This guide will walk you through the entire process of setting up a local development environment for LaunchKit AWS. By the end, you’ll have a fully functional version of the application running on your machine.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, please ensure you have the following tools installed and configured on your system:
  • Node.js (v18.x or later)
  • Yarn
  • Docker & Docker Compose
  • Git

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Step 1: Clone the Repository

First, clone the LaunchKit AWS repository to your local machine. 
git clone https://github.com/LaunchKit-AWS/saas-starter-kit.git

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Step 2: Navigate to the Project Folder

Change into the newly created project directory. 
cd saas-starter-kit

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Step 3: Install Dependencies

Install all the necessary project dependencies using Yarn. 
yarn install

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Step 4: Set Up Environment Variables

The project uses environment variables to manage secret keys and configuration. You’ll need to create a local .env file.
  1. Duplicate the example file: 
    cp .env.example .env
  2. Important: Open the new .env file. For basic local development, you do not need to fill in all the variables. The application will run without keys for services like Stripe, transactional emails, or social logins. You can add these later as you explore those features.

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Step 5: Start the Database

LaunchKit uses a Postgres database, which can be easily started using Docker Compose. This command will run a Postgres container in the background. 
docker-compose up -d

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Step 6: Apply the Database Schema

With the database running, you need to apply the database schema using Prisma. 
npx prisma db push

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Step 7: Run the Development Server

Finally, start the Next.js development server. 
yarn dev

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You’re Up and Running!

Congratulations! Your LaunchKit AWS application should now be running at http://localhost:4002. You can open your browser to this address to see the application in action. You can sign up with a new user account using the standard email and password method without any further configuration.

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Next Steps

Now that you have the basic application running, the next step is to configure some of the core features.

Next: Configuration

Learn how to add your API keys for services like Stripe and Google/GitHub for social logins.