Installation

This page gets the starter running locally in a few minutes.

At the end, you'll be able to explore real SaaS screens: dashboard, projects, admin, billing, settings, and auth.

You'll learn

• How to clone and run the starter
• What to expect on first launch
• How to validate the installation
• How to troubleshoot common setup issues

Prerequisites

Make sure your environment includes:

• Node.js ≥ 18 (recommended: latest LTS)
• pnpm installed globally
• Git

Check quickly:

node -v
pnpm -v
git --version

If pnpm is missing:

npm install -g pnpm

Step 1 — Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/pycolors-io/pycolors-starter-free.git
cd pycolors-starter-free

Step 2 — Install dependencies

pnpm install

This installs:

• Next.js App Router
• Tailwind v4
• PyColors UI
• TypeScript + ESLint baseline

Step 3 — Start the development server

pnpm dev

Open:

http://localhost:3000

You should see the dashboard.

Step 4 — Validate the starter

Open these routes:

• /login
• /register
• /dashboard
• /projects
• /admin
• /billing
• /settings

If all pages load → installation is complete.

First things to try

Edit the dashboard title

Open:

app/dashboard/page.tsx

Change the heading text and save.

Hot reload should update the browser instantly.

Rename the core entity

Search for Projects in the repo.

This is intentionally easy to rename to your domain model.

Modify mock data

Open:

components/projects/project-types.ts

Change the mock projects to match your product.

Troubleshooting

Port already in use

pnpm dev --port 3001

Node version errors

node -v

Upgrade to Node LTS and reinstall dependencies.

Using npm or yarn

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
pnpm install

Build errors after pulling updates

rm -rf node_modules .next
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Common pitfalls

Starter Free does not require:

• database URL
• auth secrets
• Stripe keys

Everything is mocked.

What you should see

You now have a local SaaS surface with:

• Auth screens
• Dashboard
• CRUD UI
• Admin surface
• Billing surface
• Settings structure

All running locally with hot reload.

Next steps

Continue to:

→ Project Structure