A modern web application starter template built with Next.js 15, featuring authentication, database integration, and dark mode support.

• Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router with Turbopack)
• Language: TypeScript
• Authentication: Better Auth
• Database: Drizzle ORM with PostgreSQL
• Styling: Tailwind CSS v4
• UI Components: shadcn/ui (New York style)
• Theme System: next-themes
• Icons: Lucide React

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• Node.js 18+ installed
• Docker and Docker Compose (for database setup)
• Generated project documents from CodeGuide for best development experience

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd codeguide-starter-fullstack

2. Install dependencies

   npm install
   # or
   yarn install
   # or
   pnpm install

3. Environment Variables Setup

   • Copy the .env.example file to .env:

     cp .env.example .env

   • The default values work with Docker setup, modify as needed

4. Start the development server

   npm run dev
   # or
   yarn dev
   # or
   pnpm dev

5. Open http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the result.

1. Start PostgreSQL with Docker:

   npm run db:up

   This starts PostgreSQL in a Docker container with default credentials.

2. Push database schema:

   npm run db:push

1. Create a PostgreSQL database locally
2. Update your environment variables in .env:

   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@localhost:5432/database_name
   POSTGRES_DB=your_database_name
   POSTGRES_USER=your_username
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_password

3. Run database migrations:

   npm run db:push

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:

# Database Configuration (defaults work with Docker)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5433/postgres
POSTGRES_DB=postgres
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres

# Authentication
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your_secret_key_here
BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
NEXT_PUBLIC_BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

• 🔐 Authentication with Better Auth (email/password)
• 🗄️ PostgreSQL Database with Drizzle ORM
• 🎨 40+ shadcn/ui components (New York style)
• 🌙 Dark mode with system preference detection
• 🚀 App Router with Server Components and Turbopack
• 📱 Responsive design with TailwindCSS v4
• 🎯 Type-safe database operations
• 🔒 Modern authentication patterns
• 🐳 Full Docker support with multi-stage builds
• 🚀 Production-ready deployment configuration

codeguide-starter-fullstack/
├── app/                        # Next.js app router pages
│   ├── globals.css            # Global styles with dark mode
│   ├── layout.tsx             # Root layout with providers
│   └── page.tsx               # Main page
├── components/                # React components
│   └── ui/                    # shadcn/ui components (40+)
├── db/                        # Database configuration
│   ├── index.ts              # Database connection
│   └── schema/               # Database schemas
├── docker/                    # Docker configuration
│   └── postgres/             # PostgreSQL initialization
├── hooks/                     # Custom React hooks
├── lib/                       # Utility functions
│   ├── auth.ts               # Better Auth configuration
│   └── utils.ts              # General utilities
├── auth-schema.ts            # Authentication schema
├── docker-compose.yml        # Docker services configuration
├── Dockerfile                # Application container definition
├── drizzle.config.ts         # Drizzle configuration
└── components.json           # shadcn/ui configuration

This starter includes modern database integration:

• Drizzle ORM for type-safe database operations
• PostgreSQL as the database provider
• Better Auth integration with Drizzle adapter
• Database migrations with Drizzle Kit

• npm run dev - Start development server with Turbopack
• npm run build - Build for production with Turbopack
• npm start - Start production server
• npm run lint - Run ESLint

• npm run db:up - Start PostgreSQL in Docker
• npm run db:down - Stop PostgreSQL container
• npm run db:dev - Start development PostgreSQL (port 5433)
• npm run db:dev-down - Stop development PostgreSQL
• npm run db:push - Push schema changes to database
• npm run db:generate - Generate Drizzle migration files
• npm run db:studio - Open Drizzle Studio (database GUI)
• npm run db:reset - Reset database (drop all tables and recreate)

• Pre-configured with 40+ shadcn/ui components in New York style
• Components are fully customizable and use CSS variables for theming
• Automatic dark mode support with next-themes integration
• Add new components: npx shadcn@latest add [component-name]

• npm run docker:build - Build application Docker image
• npm run docker:up - Start full application stack (app + database)
• npm run docker:down - Stop all containers
• npm run docker:logs - View container logs
• npm run docker:clean - Stop containers and clean up volumes

# Start the entire stack (recommended for new users)
npm run docker:up

# View logs
npm run docker:logs

# Stop everything
npm run docker:down

# Option 1: Database only (develop app locally)
npm run db:up          # Start PostgreSQL
npm run dev            # Start Next.js development server

# Option 2: Full Docker stack
npm run docker:up      # Start both app and database

The docker-compose.yml includes:

• postgres: Main PostgreSQL database (port 5432)
• postgres-dev: Development database (port 5433) - use --profile dev
• app: Next.js application container (port 3000)

# Start development database on port 5433
docker-compose --profile dev up postgres-dev -d

# Or use the npm script
npm run db:dev

1. Clone and setup on your server:

   git clone <your-repo>
   cd codeguide-starter-fullstack
   cp .env.example .env

2. Configure environment variables:

   # Edit .env with production values
   DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:your_secure_password@postgres:5432/postgres
   POSTGRES_DB=postgres
   POSTGRES_USER=postgres
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
   BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your-very-secure-secret-key
   BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://yourdomain.com
   NEXT_PUBLIC_BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://yourdomain.com

3. Deploy:

   npm run docker:up

1. Build and push image:

   # Build the image
   docker build -t your-registry/codeguide-starter-fullstack:latest .
   
   # Push to registry
   docker push your-registry/codeguide-starter-fullstack:latest

2. Deploy using your cloud provider's container service

1. Deploy to Vercel:

   npm i -g vercel
   vercel

2. Add environment variables in Vercel dashboard:

   • DATABASE_URL: Your managed PostgreSQL connection string
   • BETTER_AUTH_SECRET: Generate a secure secret
   • BETTER_AUTH_URL: Your Vercel deployment URL

3. Setup database:

   # Push schema to your managed database
   npm run db:push

# Required for production
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:port/database
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=generate-a-very-secure-32-character-key
BETTER_AUTH_URL=https://yourdomain.com

# Optional optimizations
NODE_ENV=production

• Database: Use managed PostgreSQL (AWS RDS, Google Cloud SQL, etc.)
• Security: Generate strong secrets, use HTTPS
• Performance: Enable Next.js output: 'standalone' for smaller containers
• Monitoring: Add logging and health checks
• Backup: Regular database backups
• SSL: Terminate SSL at load balancer or reverse proxy

The application includes basic health checks. You can extend them:

# In Dockerfile, add health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:3000/api/health || exit 1

This starter is optimized for AI coding agents:

• Clear file structure and naming conventions
• TypeScript integration with proper type definitions
• Modern authentication patterns
• Database schema examples

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.