🚀 just-start-dude

✨ What it does

You type one sentence. You get:

• ✅ Full project structure with all files
• ✅ AI-written components, routes, and logic
• ✅ Database schema & migrations
• ✅ Auth setup
• ✅ .env.example with all vars documented
• ✅ Professional README.md
• ✅ Dependencies auto-installed
• ✅ Git repo initialized
• ✅ Opens in VS Code

🎬 Demo

$ just-start-dude create "a SaaS app for freelancers to track invoices and clients"

→ Picks Next.js + Prisma + NextAuth + Tailwind
→ Generates 18 files
→ Installs deps
→ Opens VS Code
→ Ready to run in 30 seconds

📦 Installation

npm install -g just-start-dude

Or use without installing:

npx just-start-dude create "your project description"

🔑 Setup

You'll need an Anthropic API key.

just-start-dude config

Or set it as an environment variable:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

🛠️ Usage

Create a project

# Interactive - will ask for description
just-start-dude create

# Direct description
just-start-dude create "a REST API for a food delivery app with auth"

# Force a specific template
just-start-dude create "my app" --template fastapi

# Custom output directory
just-start-dude create "my app" --output ~/projects

List templates

just-start-dude templates

| Template | Stack | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------- | | nextjs | Next.js 14 + Tailwind + Prisma + NextAuth | | fastapi | FastAPI + SQLAlchemy + Alembic + Docker | | react | React + Vite + Tailwind + React Query | | express | Express.js + TypeScript + Prisma + JWT | | fullstack | Next.js + FastAPI + Docker Compose | | cli | Node.js + Commander + Chalk + Inquirer | | chrome-ext | Chrome Extension + React + Vite |

Options

just-start-dude create "my app" [options]

Options:
  -o, --output <dir>       Output directory (default: current dir)
  -t, --template <name>    Force a specific template
  --no-install             Skip npm install
  --no-open                Skip opening VS Code

⚡ Skills — Add features to existing projects

Already have a project? Use just-start-dude setup to drop in pre-built integrations instantly. Each skill installs the right packages, writes helper files, appends vars to .env.example, and generates a docs/<skill>.md guide explaining everything it did.

Supports npm, pnpm, yarn, and bun — auto-detected from your lockfile.

47 skills across 17 categories.

Database — SQL (Managed Cloud)

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------------ | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | supabase | — | Supabase client, local Docker stack, typed server helper | | neon | — | Neon serverless Postgres + Drizzle ORM | | planetscale | ps | PlanetScale serverless MySQL + Drizzle ORM | | cockroachdb | cockroach, crdb | CockroachDB Serverless + Drizzle ORM (Postgres-compatible) | | turso | libsql | Turso libSQL + Drizzle ORM, sub-ms edge reads | | railway-postgres | railway | Railway-hosted Postgres + Drizzle ORM with SSL | | xata | — | Xata serverless Postgres + built-in search |

Database — SQL (Local)

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | postgres | pg, postgresql | Docker Compose Postgres 16 + pg + Drizzle ORM | | mysql | mysql2, mariadb | Docker Compose MySQL 8 + mysql2 + Drizzle ORM | | sqlite | sqlite3 | better-sqlite3 + Drizzle ORM, zero setup, file-based | | timescaledb | timeseries, tsdb | TimescaleDB Docker + hypertable helpers for time-series data |

Database — NoSQL / Key-Value

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | -------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | mongodb | mongo | Mongoose ODM + Docker local MongoDB + Atlas connection helper | | upstash-redis | redis, upstash | Upstash Redis client + cache helpers + sliding-window rate limiter| | firebase-firestore | firebase, firestore | Firebase + Admin SDK + Firestore CRUD helpers | | redis-local | redis-docker, ioredis | Docker Redis + ioredis client + cache helpers | | dynamodb | dynamo | AWS DynamoDB + local Docker emulator + CRUD helpers |

Database — Backend Stacks (DB + Auth + Storage)

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | strapi | — | Strapi CMS with Docker Compose stack and fetch helper | | appwrite | aw | Appwrite Docker stack (DB + Auth + Storage), server SDK client | | pocketbase | pb | PocketBase Docker container, JS SDK, CRUD helpers, real-time ready |

ORM / Database Tools

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | --------- | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | prisma | orm | Prisma ORM + schema + migrations + seed script | | drizzle | — | Drizzle ORM standalone + schema + migration runner |

Auth & UI

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | -------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | clerk | — | Clerk authentication with middleware and auth pages | | oauth | — | Auth.js v5 with GitHub and Google providers | | shadcn | — | shadcn/ui component library with all base components |

AI / ML

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ---------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | openai | ai, gpt | OpenAI SDK + streaming chat + embeddings + image gen helpers | | pinecone | vectors, vectordb | Pinecone vector DB + upsert/query + RAG helper | | qdrant | vector-search | Qdrant Docker + vector store + semantic search helpers |

Payments

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | -------------- | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | stripe | payments | Stripe Checkout + webhooks + billing portal + customer helpers | | lemonsqueezy | lemon, ls | LemonSqueezy checkout + webhooks + subscription helpers |

Email

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ---------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | resend | email | Resend client + React Email templates + send helper | | postmark | — | Postmark transactional email + template helpers |

Observability

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | -------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | sentry | errors, monitoring | Sentry error tracking + source maps + performance monitoring |

Analytics

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ---------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | posthog | analytics, ph | PostHog product analytics + feature flags + session replay | | plausible| — | Plausible privacy-first analytics (self-hosted or cloud) |

Background Jobs

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | bullmq | queue, bull | BullMQ Redis-backed job queues + worker + dashboard | | inngest | jobs | Inngest serverless background functions + event-driven workflows | | trigger-dev | trigger | Trigger.dev background job orchestration + retry logic |

Search

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | meilisearch | search, meili | Meilisearch Docker + instant search + index helpers | | typesense | — | Typesense Docker + fast search + collection helpers |

Storage

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | --------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | s3-storage | s3, aws | AWS S3 uploads + presigned URLs + delete helpers | | cloudflare-r2 | r2, cf | Cloudflare R2 (S3-compatible) + presigned URL helpers | | minio | object-storage | MinIO Docker + S3-compatible client + bucket helpers |

Developer Tools

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | -------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | env-validate | zod-env, env-validation | Zod env validation + check-env script + typed env helper |

Testing

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ------------ | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | vitest | test, tests | Vitest unit testing + coverage + example test | | playwright | e2e | Playwright E2E tests + CI workflow + example spec |

DevOps / Infra

| Skill | Aliases | What it sets up | | ---------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | dockerize | docker | Dockerfile + docker-compose + .dockerignore + health check | | github-actions | ci, gh, github-ci | CI/CD workflow + test pipeline + Dependabot config |

How to use

# See all available skills (grouped by category)
just-start-dude skills

# --- Database (SQL managed) ---
just-start-dude setup supabase
just-start-dude setup neon
just-start-dude setup planetscale
just-start-dude setup cockroachdb
just-start-dude setup turso
just-start-dude setup railway-postgres
just-start-dude setup xata

# --- Database (SQL local) ---
just-start-dude setup postgres        # Docker + Drizzle
just-start-dude setup mysql           # Docker + Drizzle
just-start-dude setup sqlite          # File-based, no Docker needed
just-start-dude setup timescaledb     # Time-series data

# --- Database (NoSQL / KV) ---
just-start-dude setup mongodb
just-start-dude setup upstash-redis
just-start-dude setup firebase-firestore
just-start-dude setup redis-local     # Docker Redis + ioredis
just-start-dude setup dynamodb        # AWS DynamoDB + local emulator

# --- ORM ---
just-start-dude setup prisma
just-start-dude setup drizzle

# --- Auth & UI ---
just-start-dude setup clerk
just-start-dude setup oauth
just-start-dude setup shadcn

# --- AI / ML ---
just-start-dude setup openai
just-start-dude setup pinecone
just-start-dude setup qdrant

# --- Payments ---
just-start-dude setup stripe
just-start-dude setup lemonsqueezy

# --- Email ---
just-start-dude setup resend
just-start-dude setup postmark

# --- Observability & Analytics ---
just-start-dude setup sentry
just-start-dude setup posthog
just-start-dude setup plausible

# --- Background Jobs ---
just-start-dude setup bullmq
just-start-dude setup inngest
just-start-dude setup trigger-dev

# --- Search ---
just-start-dude setup meilisearch
just-start-dude setup typesense

# --- Storage ---
just-start-dude setup s3-storage
just-start-dude setup cloudflare-r2
just-start-dude setup minio

# --- Developer Tools ---
just-start-dude setup env-validate

# --- Testing ---
just-start-dude setup vitest
just-start-dude setup playwright

# --- DevOps / Infra ---
just-start-dude setup dockerize
just-start-dude setup github-actions

# Target a specific directory
just-start-dude setup stripe --dir /path/to/your-project
just-start-dude setup postgres -d ../my-app

💡 Example prompts

just-start-dude create "a Twitter clone with posts, likes, and follows"
just-start-dude create "a Python ML API that classifies images"
just-start-dude create "a Notion-like note taking app with markdown support"
just-start-dude create "a CLI tool that converts CSV files to different formats"
just-start-dude create "a Chrome extension that summarizes YouTube videos"
just-start-dude create "a real-time chat app with rooms and file sharing"

🤝 Contributing

PRs welcome! Check out CONTRIBUTING.md.

Some ideas:

• Add more templates (Flutter, Rust, Go, Django, Rails)
• Add more skills (Cloudinary, Twilio, Pusher, Algolia)
• VS Code extension
• Web UI / dashboard

📄 License

MIT © shayomi