cli

Create Better-T-Stack CLI

A modern CLI tool for scaffolding end-to-end type-safe TypeScript projects with best practices and customizable configurations

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Quick Start

Run without installing globally:

# Using bun (recommended)
bun create better-t-stack@latest

# Using pnpm
pnpm create better-t-stack@latest

# Using npm
npx create-better-t-stack@latest

Follow the prompts to configure your project or use the --yes flag for defaults.

Features

Category	Options
TypeScript	End-to-end type safety across all parts of your application
Frontend	• React with TanStack Router • React with React Router • React with TanStack Start (SSR) • Next.js • SvelteKit • Nuxt (Vue) • SolidJS • React Native with NativeWind (via Expo) • React Native with Unistyles (via Expo) • None
Backend	• Hono • Express • Elysia • Next.js API routes • Convex • Fastify • None
API Layer	• tRPC (type-safe APIs) • oRPC (OpenAPI-compatible type-safe APIs) • None
Runtime	• Bun • Node.js • Cloudflare Workers • None
Database	• SQLite • PostgreSQL • MySQL • MongoDB • None
ORM	• Drizzle (TypeScript-first) • Prisma (feature-rich) • Mongoose (for MongoDB) • None
Database Setup	• Turso (SQLite) • Cloudflare D1 (SQLite) • Neon (PostgreSQL) • Supabase (PostgreSQL) • Prisma Postgres • MongoDB Atlas • None (manual setup)
Authentication	Better-Auth (email/password, with more options coming soon)
Styling	Tailwind CSS with a shared shadcn/ui package for React web apps
Addons	• PWA support • Tauri (desktop applications) • Electrobun (lightweight desktop shell) • Starlight and Fumadocs (documentation sites) • Biome, Oxlint, Ultracite (linting and formatting) • Lefthook, Husky (Git hooks) • MCP, Skills (agent tooling) • OpenTUI, WXT (platform extensions) • Turborepo or Nx (monorepo orchestration)
Examples	• Todo app • AI Chat interface (using Vercel AI SDK)
Developer Experience	• Automatic Git initialization • Package manager choice (npm, pnpm, bun) • Automatic dependency installation

Usage

Usage: create-better-t-stack [project-directory] [options]

Options:
  -V, --version                   Output the version number
  -y, --yes                       Use default configuration
  --template <type>               Use a template (mern, pern, t3, uniwind, none)
  --database <type>               Database type (none, sqlite, postgres, mysql, mongodb)
  --orm <type>                    ORM type (none, drizzle, prisma, mongoose)
  --dry-run                       Validate configuration without writing files
  --auth <provider>               Authentication (better-auth, clerk, none)
  --payments <provider>           Payments provider (polar, none)
  --frontend <types...>           Frontend types (tanstack-router, react-router, tanstack-start, next, nuxt, svelte, solid, astro, native-bare, native-uniwind, native-unistyles, none)
  --addons <types...>             Additional addons (pwa, tauri, electrobun, starlight, biome, lefthook, husky, mcp, turborepo, nx, fumadocs, ultracite, oxlint, opentui, wxt, skills, none)
  --examples <types...>           Examples to include (todo, ai, none)
  --git                           Initialize git repository
  --no-git                        Skip git initialization
  --package-manager <pm>          Package manager (npm, pnpm, bun)
  --install                       Install dependencies
  --no-install                    Skip installing dependencies
  --db-setup <setup>              Database setup (turso, d1, neon, supabase, prisma-postgres, planetscale, mongodb-atlas, docker, none)
  --web-deploy <setup>            Web deployment (cloudflare, none)
  --server-deploy <setup>         Server deployment (cloudflare, none)
  --backend <framework>           Backend framework (hono, express, fastify, elysia, convex, self, none)
  --runtime <runtime>             Runtime (bun, node, workers, none)
  --api <type>                    API type (trpc, orpc, none)
  --directory-conflict <strategy> Directory strategy (merge, overwrite, increment, error)
  --manual-db                     Skip automatic database setup prompts
  -h, --help                      Display help

Agent-Focused Commands

# Raw JSON payload input (agent-friendly)
create-better-t-stack create-json --input '{"projectName":"my-app","yes":true,"dryRun":true}'
create-better-t-stack add-json --input '{"projectDir":"./my-app","addons":["wxt"],"addonOptions":{"wxt":{"template":"react"}}}'
create-better-t-stack create-json --input '{"projectName":"db-app","database":"postgres","orm":"drizzle","dbSetup":"neon","dbSetupOptions":{"mode":"manual"}}'

# Runtime schema/introspection output
create-better-t-stack schema --name all
create-better-t-stack schema --name createInput
create-better-t-stack schema --name addInput
create-better-t-stack schema --name addonOptions
create-better-t-stack schema --name dbSetupOptions
create-better-t-stack schema --name cli

# Local stdio MCP server
npx create-better-t-stack@latest mcp

To install Better T Stack into supported agent configs with add-mcp and avoid relying on a global CLI install:

npx -y add-mcp@latest "npx -y create-better-t-stack@latest mcp"

When you scaffold with the mcp addon, Better T Stack itself can also be installed into supported agent configs through add-mcp using a package runner command instead of assuming a global CLI install. For Bun projects, the generated config uses the equivalent bunx create-better-t-stack@latest mcp server command inside add-mcp.

For MCP project creation, prefer install: false. Long dependency installs can exceed common MCP client request timeouts, so the safest flow is to scaffold first and run your package manager install command afterward in the project directory.

Telemetry

This CLI collects anonymous usage data to help improve the tool. The data collected includes:

• Configuration options selected
• CLI version
• Node.js version
• Platform (OS)

Telemetry is enabled by default in published versions to help us understand usage patterns and improve the tool.

Disabling Telemetry

You can disable telemetry by setting the BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED environment variable:

# Disable telemetry for a single run
BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 npx create-better-t-stack

# Disable telemetry globally in your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)
export BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

Examples

Create a project with default configuration:

npx create-better-t-stack --yes

Validate a command without writing files:

npx create-better-t-stack --yes --dry-run

Create a project with specific options:

npx create-better-t-stack --database postgres --orm drizzle --auth better-auth --addons pwa biome

Create a project with Elysia backend and Node.js runtime:

npx create-better-t-stack --backend elysia --runtime node

Create a project with multiple frontend options (one web + one native):

npx create-better-t-stack --frontend tanstack-router native-bare

Create a project with examples:

npx create-better-t-stack --examples todo ai

Create a project with Turso database setup:

npx create-better-t-stack --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup turso

Create a project with Supabase PostgreSQL setup:

npx create-better-t-stack --database postgres --orm drizzle --db-setup supabase --auth better-auth

Create a project with Convex backend:

npx create-better-t-stack --backend convex --frontend tanstack-router

Create a project with documentation site:

npx create-better-t-stack --addons starlight

Create a minimal TypeScript project with no backend:

npx create-better-t-stack --backend none --frontend tanstack-router

Create a backend-only project with no frontend:

npx create-better-t-stack --frontend none --backend hono --database postgres --orm drizzle

Create a simple frontend-only project:

npx create-better-t-stack --backend none --frontend next --addons none --examples none

Create a Cloudflare Workers project:

npx create-better-t-stack --backend hono --runtime workers --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup d1

Create a minimal API-only project:

npx create-better-t-stack --frontend none --backend hono --api trpc --database none --addons none

Compatibility Notes

• Convex backend: Requires database, orm, api, runtime, and server-deploy to be none; auth can be better-auth, clerk, or none depending frontend compatibility
• Backend 'none': If selected, this option will force related options like API, ORM, database, authentication, and runtime to 'none'. Examples will also be disabled (set to none/empty).
• Frontend 'none': Creates a backend-only project. When selected, PWA, Tauri, Electrobun, and certain examples may be disabled.
• API 'none': Disables tRPC/oRPC setup. Can be used with backend frameworks for REST APIs or custom API implementations.
• Database 'none': Disables database setup and requires ORM to be none.
• ORM 'none': Can be used when you want to handle database operations manually or use a different ORM.
• Runtime 'none': Only available with Convex backend, backend none, or backend self.
• Cloudflare Workers runtime: Only compatible with Hono backend, Drizzle ORM (or no ORM), and SQLite database (with D1 setup). Not compatible with MongoDB.
• Addons 'none': Skips all addons.
• Examples 'none': Skips all example implementations (todo, AI chat).
• Nuxt, Svelte, SolidJS, and Astro frontends are only compatible with oRPC API layer
• PWA support requires TanStack Router, React Router, Next.js, or SolidJS
• Tauri desktop app requires TanStack Router, React Router, TanStack Start, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, SolidJS, or Astro
• Electrobun desktop app requires TanStack Router, React Router, TanStack Start, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, SolidJS, or Astro. Desktop packaging uses static web assets, so SSR-first frontends need a static/export build before desktop builds will work.
• AI example is not compatible with Solid or Astro. With Convex backend, it also excludes Nuxt and Svelte.

Project Structure

The created project follows a clean monorepo structure:

my-better-t-app/
├── apps/
│   ├── web/          # Frontend application
│   ├── server/       # Backend API
│   ├── native/       # (optional) Mobile application
│   └── docs/         # (optional) Documentation site
├── packages/         # Shared packages
└── README.md         # Auto-generated project documentation

After project creation, you'll receive detailed instructions for next steps and additional setup requirements.