Delete `node_modules` + `package-lock.json`, reinstall from the correct environment
`ANCHOR_PROVIDER_URL is not defined` despite `Anchor.toml` looking correct	Windows/WSL PATH interop — WSL silently invoked Windows-side Node.js	Check `which node` inside WSL; if `/mnt/c/...`, disable interop in `/etc/wsl.conf`
`error[E0432]: unresolved import 'crate'` at `#[program]` macro	Anchor version mismatch (anchor-cli vs anchor-lang)	Confirm versions match in `Cargo.toml` and installed CLI
`librustc_driver-*.so: cannot open shared object file`	Corrupted platform-tools cache	`rm -rf ~/.cache/solana/<version>`, let it redownload
`Deploy retries into a stale buffer`	`anchor deploy` auto-resumes into leftover buffer	`solana program close <buffer-address>`, delete `*-upgrade-buffer.json`, redeploy fresh
`Port 8899 is already in use` during `bake session open`	Stale background validator running or another service on 8899	Close existing session with `bake session close -y`, pass `--port 8900`, or kill stale validator
`No active session found` during `bake session deploy`	Attempting session deploy without opening a session first	Run `bake session open` to create a session, or use `bake deploy` to deploy to active cluster

Windows/WSL issues

PATH interop

If which node inside WSL resolves to /mnt/c/...:

Edit /etc/wsl.conf:
ini
```
[interop]
appendWindowsPath = false
```
Restart WSL:
powershell
```
wsl --shutdown
```
Reopen Ubuntu and verify

Platform mismatch

If you see @esbuild/win32-x64 vs @esbuild/linux-x64 errors:

bash

# Inside WSL
rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

Stale buffers

If deploy fails with odd buffer errors:

bash

# Find the buffer address from the error message
solana program close <buffer-address>

# Delete local buffer file
rm -f *-upgrade-buffer.json

# Redeploy
bake deploy

Validator issues

Reset validator

bash

solana-test-validator --reset

Kill orphaned validator

bash

# Find and kill
ps aux | grep solana-test-validator
kill <pid>

# Delete ledger
rm -rf .anchor/test-ledger

Funding COOK

Cookie Chain uses COOK token for transaction fees. To get COOK:

Visit the Cookie Chain faucet
Bridge from Solana mainnet if needed

See Cookie Chain docs for current funding options.

Still stuck?

Run bake doctor for environment diagnostics
Check GitHub Issues for known problems
Open a new issue with:
- bake doctor --json output
- The exact error message
- Your OS and WSL version (if Windows)