Quick Start

This page takes you from a fresh install to a running local app.

Configure Environment Variables

1. Copy the example file:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Open .env and set the required values:

   # App
   NUXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME=My SaaS
   NUXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=http://localhost:3000
   
   # Database
   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/core-b2b
   
   # Auth — generate a secret with: openssl rand -base64 32
   BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your-random-secret-here
   BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

Note

That’s enough to start the app. Stripe, email, AI, and storage are optional for the first run — the app works without them and uses safe fallbacks (free plan, preview email driver, local file storage).

Run Database Migrations

Apply the schema to your PostgreSQL database:

pnpm

pnpm db:migrate

npm

npm run db:migrate

yarn

yarn db:migrate

This uses Drizzle Kit to run all pending migrations from server/database/migrations/.

Tip

To inspect your database visually after migration, run pnpm db:studio, npm run db:studio, or yarn db:studio to open Drizzle Studio in the browser.

Start the App

pnpm

pnpm dev

npm

npm run dev

yarn

yarn dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Verify the First Run

After the app starts, check these basics:

1. Homepage loads — you should see the landing page at /
2. Register an account — go to /register and create a user
3. Dashboard works — after login, you land on /dashboard
4. Organization created — a default organization is created on first login

Optional Checks

If you configured the corresponding environment variables:

Feature	What to check
Stripe	Go to /pricing and verify the checkout button works
Email	Check .tmp/email-previews/ for the verification email HTML
AI	Open /ai/chat in the dashboard and send a message
Admin	Set INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL to your email, restart, then visit /admin

Grant Platform Admin (Optional)

To access the admin panel at /admin, set the env var and restart:

INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL=your-email@example.com

The app auto-grants the platform_admin role to this email on startup. The user must register first. This is idempotent — safe to leave set.

Alternatively, use the script:

pnpm

pnpm admin:grant-platform-admin -- you@example.com

npm

npm run admin:grant-platform-admin -- you@example.com

yarn

yarn admin:grant-platform-admin -- you@example.com

Next Step

Your app is running locally. Continue to Local Development to learn about the daily development workflow, email testing, and Stripe CLI setup.