Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Bun ≥ 1.0 — bun.sh
• Docker (for local Postgres + Redis via docker-compose)
• A GitHub account (you receive an invitation to launchy-customers/launchy-template after purchase)

You can use pnpm or npm instead of Bun if you prefer — every bun command has an equivalent (pnpm dev, etc.).

1. Clone the repository

Accept the invitation, then clone:

git clone https://github.com/launchy-customers/launchy-template.git my-launch-site
cd my-launch-site

The repo is private. You accepted the GitHub collaborator invitation in the email you got after checkout, so you're authenticated on GitHub already — the HTTPS clone will just work. If it prompts for credentials, sign in with your GitHub account (use a Personal Access Token as the password if you have 2FA enabled).

2. Install dependencies

bun install

3. Start Postgres + Redis

The bundled docker-compose.yml runs both:

bun run db:start

• Postgres on localhost:5432
• Redis on localhost:6379

Check they're running: docker ps.

4. Configure environment variables

Copy the example and fill in the minimum:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and set at minimum:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://launch-platform:launch-platform@localhost:5432/launch-platform
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=<openssl rand -base64 32>
BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
CRON_SECRET=<openssl rand -base64 32>

CRON_SECRET protects your /api/cron/* routes. You'll use it locally to trigger the weekly batch in step First Steps.

All other env vars are optional — features degrade gracefully if missing. See Environment Variables for the full list.

5. Push the schema

bun run db:push

This applies the Drizzle schema to your database (creates tables and indexes).

6. Run the setup script — it guides you

bun run setup

The script:

• Checks your prerequisites (bun, docker)
• Installs deps if needed
• Starts the database if it's not running
• Pushes the schema (idempotent)
• Seeds demo data

When it finishes, read its output carefully. It prints a 4-step walkthrough for everything that comes next: starting bun dev in a second terminal, signing up, promoting yourself to admin, and which optional services to wire up later. The steps below mirror what the script tells you.

7. Start the dev server (in a second terminal)

Keep the terminal where you ran setup open — verification links will print there. In a new terminal:

bun dev

Open http://localhost:3000. The server uses Turbopack.

8. Create your admin account

1. Click Sign up at the top of the site
2. Register with any email + password
3. Watch the bun dev terminal — without Plunk configured, the verification link prints there:

   [Email] Plunk not configured — verification link for [email protected]:
     http://localhost:3000/api/auth/verify-email?token=...

4. Copy that URL into your browser to verify
5. Back in your other terminal:

   bun run promote-admin [email protected]

6. Sign out and sign back in → the /admin link appears in the header

9. Open Drizzle Studio (optional)

Browse your database visually:

bun run db:studio

10. Preview email templates (optional)

bun run email:dev

React Email's dev server renders every template in emails/ with live reload.

Common bun run ... scripts

What to do next

1. First steps — create your admin, rebrand, publish your first batch
2. Project structure — understand the codebase layout
3. Integrations overview — connect the services you actually need

Troubleshooting

DATABASE_URL connection refused — bun run db:start hasn't finished. Wait 5 seconds or check docker ps.

Port 5432 or 6379 already in use — Stop the other Postgres / Redis instance first, or edit docker-compose.yml to map to different ports.

Turbopack errors on first run — Usually resolved by rm -rf .next && bun dev once.

Signed up but can't sign in — "please verify your email" — requireEmailVerification: true is enabled by default. Without Plunk configured, the verification link is printed to your bun dev terminal:

[Email] Plunk not configured — verification link for [email protected]:
  http://localhost:3000/api/auth/verify-email?token=...

Copy-paste it into your browser to verify. For a permanent fix, configure Plunk (see Plunk integration).

Port 3000 already in use — Next auto-falls-back to 3001. Or kill the other process.