Create Chacelow-Stack CLI

A modern CLI tool for scaffolding end-to-end type-safe TypeScript projects with best practices and customizable configurations

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Quick Start

Run without installing globally:

# Using bun (recommended)
bunx @chacelow-stack/create@latest create

# Using pnpm
pnpm dlx @chacelow-stack/create@latest create

# Using npm
npx @chacelow-stack/create@latest create

Follow the prompts to configure your project or use the --yes flag for defaults.

Requirements

• Node.js 22 or newer to run the CLI with Node.js. The selected framework may require a newer release; the CLI checks the exact stack before writing files.
• Bun 1.3 or newer is recommended. Bun 1.2.14 remains the minimum because generated workspaces use dependency catalogs.
• pnpm 10.26.0 or newer when using pnpm (catalogs and allowBuilds).
• npm 11.16.0 or newer when using npm (allowScripts).

Docker Compose 2.24 or newer is required by generated Docker stacks. Git, Rust, Docker, and platform SDKs otherwise remain optional and are only needed when you use their corresponding generated commands.

Features

| Category | Options | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | TypeScript | End-to-end type safety across all parts of your application | | Frontend | • React with TanStack Router• React with React Router• React with TanStack Start (SSR)• Next.js• SvelteKit• Nuxt (Vue)• Solid (SSR)• Astro• React Native bare Expo• React Native with NativeWind (via Expo)• React Native with Unistyles (via Expo)• None | | Backend | • Hono• Express• Elysia• Fastify• Self (fullstack inside the web app)• Convex• None | | API Layer | • tRPC (type-safe APIs)• oRPC (OpenAPI-compatible type-safe APIs)• None | | Runtime | • Bun• Node.js• Cloudflare Workers• None | | Database | • SQLite• PostgreSQL• MySQL• MongoDB• None | | ORM | • Drizzle (TypeScript-first)• Prisma (feature-rich)• Mongoose (for MongoDB)• None | | Database Setup | • Turso (SQLite)• Cloudflare D1 (SQLite)• Neon (PostgreSQL)• Supabase (PostgreSQL)• Prisma Postgres• MongoDB Atlas• None (manual setup) | | Authentication | • Better Auth• Clerk | | Styling | Tailwind CSS with a shared shadcn/ui package for React web apps | | Addons | • PWA support• Tauri (desktop applications)• Electrobun (lightweight desktop shell)• Starlight and Fumadocs (documentation sites)• Biome, Oxlint, Ultracite, or Vite+ (linting and formatting)• Lefthook, Husky (Git hooks)• evlog (request logging for server/fullstack backends)• MCP, Skills (agent tooling)• OpenTUI, WXT (platform extensions)• Turborepo, Nx, or Vite+ (monorepo orchestration) | | Examples | • Todo app• AI Chat interface (using Vercel AI SDK) | | Developer Experience | • Automatic Git initialization• Package manager choice (npm, pnpm, bun)• Automatic dependency installation |

Usage

Usage: @chacelow-stack/create [project-directory] [options]

Options:
  -V, --version                   Output the version number
  -y, --yes                       Use default configuration
  --template <type>               Use a template (mern, pern, t3, uniwind, none)
  --database <type>               Database type (none, sqlite, postgres, mysql, mongodb)
  --orm <type>                    ORM type (none, drizzle, prisma, mongoose)
  --dry-run                       Validate configuration without writing files
  --auth <provider>               Authentication (better-auth, clerk, none)
  --payments <provider>           Payments provider (polar, none)
  --frontend <types...>           Frontend types (tanstack-router, react-router, tanstack-start, next, nuxt, svelte, solid, astro, native-bare, native-uniwind, native-unistyles, none)
  --addons <types...>             Additional addons (pwa, tauri, electrobun, starlight, biome, lefthook, husky, mcp, turborepo, nx, vite-plus, fumadocs, ultracite, oxlint, opentui, wxt, skills, evlog, none)
  --examples <types...>           Examples to include (todo, ai, none)
  --git                           Initialize git repository
  --no-git                        Skip git initialization
  --package-manager <pm>          Package manager (npm, pnpm, bun)
  --install                       Install dependencies
  --no-install                    Skip installing dependencies
  --open <target>                 Open in an editor, IDE, or coding agent after creation
  --db-setup <setup>              Database setup (turso, d1, neon, supabase, prisma-postgres, planetscale, mongodb-atlas, docker, none)
  --web-deploy <setup>            Web deployment (cloudflare, docker, vercel, none)
  --server-deploy <setup>         Server deployment (cloudflare, docker, vercel, none)
  --backend <framework>           Backend framework (hono, express, fastify, elysia, convex, self, none)
  --runtime <runtime>             Runtime (bun, node, workers, none)
  --api <type>                    API type (trpc, orpc, none)
  --directory-conflict <strategy> Directory strategy (merge, overwrite, increment, error)
  --manual-db                     Skip automatic database setup prompts
  -h, --help                      Display help

Agent-Focused Commands

# Raw JSON payload input (agent-friendly)
@chacelow-stack/create create-json --input '{"projectName":"my-app","yes":true,"dryRun":true}'
@chacelow-stack/create add-json --input '{"projectDir":"./my-app","addons":["wxt"],"addonOptions":{"wxt":{"template":"react"}}}'
@chacelow-stack/create create-json --input '{"projectName":"db-app","database":"postgres","orm":"drizzle","dbSetup":"neon","dbSetupOptions":{"mode":"manual"}}'

# Runtime schema/introspection output
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name all
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name createInput
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name addInput
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name addonOptions
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name dbSetupOptions
@chacelow-stack/create schema --name cli

# Local stdio MCP server
npx @chacelow-stack/create@latest mcp

To install Chacelow Stack into supported agent configs with add-mcp and avoid relying on a global CLI install:

npx -y add-mcp@latest "npx -y @chacelow-stack/create@latest mcp"

When you scaffold with the mcp addon, Chacelow Stack itself can also be installed into supported agent configs through add-mcp using a package runner command instead of assuming a global CLI install. For Bun projects, the generated config uses the equivalent bunx @chacelow-stack/create@latest mcp server command inside add-mcp.

For MCP project creation, prefer install: false. Long dependency installs can exceed common MCP client request timeouts, so the safest flow is to scaffold first and run your package manager install command afterward in the project directory.

Telemetry

This CLI collects anonymous usage data to help improve the tool. The data collected includes:

• Configuration options selected
• CLI version
• Node.js version
• Platform (OS)

Telemetry is enabled by default in published versions to help us understand usage patterns and improve the tool.

Disabling Telemetry

You can disable telemetry by setting the BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED environment variable:

# Disable telemetry for a single run
BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 npx @chacelow-stack/create

# Disable telemetry globally in your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)
export BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

Examples

Create a project with default configuration:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --yes

Validate a command without writing files:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --yes --dry-run

Create a project with specific options:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --database postgres --orm drizzle --auth better-auth --addons pwa biome

Create a project with Elysia backend and Node.js runtime:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend elysia --runtime node

Create a project with multiple frontend options (one web + one native):

npx @chacelow-stack/create --frontend tanstack-router native-bare

Create a project with examples:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --examples todo ai

Create a project with Turso database setup:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup turso

Create a project with Supabase PostgreSQL setup:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --database postgres --orm drizzle --db-setup supabase --auth better-auth

Create a project with Convex backend:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend convex --frontend tanstack-router

Create a project with documentation site:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --addons starlight

Create a minimal TypeScript project with no backend:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend none --frontend tanstack-router

Create a backend-only project with no frontend:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --frontend none --backend hono --database postgres --orm drizzle

Create a simple frontend-only project:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend none --frontend next --addons none --examples none

Create a Cloudflare Workers project:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend hono --runtime workers --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup d1

Create a self-hosted fullstack project on Cloudflare with D1:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --backend self --frontend next --api trpc --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup d1 --web-deploy cloudflare

Create a self-hosted project that ships as Docker containers (web + server + database via Docker Compose):

npx @chacelow-stack/create --frontend tanstack-router --backend hono --runtime bun --database postgres --orm drizzle --db-setup docker --web-deploy docker --server-deploy docker

Create a minimal API-only project:

npx @chacelow-stack/create --frontend none --backend hono --api trpc --database none --addons none

Compatibility Notes

• Convex backend: Requires database, orm, api, runtime, and server-deploy to be none; auth can be better-auth, clerk, or none depending frontend compatibility
• Backend 'none': If selected, this option will force related options like API, ORM, database, authentication, and runtime to 'none'. Examples will also be disabled (set to none/empty).
• Frontend 'none': Creates a backend-only project. When selected, PWA, Tauri, Electrobun, and certain examples may be disabled.
• API 'none': Disables tRPC/oRPC setup. Can be used with backend frameworks for REST APIs or custom API implementations.
• Database 'none': Disables database setup and requires ORM to be none.
• ORM 'none': Can be used when you want to handle database operations manually or use a different ORM.
• Runtime 'none': Only available with Convex backend, backend none, or backend self.
• Cloudflare Workers runtime: Only compatible with Hono backend. If a database is used, MongoDB is not supported.
• Cloudflare D1 setup: Requires sqlite and either --runtime workers --server-deploy cloudflare or --backend self --web-deploy cloudflare. For backend self, D1 is supported on next, tanstack-start, nuxt, svelte, solid, and astro.
• Addons 'none': Skips all addons.
• Examples 'none': Skips all example implementations (todo, AI chat).
• Nuxt, Svelte, Solid, and Astro frontends are only compatible with the oRPC API layer
• PWA support requires TanStack Router, React Router, Next.js, or Solid
• Tauri desktop app requires TanStack Router, React Router, TanStack Start, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, or Astro
• Electrobun desktop app requires TanStack Router, React Router, TanStack Start, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, or Astro. Desktop packaging uses static web assets, so SSR-first frontends need a static/export build before desktop builds will work.
• AI example is not compatible with Solid or Astro. With Convex backend, it also excludes Nuxt and Svelte.

Project Structure

The created project follows a clean monorepo structure:

my-better-t-app/
├── apps/
│   ├── web/          # Frontend application
│   ├── server/       # Backend API
│   ├── native/       # (optional) Mobile application
│   └── docs/         # (optional) Documentation site
├── packages/         # Shared packages
└── README.md         # Auto-generated project documentation

After project creation, you'll receive detailed instructions for next steps and additional setup requirements.