create-nexpress

Scaffolder CLI for NexPress — the Next.js-based CMS.

Usage

npx create-nexpress my-site
cd my-site
pnpm install
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d db
pnpm run setup    # browser env wizard: DB, NP_SECRET, storage, migrations
pnpm dev

Every scaffold ships the four built-in themes (default, magazine, portfolio, docs) along with example collections and plugins. The active theme and whether to seed sample content are picked in the first-boot admin setup wizard at /admin/setup, not at scaffold time.

create-nexpress writes both .env.example and .env for you. Use the setup wizard to confirm the DB connection, generate or accept the auth secret, run migrations, create the first admin, pick a theme, and optionally seed starter content.

The site runs at localhost:3000 and the admin panel is at localhost:3000/admin.

What you get

A Next.js 16 App Router project with:

• src/collections/ — example collections (posts, pages) using defineCollection()
• src/nexpress.config.ts — site config (storage, auth, plugins)
• src/db/generated/ — Drizzle schema generated from collections
• src/app/(site) — public site routes with the catch-all [[...slug]]
• src/app/(admin)/admin — login + protected admin shell
• src/app/api/ — REST endpoints (rate-limited, CSRF-enforced via proxy.ts)
• docker/docker-compose.yml — Postgres 16 plus Mailpit, with a project-specific host port to avoid collisions between scaffolds
• .env.example / .env — every env var the project actually reads

Prerequisites

• Node ≥ 20
• pnpm ≥ 10
• Docker (for the bundled Postgres) or any Postgres ≥ 14 reachable via DATABASE_URL

Next steps after scaffolding

• Run the first-boot wizard: pnpm run setup
• Start the site: pnpm dev, then open /admin
• Publish your first page or post from the admin
• Plan the deploy target: pnpm run deploy:plan -- --target vercel --brief --no-color
• Apply production migrations: pnpm db:migrate
• Run the pre-deploy gate: pnpm run ops:preflight -- --target vercel --brief --no-color
• Capture release evidence: pnpm run ops:release -- check --target vercel --json
• Verify after deploy: pnpm run ops:release -- verify --url https://your-domain.example --json
• Deploy on Vercel: push your scaffold to GitHub, then import it from Vercel New Project
• Add a collection: edit src/collections/<name>.ts, run pnpm db:generate && pnpm db:migrate
• Read AGENTS.md — architecture overview
• Read deployment.md — Docker, Vercel, Fly.io, Render, Railway

Links

• Repository
• Issues

License

MIT