Set Up Your Workspace

Get the Ghoststack code on your computer and running locally.

Step 1: Get the Code

Choose the method that fits your comfort level:

Option A: Using Cursor + AI (Easiest)

Open Cursor
File → Open Folder → Create a new folder for your app (e.g., my-app)
Open the folder
Use this prompt in Cursor:

Clone the Ghoststack repo into this folder and set it up for me.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                     
If directory is empty, run:                                                                                                        
gh repo clone d33j4ymk2/ghoststack .                                                                                               
git remote remove origin                                                                                                           
																																	
If directory is not empty, clone into temp subdirectory, move contents up, cleanup, and remove origin remote.                      
																																	
Then confirm it worked.

Option B: Download ZIP (No Terminal)

Go to github.com/d33j4ymk2/ghoststack
Click Code → Download ZIP
Extract the ZIP and rename the folder to your app name
Open Cursor → File → Open Folder → select your folder

Option C: Using Terminal (Developer)

gh auth status              # check you're logged in
cd ~/Documents              # or wherever you keep projects
gh repo clone d33j4ymk2/ghoststack your-app
cd your-app
git remote remove origin
cursor .

Tip: Replace your-app with your actual app name. Run gh auth login if not authenticated.

Step 2: Clean Up Docs

Choose one option:

Option A: Remove Docs Completely

If you won't need a /docs section in your app:

rm -rf content/docs app/docs lib/source.ts source.config.ts .source

Option B: Keep Docs (Clear Content)

If you want a /docs section for your own documentation:

Using Cursor prompt:

Clear all the Ghoststack documentation content but keep the docs system working.

1. Delete everything inside content/docs/
2. Create a minimal content/docs/index.mdx with frontmatter (title: "Documentation") and a simple welcome heading
3. Create content/docs/meta.json with just ["index"] in pages

Keep app/docs/, lib/source.ts, and source.config.ts intact.

Or run manually:

rm -rf content/docs/*
cat > content/docs/index.mdx << 'EOF'
---
title: Documentation
description: Welcome to the docs
---

# Documentation

Welcome to the documentation.
EOF
echo '{"title":"Docs","pages":["index"]}' > content/docs/meta.json

Your docs will be at localhost:3000/docs. See Create Docs for how to add pages.

Step 3: Create Config Files

Create your local config files from the examples:

Using Cursor:

cp -n .env.example .env.local
cp -n .cursor/mcp.example.json .cursor/mcp.json

Using Claude Code:

cp -n .env.example .env.local
cp -n .mcp.example.json .mcp.json

This creates:

.env.local — Your environment variables (API keys, etc.)
.cursor/mcp.json or .mcp.json — MCP server configuration

All files are in .gitignore since they contain sensitive values. If the files already exist, nothing happens.

Note: You'll fill in the actual values later when setting up Authentication and Payments. For full MCP setup instructions (including CLI alternative), see MCP Servers.

Step 4: Install Dependencies

npm install

This downloads all the packages your app needs. Takes about a minute.

Step 5: Start the App

npm run dev

Step 6: Preview Your App

Open your browser and go to:

http://localhost:3000

What's localhost? When you run npm run dev, your computer becomes a mini web server. localhost is just your own computer — and :3000 is the "door" (port) the app uses. It's only visible to you, not the internet.

You should see the Ghoststack landing page. 🎉

What's Next?

Your app is running locally! Now:

Set up version control — Next page
Start building — Customize your landing page

Tip: Both Cursor and Claude Code automatically read CLAUDE.md with every prompt. Learn more in AI Prompting.

Troubleshooting

npm install fails

npm install is failing with errors.

Please help me:
1. Check the error message
2. Fix any issues
3. Try again

Here's the error: [PASTE ERROR]

App won't start

npm run dev isn't working.

Error: [PASTE ERROR]

Please help me fix this.

Port already in use

If you see "Port 3000 is already in use":

Something else is using port 3000.

Please help me either:
1. Find and stop what's using port 3000
2. Or run my app on a different port

Can't see the page

If localhost:3000 shows nothing:

Make sure npm run dev is still running in the terminal
Check for errors in the terminal
Try refreshing the browser

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