Tinyship Setup

TinyShip Setup

Interactive setup wizard for TinyShip SaaS starter projects.

This is a conversational, step-by-step wizard. You MUST ask the user at each decision point and wait for their answer before proceeding. NEVER make choices on the user's behalf.

Step 0: Detect Template

Read ../../references/template-detection.md and detect which template the current project is (shipeasy or tinyship-cf). Follow the matching branch in each step below. For tinyship-cf, steps marked "shipeasy only" are skipped entirely.

Prerequisites

Before starting, verify:

1. Node.js >= 22.20.0 — run node -v to check (required due to Nuxt 4 oxc-parser native bindings)
2. pnpm >= 9.0.0 — run pnpm -v to check. Install with npm install -g pnpm if missing

If prerequisites fail, tell the user what to install and STOP.

Step 1: Environment Configuration

shipeasy:

1. Copy the template: cp env.example .env
2. Generate an auth secret: openssl rand -hex 32
3. Set the generated secret in .env as BETTER_AUTH_SECRET

tinyship-cf:

1. Copy the template: cp apps/tanstack-app/.dev.vars.example apps/tanstack-app/.dev.vars
2. Generate an auth secret: openssl rand -hex 32
3. Set the generated secret in .dev.vars as BETTER_AUTH_SECRET

Do NOT configure the database dialect yet — that depends on the user's choice in Step 2.

Step 2: Choose Database

⛔ STOP — You MUST ask the user before proceeding.

tinyship-cf: the default (and recommended) database is Cloudflare D1 — it is already bound in wrangler.jsonc and needs no connection string. Simply run:

cd apps/tanstack-app
npx wrangler d1 migrations apply tinyship-db --local

Then skip to Step 3. If the user specifically wants PostgreSQL (Hyperdrive), hand off to the tinyship-cloudflare skill's Hyperdrive path.

shipeasy: present these options and wait for the user's response:

If the user chooses SQLite:

Set in .env:

DB_DIALECT="sqlite"

Then run:

mkdir -p data
pnpm install
pnpm db:push:sqlite
pnpm db:seed:sqlite

Important: The mkdir -p data step is required — SQLite needs the data/ directory to exist before the database file can be created.

If the user chooses PostgreSQL:

Before asking the user for connection details, auto-detect the local PostgreSQL environment:

1. Run pg_isready to check if PostgreSQL is running locally.
2. If PostgreSQL IS running:
   • Tell the user: "PostgreSQL is already running on your machine."
   • Attempt to create a tinyship database automatically:

     # Try common superuser accounts to create the database
     createdb tinyship 2>/dev/null || \
       createdb -U postgres tinyship 2>/dev/null || \
       createdb -U $(whoami) tinyship 2>/dev/null
     

   • If database creation succeeds, detect the connection string:

     # Determine the PostgreSQL user and port from pg_isready output or defaults
     # Common patterns:
     #   macOS Homebrew/Postgres.app: user = current OS user, port = 5432
     #   Linux system install: user = postgres, port = 5432
     

   • Build the DATABASE_URL automatically. Common local patterns:
     • postgresql://localhost:5432/tinyship (macOS Postgres.app / Homebrew, peer auth)
     • postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/tinyship (Linux with password)
     • postgresql://<os-username>@localhost:5432/tinyship (macOS with username)
   • Show the detected connection string to the user and ask for confirmation before using it.
   • If database creation fails, tell the user and fall back to asking for manual input.
3. If PostgreSQL is NOT running:
   • Tell the user PostgreSQL is not detected on this machine.
   • Offer these sub-options:
     • Docker: Spin up a containerized PostgreSQL (requires Docker running)
     • Manual: User provides their own connection string

Auto-detect succeeded — set in .env:

DB_DIALECT="pg"
DATABASE_URL="<the auto-detected or confirmed connection string>"

Docker fallback — run:

docker run --name tinyship-db \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=tinyship \
  -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=tinyship123 \
  -e POSTGRES_DB=tinyship \
  -p 5432:5432 \
  -d postgres:15

Set in .env:

DB_DIALECT="pg"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://tinyship:tinyship123@localhost:5432/tinyship"

After database is configured (any method), run:

pnpm install
pnpm db:push
pnpm db:seed

Seed data creates two test users

• Admin: admin@example.com / admin123 (role: admin)
• User: user@example.com / user123456 (role: user)

Step 3: Choose Framework (shipeasy only)

⛔ STOP — You MUST ask the user before proceeding.

Present these options and wait for the user's response:

Note: For a Cloudflare Workers deployment, recommend starting from the tinyship-cf template instead — it is preconfigured for Workers with no hacks.

tinyship-cf: skip selection — TanStack Start is the only framework. Dev command is pnpm dev.

After the user chooses (or for tinyship-cf), start the app and verify:

1. Run the dev command (e.g., pnpm dev:next / pnpm dev)
2. Open http://localhost:7001 — home page should load
3. Check http://localhost:7001/api/health — should return a response
4. Try logging in with admin@example.com / admin123

Tell the user the results of each verification step.

Step 4: Choose Pricing Mode (Optional)

⛔ STOP — You MUST ask the user before proceeding.

TinyShip supports two pricing modes. Present these options:

If the user chooses Static (or skips):

No additional configuration needed. Plans are defined in config/payment.ts and shown directly on the pricing page. This is the default behavior.

If the user chooses Dynamic:

Set in .env (shipeasy) or apps/tanstack-app/.dev.vars (tinyship-cf):

PRICING_MODE="dynamic"

Dynamic pricing stores plans in the database and provides an admin UI at /admin/pricing for creating, editing, and managing plans without code changes. Features include:

• Multi-language plan names/descriptions (extensible i18n tabs)
• Markdown-supported feature lists
• Strikethrough pricing (original price display)
• Locale-based plan filtering
• Per-provider payment IDs (Stripe Price ID, PayPal Plan ID, etc.)
• Import existing static plans into the database with one click

Note: The database migration for pricing_plan table is already included. You can manage all plans via the admin panel at /admin/pricing after setup. For tinyship-cf, PRICING_MODE also needs to be set in wrangler.jsonc vars for the deployed Worker.

Tell the user: "You can always switch between modes later by changing PRICING_MODE in your env file. Static plans in config/payment.ts remain available as a fallback."

Step 5: Framework Cleanup (Optional, shipeasy only)

⛔ STOP — You MUST ask the user before proceeding. Do NOT delete anything without explicit confirmation.

After confirming the app works, ask the user:

Your project currently includes all three frameworks (Next.js, Nuxt.js, TanStack Start). Would you like to remove the two you're not using to simplify your project?

• Yes — Remove unused frameworks and clean up all related configuration
• No — Keep all three (you can always remove them later)

Only proceed with cleanup if the user explicitly says yes.

If yes, read and follow the detailed cleanup procedure in references/framework-cleanup.md.

This cleanup will:

• Delete unused apps/ directories
• Clean up workspace config, build scripts, Docker, and CI
• Remove libs/react-shared if only keeping Nuxt (it's React-only)
• Verify the remaining app still builds correctly

Step 6: Next Steps

After setup is complete, tell the user what they can do next:

1. Customize branding — change app name, logo, theme (use tinyship-brand skill)
2. Add authentication — configure OAuth providers (use tinyship-auth skill)
3. Set up payments — integrate payment providers (use tinyship-payment skill)
4. Configure AI — set up AI chat/image/video features (use tinyship-ai skill)
5. Deploy — deploy to Vercel, Docker, or Cloudflare (use tinyship-deploy skill; for Cloudflare Workers, use tinyship-cloudflare for the all-in setup)

Reference Files in TinyShip Repo

When executing this skill, read these files from the user's TinyShip project for context:

• env.example (shipeasy) / apps/tanstack-app/.dev.vars.example (tinyship-cf) — environment variables
• docs/user-guide/get-started.md — detailed getting started guide
• docs/user-guide/database.md — database configuration details
• docs/user-guide/payment/dynamic-pricing.md — dynamic pricing feature guide
• pnpm-workspace.yaml — workspace structure
• package.json — available scripts