YourSaaS

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ — nodejs.org
pnpm — npm install -g pnpm
PostgreSQL — local install, Neon (recommended, free tier), or Supabase

LaunchFst uses pnpm exclusively. Do not mix with npm or yarn — the lockfile is pnpm-specific.

Quick Start

Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/your-org/launchfst.git my-app
cd my-app
pnpm install

Configure environment variables

cp .env.example .env.local

Only DATABASE_URL is required to start. Everything else is optional.

Set up the database

pnpm db:push       # push schema to database (no migration history)
pnpm db:generate   # generate Prisma client (run after schema changes)

For a local database using Docker:

pnpm docker:dev    # starts postgres:17-alpine on port 5432
# Use: DATABASE_URL="postgresql://launchfst:launchfst@localhost:5432/launchfst"

Start the dev server

pnpm dev           # starts on http://localhost:3000 with Turbopack

Create your first account

Go to http://localhost:3000/signup. To promote your account to SuperAdmin:

pnpm make-superadmin your@email.com

Environment Variables

All variables are documented here. Copy .env.example → .env.local and fill in what you need.

Required

Variable	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection string
`NEXTAUTH_URL`	Your app URL (`http://localhost:3000` in dev)
`AUTH_SECRET`	Random secret for JWT signing — generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`

Never commit .env.local. It's already in .gitignore, but double-check before pushing.

Payments (choose one)

Set PAYMENT_PROVIDER to activate a provider. Leave empty to disable payments (billing page shows a setup guide).

PAYMENT_PROVIDER="lemonsqueezy"   # or "polar" or "stripe"

LemonSqueezy:

Variable	Description
`LEMONSQUEEZY_API_KEY`	API key from app.lemonsqueezy.com → Settings → API
`LEMONSQUEEZY_STORE_ID`	Store ID from Settings → Stores
`LEMONSQUEEZY_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Webhook signing secret

Polar:

Variable	Description
`POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN`	Access token from Polar Dashboard → Settings → API
`POLAR_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Webhook signing secret
`POLAR_MODE`	`sandbox` for testing, `production` for live

Stripe:

Variable	Description
`STRIPE_SECRET_KEY`	Secret key (`sk_live_xxx` or `sk_test_xxx`)
`STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	Publishable key (`pk_live_xxx` or `pk_test_xxx`)
`STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Webhook signing secret (`whsec_xxx`)

Email (choose one)

Set EMAIL_PROVIDER to activate email sending. Leave empty to log emails to console (local dev).

EMAIL_PROVIDER="resend"         # or "nodemailer"
EMAIL_FROM="YourSaaS <noreply@yourdomain.com>"

Resend:

Variable	Description
`RESEND_API_KEY`	API key from resend.com → API Keys

Nodemailer (SMTP):

Variable	Description
`SMTP_HOST`	SMTP server hostname
`SMTP_PORT`	SMTP port (default: `587`)
`SMTP_USER`	SMTP username
`SMTP_PASS`	SMTP password
`SMTP_SECURE`	Use TLS (`true`/`false`, default: `false`)

OAuth

Both providers default to disabled. Set NEXT_PUBLIC_*_ENABLED="true" and provide credentials to show the login button.

NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_ENABLED="true"
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_ENABLED="true"
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

Feature Flags

Toggle features on/off at build time. All default to enabled.

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_BLOG="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_DOCS="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_CONTACT="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_NEWSLETTER="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_ORGANIZATIONS="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_WAITLIST="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_FEEDBACK="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_CHANGELOG="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_SEARCH="true"
NEXT_PUBLIC_COMING_SOON="false"
NEXT_PUBLIC_DEMO_MODE="false"

Feature Add-ons

These are only needed when you enable the corresponding feature add-on.

AI Chat:

AI_PROVIDER="openai"        # or "anthropic"
OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

File Uploads (UploadThing):

UPLOADTHING_TOKEN="your-token"

Rate Limiting (Upstash Redis):

UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL="https://..."
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN="your-token"

Error Monitoring (Sentry):

NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN="https://...@sentry.io/..."
SENTRY_ORG="your-org"
SENTRY_PROJECT="your-project"

Analytics:

NEXT_PUBLIC_ANALYTICS_PROVIDER="posthog"   # or "google"
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY="phc_..."
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST="https://us.i.posthog.com"
# NEXT_PUBLIC_GA_ID="G-..."

Contact form email destination:

CONTACT_EMAIL="hello@yourdomain.com"

Available Scripts

Script	Description
`pnpm dev`	Start dev server (Turbopack, port 3000)
`pnpm build`	Production build
`pnpm start`	Start production server
`pnpm lint`	Run ESLint
`pnpm db:push`	Push Prisma schema to database
`pnpm db:generate`	Generate Prisma client
`pnpm db:studio`	Open Prisma Studio GUI
`pnpm make-superadmin`	Promote user to SUPERADMIN by email
`pnpm seed-demo`	Create demo users and orgs
`pnpm email:preview`	Preview email templates
`pnpm docker:dev`	Start local PostgreSQL with Docker
`pnpm docker:down`	Stop Docker PostgreSQL
`pnpm docker:build`	Build Docker image
`pnpm docker:prod`	Run production Docker container

Common Issues

DATABASE_URL not set — The app will crash on startup. Set it in .env.local.

Prisma client not generated — Run pnpm db:generate after cloning or after schema changes.

Auth error "AUTH_SECRET is not set" — Generate with openssl rand -base64 32 and add to .env.local.

OAuth redirect mismatch — Add http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google (and /github) to your OAuth app's allowed redirect URIs.

Port 5432 in use — Another PostgreSQL instance is running. Stop it or change the Docker port mapping in docker-compose.yml.