create-agentic-app

create-agentic-app

Scaffold a new agentic AI application with Next.js, Better Auth, and AI SDK.

Usage

Create a new project in the current directory:

npx create-agentic-app@latest .

Create a new project in a subdirectory:

npx create-agentic-app@latest my-app

Non-Interactive Mode (for CI/CD and coding agents)

All prompts can be bypassed with CLI flags, enabling fully automated project scaffolding:

# Full non-interactive setup
npx create-agentic-app@latest my-app -y -p pnpm

# Skip install and git init for faster scaffolding
npx create-agentic-app@latest my-app -y -p npm --skip-install --skip-git

Available Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--yes	-y	Auto-confirm non-empty directory prompt
--package-manager <manager>	-p	Package manager to use: pnpm, npm, or yarn
--skip-install		Skip dependency installation
--skip-git		Skip git repository initialization

What's Included

This starter kit includes:

• Next.js 16 with App Router and Turbopack
• Better Auth for authentication (email/password, OAuth)
• AI SDK by Vercel for AI chat functionality
• Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL database
• Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui components
• TypeScript for type safety
• Dark mode support with next-themes

Next Steps

After creating your project:

• Update environment variables: Edit .env with your API keys and database credentials
• Start the database: docker compose up -d
• Run migrations: pnpm run db:migrate (or npm/yarn)
• Start dev server: pnpm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see your app!

Publishing to npm

To publish this package to npm:

• Update package.json: Set your author, repository URL, and version in create-agentic-app/package.json
• Test locally (optional): Test the package before publishing:

  cd create-agentic-app
  npm link
  cd /path/to/test/directory
  create-agentic-app my-test-app
  

• Publish: The sync happens automatically!

  cd create-agentic-app
  npm publish
  

  The prepublishOnly hook will automatically sync the template from the main project before publishing.

Maintainer Guide: Updating & Publishing

This section is for maintainers who need to update the npm package after making changes to the main project.

Complete Publishing Workflow

Follow these steps every time you make changes to the main project and want to publish them:

Step 1: Make Changes to Main Project

Edit any files in the main project (outside of create-agentic-app/ folder):

• src/ components and pages
• docker-compose.yml
• package.json
• Configuration files
• etc.

Step 2: Navigate to create-agentic-app Directory

cd create-agentic-app

Step 3: Sync Template from Main Project

This copies all your changes from the main project into the template folder:

npm run sync

What this does:

• Deletes everything in create-agentic-app/template/
• Copies ALL files from your main project into template/
• Excludes: node_modules, .next, .git, lock files, .env, and the create-agentic-app folder itself
• Cleans up the template's package.json (removes private field and sync-template script)

Step 4: Bump the Version

Update the version number in create-agentic-app/package.json:

Option A - Using npm version command (recommended):

npm version patch   # 1.1.3 → 1.1.4 (bug fixes)
# or
npm version minor   # 1.1.3 → 1.2.0 (new features)
# or
npm version major   # 1.1.3 → 2.0.0 (breaking changes)

Option B - Manual: Edit create-agentic-app/package.json and change the version number.

Step 5: Verify Everything Looks Good (Optional)

Quick check to make sure your changes are in the package:

npm pack --dry-run | grep "template/"

This shows all files that will be published. Look for your changed files.

Step 6: Publish to npm

npm publish

What happens:

• The prepublishOnly hook automatically runs npm run sync again (safety check)
• Your package gets published to npm with the new version

Step 7: Test It

In a different directory, test that it works:

cd /path/to/test-directory
npx create-agentic-app@latest test-project
# or use the specific version
npx create-agentic-app@1.1.4 test-project

Quick Reference Commands

# Complete workflow in 4 commands:
cd create-agentic-app
npm run sync
npm version patch
npm publish

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: You edited docker-compose.yml in the main project

cd create-agentic-app
npm run sync                    # Copies docker-compose.yml to template/
npm version patch               # Bumps to next version
npm publish                     # Publishes to npm

Scenario 2: You added a new component in src/components/

cd create-agentic-app
npm run sync                    # Copies new component to template/
npm version patch               # Bumps version
npm publish                     # Publishes

Scenario 3: You updated multiple files

cd create-agentic-app
npm run sync                    # Copies ALL changes to template/
npm version patch               # Bumps version
npm publish                     # Publishes

What Gets Excluded from the Template

The sync script excludes these patterns (see scripts/sync-templates.js):

• node_modules
• .next
• .git
• pnpm-lock.yaml
• package-lock.json
• yarn.lock
• tsconfig.tsbuildinfo
• .env
• create-agentic-app (the folder itself)

Troubleshooting

Issue: npmjs.com shows old version after publishing

• The npm website can take 5-10 minutes to update due to CDN caching
• Verify actual registry: npm view create-agentic-app version
• The package is available to users immediately via npx even if the website hasn't updated

Issue: Users getting old version with npx

• Users may have cached versions. Tell them to:

  npx clear-npx-cache
  npx create-agentic-app@latest my-project
  # or use specific version
  npx create-agentic-app@1.1.4 my-project
  

Issue: Forgot to run sync before publishing

• No problem! The prepublishOnly hook runs it automatically
• But it's good practice to run manually first to verify changes

License

MIT