Profile Faction

@staratlas/dev-profile-faction links a Player Profile to a Star Atlas faction.

In Star Atlas terms, faction is part of the player's strategic identity. SAGE actions often need to know whether a profile belongs to MUD, ONI, or Ustur before the game can validate ownership, territory, starbase, or conflict-sensitive state.

For SAGE C4 developers, Profile Faction is the second foundation layer after Player Profile: it answers which side the profile belongs to before gameplay accounts such as fleets, characters, starbase players, and claim stakes are interpreted.

Position in the account hierarchy

Owned by: Profile Faction program through @staratlas/dev-profile-faction
Derived from: Player Profile address
Stores: the selected major faction enum for that profile
Downstream: used as context by SAGE Character, Fleet, StarbasePlayer, claim-stake, territory, and combat flows
Not the same as: SAGE's dynamic faction ownership, standing, relation, market, and reward accounts

See Read Identity and Faction for the combined read path and Extended C4 Systems for the separate in-game faction-state accounts.

Developer use

Use this page when you need to:

• read the faction account for a profile
• verify that a profile has chosen a faction before a SAGE action
• pass profileFaction into generated SAGE instruction builders
• explain faction-sensitive state in fleet, starbase, claim-stake, or combat flows

Technical model

The package is Codama-generated, depends on @staratlas/dev-player-profile and @solana/program-client-core, and uses @solana/kit ^6.1.0 as a peer dependency.

Package metadata

Field	Value
Package	@staratlas/dev-profile-faction
Version	0.45.7
License	Apache-2.0
Generator	Codama-generated z.ink/Solana client
Dependencies	@staratlas/dev-player-profile ^0.45.7, @solana/program-client-core ^6.1.0
Peer dependency	@solana/kit ^6.1.0

Program address

import { PROFILE_FACTION_PROGRAM_ADDRESS } from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

console.log(PROFILE_FACTION_PROGRAM_ADDRESS);
// C4FACQA1PpNRKrjQ2862ABNR42DTz7EzGj1uhTNFASwP

What it owns

Profile Faction is a small foundation program:

• one profile-faction account type
• one chooseFaction instruction
• one PDA helper
• one Faction generated type

SAGE imports and uses faction concepts in gameplay account types, including fleet-related data. The faction selection remains in the Profile Faction account rather than becoming SAGE-owned state.

Faction choice is game-significant. Treat chooseFaction as a real gameplay action and verify current PTR behavior before presenting it as a simple setup step.

Star Atlas has historically treated major faction choice as account-bound and permanent. Warn users about that significance while PTR-specific mutation rules are being verified.

Ecosystem role

In game terms, Profile Faction connects a player identity to one of the Star Atlas factions. That matters because SAGE is framed around faction conflict, faction home regions, starbases, and competition for resources.

This page covers:

• which profile has selected a faction
• how to derive and fetch that profile-faction account
• how the generated Faction type appears in SAGE account data
• where faction context matters for fleets, starbases, combat, and resource competition

Do not assume a user can reselect or mutate faction state until current PTR behavior confirms it.

Generated surface

The package exports roughly 49 named symbols.

Group	Count	Examples
Accounts	1	ProfileFactionAccount
Instructions	1	chooseFaction
PDA helpers	1	findProfileFactionAccountPda
Generated types	1	Faction

Account families

Profile Faction has one account type.

Account	Beginner meaning	Key fields
ProfileFactionAccount	Stores the faction enlisted by one Player Profile.	profile, faction, bump

The account is small because faction selection is the whole job of this program.

version   data version
profile   Player Profile account this faction belongs to
faction   selected faction enum value
bump      PDA bump

PDA helper

ProfileFactionAccount is a PDA derived from the profile address.

Helper	Seeds	Meaning
findProfileFactionAccountPda	profile	Find the faction account for a Player Profile.

import { findProfileFactionAccountPda } from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

const [profileFactionAddress] = await findProfileFactionAccountPda({
	profile: profileAddress
});

Most code should use the helper instead of rebuilding seeds manually.

Generated type

The generated Faction enum is the canonical C4 type for faction values in this package.

export enum Faction {
	Unaligned,
	Mud,
	Oni,
	Ustur
}

SAGE imports this enum too. For example, fleet data includes a faction field using the same generated concept.

Instruction families

Profile Faction has one generated instruction.

Instruction	What it does	State changed
chooseFaction	Creates or updates the profile-faction account for a profile.	ProfileFactionAccount and profile-validation accounts

The generated package exposes both:

• getChooseFactionInstruction
• getChooseFactionInstructionAsync

Use the async builder when you want it to derive the faction account PDA for you. Use the sync builder when you already have the faction account address.

Basic imports

import {
	Faction,
	fetchProfileFactionAccount,
	findProfileFactionAccountPda,
	getChooseFactionInstruction
} from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

Read the faction account

This example reads the faction for a profile. It does not sign or send a transaction.

import { address, createSolanaRpc } from '@solana/kit';
import {
	Faction,
	fetchMaybeProfileFactionAccountFromSeeds
} from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

const rpc = createSolanaRpc('https://testnet-rpc.z.ink');
const profileAddress = address('PROFILE_ADDRESS_HERE');

const profileFaction = await fetchMaybeProfileFactionAccountFromSeeds(
	rpc,
	{ profile: profileAddress },
	{ commitment: 'confirmed' }
);

if (!profileFaction.exists) {
	console.log('Profile has not chosen a faction account on this network');
} else {
	console.log({
		profile: profileFaction.data.profile,
		faction: Faction[profileFaction.data.faction]
	});
}

Faction preflight for SAGE

This example turns faction lookup into a reusable preflight before a SAGE action.

import {
	Faction,
	fetchMaybeProfileFactionAccountFromSeeds
} from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

const profileFaction = await fetchMaybeProfileFactionAccountFromSeeds(
	rpc,
	{ profile: profileAddress },
	{ commitment: 'confirmed' }
);

if (!profileFaction.exists) {
	throw new Error('Profile has no faction account on this network.');
}

if (profileFaction.data.faction === Faction.Unaligned) {
	throw new Error('Profile is unaligned. Choose a faction before SAGE play.');
}

console.log({
	profileFaction: profileFaction.address,
	faction: Faction[profileFaction.data.faction]
});

Use this before fleet creation, starbase-player registration, combat, claim-stake placement, or any other action where faction context affects game state.

Instruction example

This example builds a chooseFaction instruction for review. Faction choice is game-significant, so a UI should summarize the profile, faction value, writable accounts, and simulation result before signing.

import {
	Faction,
	getChooseFactionInstructionAsync
} from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

// This signer must come from your wallet/signing flow.
// It is a placeholder here so the example stays in review mode.
const instruction = await getChooseFactionInstructionAsync({
	profileValidationSigner: signer,
	profileValidationProfile: profileAddress,
	keyIndex: 0,
	faction: Faction.Mud
});

console.log(instruction.programAddress);

Before sending a transaction built from this instruction, explain:

• which wallet signs
• which Player Profile is being validated
• what keyIndex refers to on that profile
• which faction is being selected
• whether PTR currently allows reselection or mutation
• what simulation returns

Permissions

The package exports ProfileFactionPermissions and FACTION_FLAGS.

import {
	FACTION_FLAGS,
	ProfileFactionPermissions
} from '@staratlas/dev-profile-faction';

const setFaction = new ProfileFactionPermissions(FACTION_FLAGS.SET_FACTION);

There is currently one faction permission flag:

Flag	Meaning
SET_FACTION	Allows setting the profile's faction.

Reference checklist

• Account: ProfileFactionAccount
• PDA: findProfileFactionAccountPda
• Type: Faction
• Instruction builders: getChooseFactionInstruction, getChooseFactionInstructionAsync
• Parser: parseChooseFactionInstruction
• Permission wrapper: ProfileFactionPermissions

Choosing a faction may be irreversible or game-significant depending on current PTR rules. Verify live behavior and signing policy before sending the generated instruction.

Faction Layer

SAGE is a strategy game where factions compete for resources, starbases, territory, and influence. Profile Faction is the foundation program that connects a profile to that faction layer.