Skip to main content
Local development is fully supported and straightforward. You’ll be running the app on your machine in just a few minutes.

​
Quick Start

1

Make sure you have the prerequisites

You need:
  • Node.js 20.9+
  • pnpm as your package manager
  • A PostgreSQL database (local or hosted — see below)
2

Run the bootstrap wizard

pnpm bootstrap
This single command does a lot for you: it checks your Node version, runs pnpm install, walks you through setting your env vars, runs pnpm db:migrate as soon as your DATABASE_URL is confirmed, and then saves the rest of your config.
3

Start the dev server

pnpm dev
Open http://localhost:3000 and you’re in business.

​
Database Setup

Supabase PostgreSQL is the recommended default for both local dev and production. It’s free to start and works great with this stack.
Other PostgreSQL hosts that work well: Neon, Railway, Render, Fly, or self-hosted Postgres. Just make sure they support the extensions your enabled features need.

​
Database Workflow

Your day-to-day database commands: 
pnpm db:migrate
  • Schema source of truth: lib/db/schema/*
  • Migration history: drizzle/*
The typical flow: edit your schema files in lib/db/schema/, then run pnpm db:generate to create the SQL migration, then pnpm db:migrate to apply it.

​
What You Need for Each Feature

Not every feature works with zero config. Here’s what different features need:
  • DATABASE_URL — Your PostgreSQL connection string
  • BETTER_AUTH_SECRET — For session encryption
  • At least one LLM provider key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.)
  • Storage provider config (for file uploads)
  • OPENAI_API_KEY (for embeddings)
  • A Postgres host that supports pgvector
  • ELEVENLABS_API_TOKEN
  • Storage provider config (generated audio is persisted)
  • REPLICATE_API_TOKEN
  • Storage provider config (source images and final videos are persisted)
  • Storage provider config (generated images are persisted)
  • REPLICATE_API_TOKEN for Replicate-backed models
  • OPENAI_API_KEY for GPT Image
  • PostHog, Plausible, or DataFast credentials
  • Polar, Stripe, or LemonSqueezy keys and webhook secrets
pnpm bootstrap can collect the storage settings too, so you do not need to hand-wire upload/media env vars up front unless you’re doing a manual setup.

​
The Local-First Reality

“The app boots locally” does not mean “every feature works locally.” Many features depend on third-party APIs, so you’ll need the right provider keys for whatever you’re testing.
What runs locally:
  • Next.js dev server
  • Your PostgreSQL database (local or hosted)
  • All UI and routing
What needs external services:
  • LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, etc.)
  • Storage (for file uploads)
  • Voice, video, and some image generation
  • Email sending
  • Payment processing
  • Analytics tracking
For most teams, the smoothest path is local Next.js + hosted Supabase PostgreSQL + hosted provider APIs for whatever features you’re actively working on. You don’t need to configure everything at once — just add provider keys as you need them.