Installation

Requirements

Node.js >= 22.12 & npm
Cloudflare account for remote D1 and Cloudflare deployment

Recommended Installation

Run the interactive installer:

npm create vergekit@latest

Verge Kit uses Cloudflare Workers with D1 by default, but the installer also offers a Node.js + MySQL preset as a self-hosted alternative.

The installer asks for a project location and completes the guided setup, creating local secrets, installing dependencies, applying migrations, and optionally creating the initial administrator account.

Manual Installation

These steps install the default Cloudflare Workers with D1 preset from the default branch of the repository.

Start in an empty project directory and run all commands from this location.

Download the Boilerplate

npx degit vergekit/vergekit

Install Dependencies

npm install

Create Local Secrets

Create .dev.vars (if it doesn’t exist), and copy the template and write a fresh Better Auth secret:

cp .dev.vars.example .dev.vars && secret="$(openssl rand -base64 32)" && awk -v secret="$secret" 'BEGIN { done = 0 } /^BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=/ { print "BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=" secret; done = 1; next } { print } END { if (!done) print "BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=" secret }' .dev.vars > .dev.vars.tmp && mv .dev.vars.tmp .dev.vars

Note: this command requires OpenSSL.

Do not commit .dev.vars. Use the Configuration Guide for other local values, deployed values, and secrets.

Apply the Initial Database Migration

npm run db:migrate:local

See Database for schema changes, remote D1 setup, and Drizzle Studio.

Create an Administrator (optional)

npm run init:admin

See Access Control for the default access model.

Start Development

npm run dev

Next Steps

Configure the included sign-in flows with Authentication.
Protect pages, API routes, and records with Access Control.
Select and configure an email provider with Email.
Use the Command Scripts for local development and project checks.
Prepare and deploy the application with the Deployment guide.