create-ship-app

create-ship-app is the Ship CLI. One command scaffolds a pnpm + Turborepo monorepo, copies your chosen plugins into the repo, and wires a deployment target — ready to run.

npx @paralect/ship init

npx create-ship-app@latest init resolves to the same CLI. Both run version 3.0.0.

It downloads the real template from paralect/ship, so what you scaffold is exactly what the docs describe — no abstraction layer between you and your code.

The scaffold flow

init walks you through three questions, then builds the project.

Pick a setup

Two shapes — see Architecture for the full picture:

PostgreSQL + TanStack Start — full-stack. You get apps/api (Hono + oRPC + Drizzle + PostgreSQL) and apps/web (TanStack Start), with end-to-end types flowing from the API to the client.
TanStack Start web-only — apps/web only, no apps/api. Backend logic runs as type-safe server functions inside the Start server. No database, no API to maintain.

Choose plugins

A multiselect — space to toggle, enter to confirm. Each plugin merges into your codebase, the same way shadcn/ui adds components. See Plugins.

Plugin	What it adds
`auth-starter`	better-auth wiring + the web sign-in/up pages and app shell
`admin`	Admin dashboard with a user list (requires `auth-starter`)
`mailer`	Resend + React Email templates → `@ship/emails`
`cloud-storage`	S3-compatible file upload (Garage in dev, Wasabi/AWS in prod)
`notes`	Notes CRUD — a worked example resource
`ai-chat`	Streaming AI chat via `@ship/ai` (requires `auth-starter`)

auth-starter and admin are pre-selected for the full-stack setup. In the web-only setup, plugins that need a backend are hidden.

Choose a deployment target

Pick where this ships. The CLI drops the matching CI workflows and infrastructure-as-code into your repo.

Choice	Docs
Digital Ocean Apps	/deployment/digital-ocean-apps
Render	/deployment/render
Digital Ocean Managed Kubernetes	/deployment/kubernetes/digital-ocean
AWS EKS	/deployment/kubernetes/aws

A run looks like this:

Hey! Let's build your Ship 🚀

✔ What is the name of your project? … my-ship-app
? Which setup do you want? › - Use arrow-keys. Return to submit.
❯  PostgreSQL + TanStack Start (full-stack)
   TanStack Start web-only
? Which plugins do you want to install? (space to toggle, enter to confirm)
❯ ◉ auth-starter   better-auth wiring + web sign-in/up
  ◉ admin          Admin dashboard with a user list
  ◯ mailer         Resend + React Email templates
  ◯ cloud-storage  S3-compatible file upload
  ◯ notes          Notes CRUD — example resource
  ◯ ai-chat        Streaming AI chat via @ship/ai
? What deployment type would you like to use? › - Use arrow-keys. Return to submit.
❯  Digital Ocean Apps
   Render
   Digital Ocean Managed Kubernetes
   AWS EKS

Then start it:

cd my-ship-app
pnpm start

pnpm start brings up infrastructure, runs migrations, and starts every service.

Naming the project

Pass a directory to skip the name prompt:

npx @paralect/ship my-ship-app

The CLI validates the name against npm rules and refuses to scaffold into a non-empty folder.

Skipping the deployment prompt

Pass --deployment (-d) with a shortcut to answer that question up front:

npx @paralect/ship my-ship-app --deployment do-apps

Shortcut	Target
`do-apps`	Digital Ocean Apps
`render`	Render
`do-kubernetes`	Digital Ocean Managed Kubernetes
`aws-eks`	AWS EKS

Adding plugins later

The CLI doesn’t stop at scaffold time. From inside an existing Ship project, pull a plugin into your repo:

npx @paralect/ship install <plugin-name>

npx @paralect/ship install ai-chat

install copies the plugin’s resources, routes and packages into your codebase — apps/api/src/resources/..., apps/web/src/routes/..., packages/... — so from then on every line is yours to edit. See Plugins for the full catalog.

Command reference

Command	Does
`init`	Scaffold a new project interactively
`<project-directory>`	Scaffold into a named directory
`install <plugin>`	Merge a plugin into the current project
`-d, --deployment <type>`	Preselect the deployment target
`-v, --version`	Print the CLI version

Getting Started

Ship Components

Plugins

create-ship-app

The scaffold flow

Naming the project

Skipping the deployment prompt

Adding plugins later

Command reference

​The scaffold flow

​Naming the project

​Skipping the deployment prompt

​Adding plugins later

​Command reference

The scaffold flow

Naming the project

Skipping the deployment prompt

Adding plugins later

Command reference