Create Awesome Node App

One command. Any stack. Generate production-ready apps by composing templates, addons, and AI-ready conventions.

From blank folder to a working Node/Web project with modern tooling, cozy defaults, and team-friendly automation.

Official Site · Templates · Extensions · Docs · GitHub · npm

⚡ Install

npm (recommended):

npm create awesome-node-app@latest my-app

Homebrew (macOS / Linux):

brew tap Create-Node-App/tap
brew install create-awesome-node-app

AUR (Arch Linux):

yay -S create-awesome-node-app   # or: paru -S create-awesome-node-app

Docker:

docker run --rm -it -v "${PWD}:/app" -w /app \
  ulisesjeremias/create-awesome-node-app:latest my-app \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate

Interactive by default outside CI. For automation, run headless with flags:

npx create-awesome-node-app my-app \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate \
  --addons tailwind-css zustand github-setup \
  --use-bun \
  --no-interactive

| If you want... | Start here | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | A guided local setup | npm create awesome-node-app@latest my-app | | A repeatable CI/platform flow | --no-interactive with explicit flags | | Your company starter | --template <github-url> or --template file:// | | Private standards layered in | --extend <url> |

✨ Why CNA?

| Capability | Value | | -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 🧩 Composable by design | Start with a template, then layer only the addons your project actually needs. | | 🛡️ Production-ready defaults | TypeScript, linting, scripts, testing paths, and practical DX defaults out of the box. | | 🤖 AI-ready from day one | Supported templates generate AGENTS.md so coding agents understand the project context. | | 🏗️ CI and platform friendly | Use --no-interactive, --set, --template <url>, and --extend <url> for repeatable scaffolding. |

🧬 Composition Model

template -> addons -> custom options -> install -> git init -> AI-ready project

You can mix catalog templates and addons with your own GitHub or file:// sources.

🎛️ What You Can Generate

🧱 Template Families

| Category | Example templates | | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Frontend | react-vite-boilerplate, astro-starter | | Backend | nestjs-boilerplate, hono-starter | | Full Stack | nextjs-starter, nextjs-saas-ai-starter, remix-starter | | Monorepo | turborepo-boilerplate | | Web Extension | web-extension-react-boilerplate | | UAT / Testing | webdriverio-boilerplate |

🧰 Addon Families

| Category | Examples | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | UI | tailwind-css, material-ui, shadcn-ui, nextjs-shadcn | | State and data | zustand, jotai, tanstack-react-query, apollo-client | | Backend and DB | drizzle-orm-postgresql, drizzle-orm-sqlite, mongoose-orm-mongodb | | Next.js stack | nextjs-auth, nextjs-trpc, nextjs-drizzle-postgres, nextjs-t3-env | | Tooling and quality | github-setup, husky-lint-staged, development-container, storybook | | Deployment and monitoring | serverless-framework, sentry |

🍱 Popular Recipes

⚛️ React + Tailwind + Zustand

npx create-awesome-node-app my-dashboard \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate \
  --addons tailwind-css zustand \
  --no-interactive

▲ Next.js + shadcn/ui + Auth + tRPC

npx create-awesome-node-app my-saas \
  --template nextjs-starter \
  --addons nextjs-shadcn nextjs-auth nextjs-trpc github-setup husky-lint-staged \
  --use-pnpm \
  --no-interactive

🐈 NestJS + Drizzle PostgreSQL + OpenAPI

npx create-awesome-node-app my-api \
  --template nestjs-boilerplate \
  --addons drizzle-orm-postgresql openapi \
  --no-interactive

🤖 Next.js SaaS AI Starter

npx create-awesome-node-app my-ai-saas \
  --template nextjs-saas-ai-starter \
  --use-pnpm \
  --no-interactive

🏢 Internal Platform Template (GitHub URL)

npx create-awesome-node-app my-internal-app \
  --template https://github.com/your-org/platform-starters/tree/main/templates/internal-app \
  --no-interactive

🧪 Local Template Development (file://)

npx create-awesome-node-app my-local-app \
  --template file:///absolute/path/to/platform-starters/templates/internal-app \
  --no-interactive

file:// template URLs should be absolute paths (for example file:///Users/... or file:///C:/...).

🔒 Layer A Private Extension

npx create-awesome-node-app my-app \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate \
  --addons tailwind-css \
  --extend https://github.com/your-org/platform-starters/tree/main/extensions/company-ci

🎚️ Pass Custom Template Values

npx create-awesome-node-app my-app \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate \
  --set "productName=Acme Cloud" \
  --set "author=Platform Team" \
  --no-interactive

🏗️ Built For Modern Teams

• 🟢 Node 22+ runtime support.
• 📦 npm, yarn, pnpm, and Bun package managers.
• 🧙 Interactive wizard for local workflows.
• 🔁 --no-interactive mode for CI, scripts, and platform automation.
• 🌐 GitHub URL and local file:// template inputs.
• 🔐 --extend support for private addon layering.
• 🎯 --set key=value overrides for deterministic custom options.

🔎 Explore The Catalog

Browse visually at create-awesome-node-app.vercel.app or discover from the terminal:

# List all available templates
npx create-awesome-node-app --list-templates

# List addons compatible with a specific template
npx create-awesome-node-app --template react-vite-boilerplate --list-addons

Full catalog:

• Templates: create-awesome-node-app.vercel.app/templates
• Extensions: create-awesome-node-app.vercel.app/extensions

🤖 AI-Ready With AGENTS.md

Supported templates can generate an AGENTS.md file so coding assistants understand project context before editing:

| Context | Why it matters | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Project purpose | Agents understand what the app is for before changing code. | | Directory layout | Suggestions align with the real structure. | | Scripts and validation | Agents know how to lint, test, build, and verify changes. | | Team conventions | Output follows naming and workflow expectations. |

Learn more: AGENTS.md guide

🧙 Interactive Wizard

Run the CLI without flags and CNA guides you through:

| Step | What you choose | | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Project name | Confirm or set the target directory | | Package manager | npm, yarn, pnpm, or Bun | | Category | Frontend, Backend, Full Stack, Monorepo, Web Extension, UAT, or custom URL | | Template | Pick from curated starters with descriptions and labels | | Addons | Multi-select compatible extensions grouped by purpose | | Custom extensions | Layer extra URLs for internal standards |

✅ Requirements

• Node.js >= 22
• npm >= 7, yarn, pnpm, or Bun

Recommended quick switch:

fnm use 22
npm create awesome-node-app@latest my-app

🧭 CLI Reference

Usage: create-awesome-node-app [project-directory] [options]

| Flag | Description | | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | --interactive | Force interactive wizard (default outside CI) | | --no-interactive | Disable wizard and use flags only | | -t, --template <slug\|url> | Template slug from catalog or remote/local URL | | --addons [slugs...] | Space-separated addon slugs or URLs | | --extend [urls...] | Extra extension URLs layered on top | | --set <key=value...> | Set custom template options; quote values with spaces | | --no-install | Generate files without installing dependencies | | -f, --force | Allow scaffolding into a non-empty target directory | | --use-yarn | Use yarn instead of npm, pnpm, or Bun | | --use-pnpm | Use pnpm instead of npm, yarn, or Bun | | --use-bun | Use Bun instead of npm, yarn, or pnpm | | --list-templates | Print all templates grouped by category | | --list-addons | Print addons, optionally filtered by --template | | --offline | Use the local cache only; do not refresh templates | | --no-cache | Disable the catalog cache; force a refresh each run | | --cache-dir <path> | Override the cache root (default: ~/.cache/cna) | | --refresh <mode> | When to refresh: always | stale | manual | | --pin <ref> | Pin template to a specific commit SHA, tag, or branch | | -v, --verbose | Output resolved generation config as JSON | | -i, --info | Print Node, npm, and OS diagnostics | | -V, --version | Print CLI version | | -h, --help | Show help |

🗃️ cna cache subcommand

Usage: create-awesome-node-app cache [options] [command]

Commands:
  dir                   Print the cache root directory
  list                  List cached templates and extensions
  clean [id]            Remove one or all entries; --catalog also clears the catalog cache
  verify [id]           Run `git fsck` on one or all entries
  outdated              List cached entries that are behind their remote tip
  update [id]           Refresh one or all cached entries from their remote
  doctor                Diagnose cache health (git, network, permissions)

Inspect and manage the on-disk cache:

# Where is my cache?
npx create-awesome-node-app cache dir
# /home/<you>/.cache/cna

# What's in it?
npx create-awesome-node-app cache list
# ID  URL                                BRANCH  LAST FETCHED  SHA       SIZE
# ...<base64-id>  https://github.com/...  main    3h ago       abc1234   9.3 MB

# Verify integrity
npx create-awesome-node-app cache verify

# Clear everything (and the catalog cache)
npx create-awesome-node-app cache clean --catalog

# Clear a single entry by its base64 ID
npx create-awesome-node-app cache clean <id>

# Check for outdated entries
npx create-awesome-node-app cache outdated

# Refresh a specific entry
npx create-awesome-node-app cache update <base64-id>

# Diagnose cache health
npx create-awesome-node-app cache doctor

📦 Cache & Updates

CNA caches both the template catalog (templates.json from raw.githubusercontent.com) and the template git repos themselves. The cache lives at ~/.cache/cna by default; override with --cache-dir <path> or CNA_CACHE_DIR.

| Path | Contents | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | ~/.cache/cna/catalog/ | Cached templates.json (one file) | | ~/.cache/cna/<base64-of-url>/ | Shallow clone of one template or extension |

Refresh modes (set with --refresh <mode> or CNA_REFRESH=<mode>)

• stale (default): pull only when the cache is older than CNA_REFRESH_AFTER_HOURS (default 24). No network on a warm cache.
• always: pull on every run (the pre-Phase-2 behavior).
• manual: never pull unless --refresh is passed.

Each cache entry has a .cna-meta.json sidecar with lastFetchedAt, lastCommitSha, lastRefreshReason, branch, and url.

Pinning templates

Pin a template to a specific commit SHA, tag, or branch:

npx create-awesome-node-app my-app \
  --template react-vite-boilerplate \
  --pin abc123def456abc123def456abc123def456abc1

The --pin flag is equivalent to appending ?ref=<ref> to the template URL. Combine with CNA_STRICT_REPRO=1 to enforce full 40-character SHAs.

Cache diagnostics

# Check which cached entries are behind their remote tip
npx create-awesome-node-app cache outdated

# Refresh a specific entry (or all entries)
npx create-awesome-node-app cache update
npx create-awesome-node-app cache update <base64-id>

# Full health check: git, network, permissions, cache integrity
npx create-awesome-node-app cache doctor

CI and offline usage

# Fully offline CI: use the local cache only, no network.
npx create-awesome-node-app my-app -t react-vite-boilerplate --offline

# Pin the cache to a project-local directory (useful in monorepos and CI).
CNA_CACHE_DIR="$PWD/.cna-cache" npx create-awesome-node-app my-app -t react-vite-boilerplate

Storage optimization

On a cache hit, the working copy is built with cp -c (reflink) when the filesystem supports it, then cp -l (hardlink) on Linux, then a recursive copy as a last resort. A warm scaffold is O(1) on the working directory when reflinks are available.

🧩 Programmatic Usage

Need to integrate CNA into your own tooling? The core is importable:

import { createNodeApp, getTemplateDirPath } from "@create-node-app/core";

The programmatic API is experimental and subject to change. Prefer the CLI for stable usage.

🛡️ Security

CNA downloads and executes templates from remote sources. See SECURITY.md for the threat model, recommended practices (hash-pinned URLs, template auditing), and the vulnerability reporting process.

❓ FAQ

Most scaffolders lock you into one stack. CNA is composable: choose a template, layer focused addons, and plug in your own GitHub/local blueprints.

Yes. Pass a GitHub URL or local file:// URL with --template.

Yes. Use --extend <url> to layer private extensions on top of a template and addon set.

Yes. Addons are applied in sequence. If two addons modify the same file, later addons win.

Yes. Use turborepo-boilerplate to bootstrap a multi-package workspace with shared tooling.

Yes. Pass all required flags and use --no-interactive for deterministic automation.

Yes. CNA targets Node 22+ to keep runtime behavior modern and predictable.

Yes. Supported templates can generate AGENTS.md, helping assistants understand project layout, scripts, and conventions.

🗺️ Roadmap

• 🚀 More framework templates and vertical starters.
• 🧪 Additional testing packs for contracts, performance, and load testing.
• 📌 Diff-based upgrade paths for pinned templates.
• 📊 Rich template analytics and usage insights.

Track progress in Issues and Discussions.

🤝 Contributing

Templates, addons, bug fixes, docs, recipes, and ideas are all welcome.

• Main repo: github.com/Create-Node-App/create-node-app
• Template and extension data: github.com/Create-Node-App/cna-templates
• Contributing guide: CONTRIBUTING.md

📄 License

MIT © Create Node App Contributors

create-awesome-node-app.vercel.app

Built for developers who value speed, composability, craft, and AI-ready workflows.