Create Better-T-Stack CLI

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

Quick Start

Run without installing globally:

1# Using npm
2npx create-better-t-stack@latest
3
4# Using bun
5bun create better-t-stack@latest
6
7# Using pnpm
8pnpm 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 (via Prisma Accelerate) • MongoDB Atlas • None (manual setup)
Authentication	Better-Auth (email/password, with more options coming soon)
Styling	Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui components
Addons	• PWA support • Tauri (desktop applications) • Starlight (documentation site) • Biome (linting and formatting) • Husky (Git hooks) • Turborepo (optimized builds)
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

1Usage: create-better-t-stack [project-directory] [options]
2
3Options:
4  -V, --version                   Output the version number
5  -y, --yes                       Use default configuration
6  --database <type>               Database type (none, sqlite, postgres, mysql, mongodb)
7  --orm <type>                    ORM type (none, drizzle, prisma, mongoose)
8  --auth                          Include authentication
9  --no-auth                       Exclude authentication
10  --frontend <types...>           Frontend types (tanstack-router, react-router, tanstack-start, next, nuxt, svelte, solid, native-nativewind, native-unistyles, none)
11  --addons <types...>             Additional addons (pwa, tauri, starlight, biome, husky, turborepo, none)
12  --examples <types...>           Examples to include (todo, ai, none)
13  --git                           Initialize git repository
14  --no-git                        Skip git initialization
15  --package-manager <pm>          Package manager (npm, pnpm, bun)
16  --install                       Install dependencies
17  --no-install                    Skip installing dependencies
18  --db-setup <setup>              Database setup (turso, d1, neon, supabase, prisma-postgres, mongodb-atlas, none)
19  --backend <framework>           Backend framework (hono, express, elysia, next, convex, fastify, none)
20  --runtime <runtime>             Runtime (bun, node, workers, none)
21  --api <type>                    API type (trpc, orpc, none)
22  -h, --help                      Display help

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 environment variable:

1# Disable telemetry for a single run
2BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 npx create-better-t-stack my-app
3
4# Disable telemetry globally in your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)
5export BTS_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

Development

During development, telemetry is automatically disabled when NODE_ENV=development.

Examples

Create a project with default configuration:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --yes

Create a project with specific options:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --database postgres --orm drizzle --auth --addons pwa biome

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

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --backend elysia --runtime node

Create a project with multiple frontend options:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --frontend tanstack-router native

Create a project with examples:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --examples todo ai

Create a project with Turso database setup:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup turso

Create a project with Supabase PostgreSQL setup:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --database postgres --orm drizzle --db-setup supabase --auth

Create a project with Convex backend:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --backend convex --frontend tanstack-router

Create a project with documentation site:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --addons starlight

Create a minimal TypeScript project with no backend:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --backend none --frontend tanstack-router

Create a backend-only project with no frontend:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --frontend none --backend hono --database postgres --orm drizzle

Create a simple frontend-only project:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --backend none --frontend next --addons none --examples none

Create a Cloudflare Workers project:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --backend hono --runtime workers --database sqlite --orm drizzle --db-setup d1

Create a minimal API-only project:

1npx create-better-t-stack my-app --frontend none --backend hono --api trpc --database none --addons none

Compatibility Notes

• Convex backend: Automatically disables authentication, database, ORM, and API options
• 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, 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. Automatically sets ORM to 'none' and disables authentication.
• 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 or when backend is 'none'.
• 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 (PWA, Tauri, Starlight, Biome, Husky, Turborepo).
• Examples 'none': Skips all example implementations (todo, AI chat).
• SvelteKit, Nuxt, and SolidJS frontends are only compatible with oRPC API layer
• PWA support requires React with TanStack Router, React Router, or SolidJS
• Tauri desktop app requires React (TanStack Router/React Router), Nuxt, SvelteKit, or SolidJS
• AI example is not compatible with Elysia backend or SolidJS frontend

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.

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