Framework-agnostic by design: pick your framework, get a real app. create-stack forks a fully-wired base app and strips it to exactly what you pick (database, tRPC, better-auth, a mailer, optional capabilities), then stamps identity, writes .env, inits git and verifies (typecheck + Biome). No template guesswork: the output is a real, buildable app from day one. Next.js App Router and TanStack Start are supported today, with more frameworks on the way.

Open source (MIT). Source and issues live at 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

No flags → an interactive wizard. Any selection flag → non-interactive (CI / scriptable).

Requires Node ≥ 22, a package manager (pnpm / npm / yarn / bun, auto-detected and used by the generated project), and git on PATH.

Commands

create-stack [project] [flags]            # scaffold a new project
create-stack add [capability] [adapter]   # add a capability to the current project
create-stack component [name]             # vendor a standalone UI component

project is the target dir (and default package name), must be empty or not exist. <command> --help prints its flags; --version prints the version.

Scaffold flags

| Flag | Values | Default | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | --framework | tanstack | next | tanstack | Base app to fork. | | --monorepo | turbo | nx | standalone | Scaffold into a monorepo (app in apps/web) orchestrated by Turborepo or Nx. Bare --monorepo = turbo; omit for a standalone app. | | --pm | pnpm | npm | yarn | bun | auto-detected | Package manager for the generated project. | | --alias | prefix, e.g. @ | # | ~ | Import alias; rewrites <alias>/* → src/* everywhere. | | --database | drizzle | prisma | convex | none | drizzle | Data layer. prisma = Prisma 7; convex = realtime db + API (replaces tRPC, Clerk/none auth only); none = database-less vitrine. | | --auth | better-auth | clerk | none | better-auth | Auth provider. clerk is hosted (needs no db/mailer); none = no auth. | | --foundations | csv of trpc | all | Foundations to keep; the rest are stripped. | | --mailer | resend | brevo | ses | none | resend | Mailer provider. | | --storage | s3 | r2 | gcs | local | s3 | Object storage (omit to skip). | | --cache | redis | upstash | memory | redis | Key/value cache (omit to skip). | | --jobs | inngest | trigger | memory | inngest | Background jobs (omit to skip). | | --logger | pino | console | pino | Structured logging (omit to skip). | | --analytics | posthog | plausible | noop | posthog | Product analytics (omit to skip). | | --error-tracking | sentry | console | sentry | Error reporting (omit to skip). | | --no-install | - | install on | Skip install + verification. | | --yes, -y | - | - | Non-interactive with all defaults. |

Capability flags are optional; pass one (bare = default adapter) to vendor it, omit to skip. Any selection flag switches to non-interactive mode; --pm/--alias are modifiers, not triggers. Selections are normalized: trpc and better-auth need a database (fall back to drizzle) and better-auth forces a real mailer, while clerk is hosted and frees both, so --auth clerk --database none is a valid authenticated vitrine. convex is its own API layer, so it drops tRPC and pairs with Clerk or no auth (better-auth off).

# everything, defaults, no questions
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --yes

# Prisma instead of Drizzle, full stack
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --database prisma

# Clerk instead of better-auth
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --auth clerk

# Convex (realtime db + API) with Clerk auth
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --database convex --auth clerk

# Next.js, just tRPC, no auth, don't install
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack api --framework next --auth none --mailer none --no-install

# inside an Nx monorepo (app lands in apps/web)
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --monorepo nx

# vitrine: no database, no auth, no mailer
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack site --database none --auth none --foundations '' --mailer none

# with capabilities: R2 storage, Redis cache, Inngest jobs, Sentry errors
pnpm dlx @alfredmouelle/create-stack my-app --storage r2 --cache --jobs --error-tracking

What you get

• Framework: Next.js App Router or TanStack Start, fully wired (SSR, routing).
• Structure: standalone app or a Turborepo/Nx monorepo (app in apps/web) with workspace, task caching, delegated scripts and hoisted git hooks.
• Database: Drizzle or Prisma 7 (Postgres, driver adapter, schema, seed, keyset pagination), or Convex (realtime db + API, subsumes tRPC), or none.
• tRPC v11: typed API, SSR/RSC integration, health router.
• Auth: better-auth (email+password + verification, Google OAuth, auth pages) or Clerk (hosted: provider, middleware, sign-in/up + UserButton), or none.
• Mailer: Resend / Brevo / SES behind one port; React Email templates.
• Baseline: Tailwind v4 + shadcn, Geist, theme toggle, strict Biome, typed env.ts, Dockerfile, git hooks, a GitHub Actions CI workflow (install + typecheck + Biome), generated .gitignore + .env.

Unselected pieces are removed cleanly (files, deps, env, wiring); the project is left bootable and green.

Capabilities

Swappable integrations, each copied behind a port into src/server/<capability>/ with a generated composition root that reads typed env and constructs the adapter lazily (so the app boots before you fill the keys). Deps + env keys are wired into package.json and env.ts automatically.

| Capability | Adapters | | --- | --- | | storage | s3, r2, gcs, local | | cache | redis, upstash, memory | | jobs | inngest, trigger, memory (inngest also scaffolds the serve route) | | logger | pino, console | | analytics | posthog, plausible, noop | | error-tracking | sentry, console |

Add more later with create-stack add (same engine, merged incrementally). Re-adding with a different adapter swaps it (--keep keeps both). Targets also include mailer, email-kit (React Email primitives) and http (fetch helpers).

create-stack add                 # interactive picker
create-stack add storage r2      # one capability + adapter
create-stack add cache upstash   # swap redis → upstash

Components

Opt-in UI kept out of the base bundle (its heavier deps too). Vendor one into a generated project: files copied, deps merged, imports realigned to your alias. Existing files are never overwritten (--force to override).

| Component | Vendors | Deps | | --- | --- | --- | | date-picker | ui/date-picker, ui/date-range-picker (+ calendar, popover, lib/date) | react-day-picker, date-fns | | datatable | data-table, infinite-data-table, sortable-header, use-data-table | @tanstack/react-table |

create-stack component              # interactive picker
create-stack component date-picker  # one component

After scaffolding

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

The generated project is a fresh git repo with an initial commit (skipped, files left staged, if git user.name/user.email aren't set). The published package is self-contained: pnpm dlx needs nothing else.

Credits

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

Author

Alfred MOUELLE, FullStack Developer