You can start a new Veap project in seconds using the official create-veap scaffolding CLI, or install individual @veap/* packages into an existing Next.js application.

Prerequisites #

Before installing Veap, verify that your development environment meets the following requirements:

Node.js 24+ or Bun 1.2+ (Bun is recommended for workspace scripts and the veap CLI).
Next.js 15 or 16 with the App Router and React 19 when building full-stack web applications.
For SQLite development (better-sqlite3), standard C/C++ build tools if prebuilt binaries are unavailable for your operating system.

Scaffold a new project with `create-veap`#

The fastest way to create a new application is with create-veap. It initializes a ready-to-run Next.js App Router project preconfigured with @veap/kernel, Tailwind CSS v4, TypeScript, lib/veap.ts, and instrumentation.ts.

Run the initializer with your preferred package manager:

bash

# Using Bun (recommended)
bun create veap my-app

# Using pnpm
pnpm create veap my-app

# Using npm
npm create veap my-app

When run in an interactive terminal without flags, create-veap prompts you for the project directory name and template selection.

CLI options #

Pass command-line flags to create-veap for non-interactive setups or custom templates:

Flag	Description
`--name <name>`	Specify the project name up front, skipping the interactive name prompt.
`--template <name>`	Select a built-in template (for example, `01-basic`).
`--example <url>`	Scaffold from a GitHub repository URL or branch subfolder instead of a built-in template.
`--choose`	Force interactive template selection even when a default template is available.
`--skip-install`	Generate project files without running package installation.
`--help`, `-h`	Print usage information and available flags.

For example, to scaffold a project non-interactively using the 01-basic template:

bash

bun create veap my-app --template 01-basic

Once scaffolding finishes, start the development server:

bash

cd my-app
bun dev

Add Veap to an existing Next.js project #

If you already have a Next.js App Router project, you can install @veap/kernel and only the feature packages you need.

1. Install `@veap/kernel`#

Every Veap package builds on top of @veap/kernel:

bash

bun add @veap/kernel

2. Install optional feature packages #

Install additional packages based on your application's requirements:

bash

# Database ORM + SQLite driver (or pg / mysql2)
bun add @veap/database better-sqlite3

# Authentication, sessions, and RBAC
bun add @veap/auth

# Plugin engine, virtual router, and UI extension points
bun add @veap/plugins

# Internationalization, mail, settings, storage, and UI components
bun add @veap/intl @veap/mail @veap/settings @veap/storage @veap/ui

Note

`@veap/database` declares database drivers (`better-sqlite3`, `pg`, `mysql2`) as optional peer dependencies. Install the driver that matches your `DB_CLIENT` configuration.

3. Enable TypeScript decorator metadata #

If you use the @Injectable() and @Inject() decorators from @veap/kernel, ensure experimentalDecorators is enabled in your tsconfig.json:

json

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "experimentalDecorators": true,
    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true
  }
}

Next steps #

Now that your packages are installed, configure your application composition root:

Your first application — create lib/veap.ts, register service providers, and boot the container.
Next.js integration — connect lib/veap.ts to Next.js instrumentation.ts, Server Components, and Server Actions.

Installation and scaffolding