Choose a framework, then select a database, tRPC, auth, mailer, and optional capabilities. create-stack forks a base app, removes the pieces you did not select, writes the project identity and .env, installs dependencies, and runs typecheck and Biome. With Git enabled, it creates the initial commit after those checks pass. The supported frameworks are Next.js App Router and TanStack Start.

Open source (MIT). The source and issue tracker are on github.com/alfredmouelle/create-stack.

Quick start

pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack@latest my-app
# or the create-* convention (npm / yarn create also work):
pnpm create @alfredmouelle/stack@latest my-app

With no flags, the CLI opens an interactive wizard. Any selection flag switches to non-interactive mode for CI and scripts.

Requires Node ≥ 24.19.0, a package manager (pnpm / npm / yarn / bun), and git on PATH. The CLI detects the package manager used to run it and uses the same one in the generated project.

Commands

create-stack [project] [flags]                    # scaffold a new project
create-stack add [kind] [provider]                # add one capability or component
create-stack add --with kind[=provider] [...]     # add a validated batch

project names the target directory and becomes the default package name. It must not exist, or it must be empty. <command> --help prints the command's flags, and --version prints the installed version.

Scaffold flags

| Flag | Values | Default | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | --framework | tanstack | next | tanstack | Base app to use. | | --monorepo | turbo | nx | standalone | Put the app in apps/web inside a Turborepo or Nx monorepo. Bare --monorepo selects turbo; omit it for a standalone app. | | --pm | pnpm | npm | yarn | bun | auto-detected | Package manager for the generated project. | | --alias | prefix, e.g. @ | # | ~ | Import alias. Rewrites imports matching <alias>/* to src/*. | | --database | drizzle | prisma | convex | none | drizzle | Data layer. prisma selects Prisma 7. convex provides a realtime database and API, so use Clerk or no auth. none omits the database. | | --auth | better-auth | clerk | none | better-auth | Auth provider. clerk is hosted (needs no db/mailer); none = no auth. | | --minimal | - | - | Start with a frontend-only project and omit data, auth, tRPC, mail, and capabilities. | | --trpc / --no-trpc | - | recommended | Explicitly include or exclude the tRPC API axis. | | --no-db | - | - | Explicitly exclude the data axis. | | --no-auth | - | - | Explicitly exclude authentication. | | --no-mail | - | - | Explicitly exclude transactional email. | | --mailer | resend | brevo | ses | none | resend | Mailer provider. | | --storage | s3 | r2 | gcs | local | r2 | Object storage (omit to skip). | | --cache | redis | upstash | memory | upstash | Key/value cache (omit to skip). | | --jobs | inngest | inngest | Background jobs (omit to skip; bare selects Inngest). | | --logger | pino | console | pino | Structured logging (omit to skip). | | --analytics | posthog | plausible | noop | posthog | Product analytics (omit to skip). | | --errors, --error-tracking | sentry | sentry | Error reporting (omit to skip; bare selects Sentry). | | --no-install | - | install on | Skip dependency installation and verification. | | --no-git | - | Git on | Do not initialize Git. | | --yes, -y | - | - | Run non-interactively with the defaults. |

Capability flags are optional. Pass a bare flag to select its default or only provider. Leave the flag out to skip it. Any stack or capability flag switches creation to non-interactive mode.

When flags omit stack choices, the CLI applies these rules:

• --no-db selects Clerk, keeps tRPC, and omits mail.
• If Better Auth stays selected, the CLI adds Drizzle when the database is omitted and Resend when the mailer is omitted.
• Explicit --no-db and --no-mail conflict with Better Auth.
• tRPC does not depend on the database or auth. Convex cannot be used with tRPC or Better Auth.
• If Convex's related choices are omitted, the CLI uses Clerk, no tRPC, and no mail.

# accept all defaults without prompts
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --yes

# Convex with Clerk auth
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --database convex --auth clerk

# Next.js with tRPC, no data or auth, without installing dependencies
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack api --framework next --minimal --trpc --no-install

# Nx monorepo with the common capabilities
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --monorepo nx --storage --cache --jobs --errors

Generated project

Depending on your selections, the generated project can include:

• Next.js App Router or TanStack Start with SSR and routing.
• A standalone app, or an app in apps/web inside a Turborepo or Nx monorepo with workspace task caching and Git hooks.
• Drizzle or Prisma 7 with Postgres, a driver adapter, schema, seed, keyset pagination, and a start-database.sh script that runs a local Postgres container through Docker or Podman. The generated .env already points to that database. Convex provides a realtime database and API. The database is optional.
• tRPC v11 with SSR/RSC integration and a health router.
• better-auth with email and password, verification, Google OAuth, and auth pages. Clerk provides hosted auth, middleware, sign-in and sign-up pages. Auth is optional.
• Resend, Brevo, or SES behind one mailer interface with React Email templates.
• Tailwind v4, shadcn, Geist, a theme toggle, strict Biome, typed env.ts, a Dockerfile, Git hooks, GitHub Actions CI, and generated .gitignore and .env.

The CLI removes files, dependencies, env keys, and wiring for choices you leave out. It then runs typecheck and Biome in the generated project.

Capabilities

The CLI copies integrations into src/server/<capability>/ and adds their dependencies and env keys to package.json and env.ts. There are two forms.

Port-based capabilities. port.ts holds the interface and adapters/<name>.ts holds the chosen provider. A generated composition root reads typed env and constructs the adapter when the app needs it, so you can install the code before setting provider keys.

| Capability | Adapters | | --- | --- | | storage | s3, r2, gcs, local | | cache | redis, upstash, memory | | logger | pino, console | | analytics | posthog, plausible, noop | | mailer | resend, brevo, ses |

Single-provider modules. These use the listed provider directly:

| Capability | Provider | What lands | | --- | --- | --- | | jobs | Inngest | the client, an example typed event + function, and the serve route for your framework | | error-tracking | Sentry | shared init options plus the framework wiring (onRequestError / global-error for Next, the Vite plugin, instrumentation files and middlewares for TanStack Start) | | email-ui | n/a | React Email primitives and theme | | http | n/a | typed fetch helpers |

Run create-stack add later to add capabilities or components. Re-adding a port with a different adapter swaps it. Use --keep-files to keep both adapters. Re-adding a module copies it again. Repeat --with to validate and apply capabilities and components together. The CLI checks every entry before it changes project files.

create-stack add                                      # grouped interactive picker
create-stack add storage r2                           # one capability + provider
create-stack add cache upstash                        # swap Redis for Upstash
create-stack add jobs                                 # provider omitted
create-stack add --with storage=r2 --with jobs        # capability batch
create-stack add --with jobs --with component=confirm # mixed batch

Components

These UI components are separate from the base app. create-stack add installs their local shadcn registry items, so the target application's components.json controls aliases, styles, icons, and official primitives. Existing Create Stack files stay untouched unless you pass --force; customized shadcn primitives remain untouched. The callable dialogs use react-call. The CLI mounts their <Root /> in the app shell, either TanStack __root or the Next.js root layout, so .call() works after installation.

| Component | Create Stack files | Official shadcn primitives | Direct packages | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | date-picker | ui/date-picker, ui/date-range-picker, lib/date | calendar, popover, button | react-day-picker, date-fns, lucide-react | | data-table | data-table, infinite-data-table, sortable-header, use-data-table | table, skeleton, button | @tanstack/react-table@^8.21.3, lucide-react | | confirm | ui/confirm, waits for a yes/no result | alert-dialog | react-call | | alert | ui/alert, waits for confirmation | alert-dialog | react-call | | prompt | ui/prompt, waits for text input | dialog | react-call | | choice | ui/choice, waits for a selection | dialog | react-call | | confirm-passphrase | ui/confirm-passphrase, checks an exact phrase | dialog | react-call | | confirm-otp | ui/confirm-otp, checks an OTP code | dialog, input-otp | react-call |

create-stack add                              # grouped capabilities + components picker
create-stack add component date-picker        # one component
create-stack add --with component=confirm \
  --with component=prompt                     # several components

Await the callable dialogs from anywhere. Their <Root /> is already mounted:

const ok = await Confirm.call({ title: 'Delete project?', variant: 'destructive' })
if (ok) deleteProject()

await Alert.call({ title: 'Saved', description: 'Your changes are live.' })

const name = await Prompt.call({ title: 'Rename', label: 'Name', defaultValue: 'my-app' }) // string | null

const dest = await Choice.call({
  title: 'Move to',
  options: [{ label: 'Inbox', value: 'inbox' }, { label: 'Archive', value: 'archive' }],
}) // string | null

const confirmed = await ConfirmPassphrase.call({ title: 'Delete repo?', phrase: repo.name })

// Returning false keeps the dialog open with an error.
const verified = await ConfirmOtp.call({ title: 'Enter code', verify: (code) => api.checkOtp(code) })

After creating a project

cd my-app
pnpm install     # only if you passed --no-install
# edit .env      # placeholders are already present
pnpm dev

When the target is not inside an existing repository, the CLI initializes a new Git repository. It creates the first commit only after installation and verification pass. If Git user.name or user.email is not set, it skips that commit. --no-install leaves the project uncommitted because its checks did not run. --no-git disables Git initialization. The published package includes everything it needs, so pnpm dlx is enough.

Credits

Inspired by create-t3-app and the work of Theo Browne. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the T3 project.

Author

Alfred MOUELLE, full-stack developer