Quick Start

Requirements

Tool	Version	Notes
Node.js	24.x	The generator and project target Node 24
pnpm	10.x	The workspace and lockfile use pnpm
PostgreSQL	14+	Local PostgreSQL, Neon, or another compatible service

Generate a project

For a conventional SaaS app:

pnpm dlx create-nextdevtpl@latest my-app --preset saas --target vercel
cd my-app

For auth and a dashboard only:

pnpm dlx create-nextdevtpl@latest my-app --preset minimal

For the operations kit:

pnpm dlx create-nextdevtpl@latest my-ops \
  --preset custom \
  --modules auth,analytics,operations \
  --payment stripe \
  --alerts webhook \
  --analytics posthog

See Generator and Presets for all three official presets and custom flags.

Inspect the generated selection

Get-Content nextdevtpl.generated.json

It records the effective modules, adapters, and target. Configure only the capabilities listed there.

Configure environment variables

Copy-Item .env.example .env.local

On macOS or Linux:

cp .env.example .env.local

A basic boot needs:

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/nextdevtpl"
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="replace-with-a-long-random-secret"
BETTER_AUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="http://localhost:3000"

The generated .env.example is selection-specific. Fill OAuth, payment, mail, storage, AI, jobs, and rate limiting only when selected. See Configuration for the variable map.

Initialize and run

For a new local database, push the schema and start the app:

pnpm db:push
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000. Use migrations for shared and production databases:

pnpm db:generate:init
pnpm db:migrate

Review generated SQL before committing migration files.

First verification

Check	Expected result
Home	/en and /zh work when marketing is selected
Auth	An email/password user can reach /dashboard
Docs	/en/docs and /zh/docs work when marketing is selected
Health	/api/health returns HTTP 200 and healthy
Optional services	Verify only adapters listed in nextdevtpl.generated.json
Operations	When selected, sign in as an admin, open /admin/operations, then call the snapshot and alert cron routes with CRON_SECRET

Before committing:

pnpm format
pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck
pnpm test:run
pnpm build

Continue with Deployment when preparing production.