options.mdx

title	Options Reference
description	Complete reference for all CLI options and flags

General Options

--yes, -y

Use default configuration and skip interactive prompts.

create-better-t-stack --yes

--template <type>

Use a predefined project template:

• none: No template (default)
• mern: MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js stack
• pern: PostgreSQL, Express, React, Node.js stack
• t3: T3 stack configuration
• uniwind: UniWind React Native template

create-better-t-stack --template t3

--manual-db

Skip automatic database setup prompts and use manual database configuration.

create-better-t-stack --manual-db

--dry-run

Validate configuration, compatibility, and directory handling without writing files.

create-better-t-stack my-app --yes --dry-run

--package-manager <pm>

Choose package manager: npm, pnpm, or bun.

create-better-t-stack --package-manager bun

--install / --no-install

Control dependency installation after project creation.

create-better-t-stack --no-install

--git / --no-git

Control Git repository initialization.

create-better-t-stack --no-git

--yolo

Bypass validations and compatibility checks. Not recommended for normal use.

create-better-t-stack --yolo

--verbose

Show detailed result information in JSON format after project creation.

create-better-t-stack --verbose

--render-title / --no-render-title

Control whether the ASCII art title is shown. Enabled by default.

# Hide the title (useful in CI)
create-better-t-stack --no-render-title

--directory-conflict <strategy>

How to handle existing, non-empty target directories:

• merge: Keep existing files and merge new ones
• overwrite: Clear the directory before scaffolding
• increment: Create a suffixed directory (e.g., my-app-1)
• error: Fail instead of prompting

# Overwrite an existing directory without prompting
create-better-t-stack my-app --yes --directory-conflict overwrite

# Safely create a new directory name if it exists
create-better-t-stack my-app --yes --directory-conflict increment

--disable-analytics / --no-disable-analytics

Control whether analytics and telemetry data is collected.

# Disable analytics collection
create-better-t-stack --disable-analytics

# Enable analytics collection (default)
create-better-t-stack --no-disable-analytics

Analytics help improve Better-T-Stack by providing insights into usage patterns. When disabled, no data is collected or transmitted.

For JSON-first automation, runtime schemas, and nested structured options, see Agent Workflows.

Database Options

--database <type>

Database type to use:

• none: No database
• sqlite: SQLite database
• postgres: PostgreSQL database
• mysql: MySQL database
• mongodb: MongoDB database

create-better-t-stack --database postgres

--orm <type>

ORM to use with your database:

• none: No ORM
• drizzle: Drizzle ORM (TypeScript-first)
• prisma: Prisma ORM (feature-rich)
• mongoose: Mongoose ODM (for MongoDB)

create-better-t-stack --database postgres --orm drizzle

--db-setup <setup>

Database hosting/setup provider:

• none: Manual setup
• turso: Turso (SQLite)
• d1: Cloudflare D1 (SQLite; requires either Cloudflare Workers server deployment or backend self with Cloudflare web deployment)
• neon: Neon (PostgreSQL)
• supabase: Supabase (PostgreSQL)
• prisma-postgres: Prisma Postgres
• planetscale: PlanetScale (MySQL/PostgreSQL)
• mongodb-atlas: MongoDB Atlas
• docker: Local Docker containers

create-better-t-stack --database postgres --db-setup neon

If you need structured control over database provisioning behavior, use dbSetupOptions with create-json or the programmatic API. See Agent Workflows.

Backend Options

--backend <framework>

Backend framework to use:

• none: No backend
• hono: Hono (fast, lightweight)
• express: Express.js (popular, mature)
• fastify: Fastify (fast, plugin-based)
• elysia: Elysia (Bun-native)
• convex: Convex backend
• self: Self-hosted/custom backend

create-better-t-stack --backend hono

--runtime <runtime>

Runtime environment:

• none: No specific runtime (only with convex, none, or self backend)
• bun: Bun runtime
• node: Node.js runtime
• workers: Cloudflare Workers

create-better-t-stack --backend hono --runtime bun

--api <type>

API layer type:

• none: No API layer
• trpc: tRPC (type-safe)
• orpc: oRPC (OpenAPI-compatible)

create-better-t-stack --api trpc

Frontend Options

--frontend <types...>

Frontend frameworks (can specify multiple):

Web Frameworks:

• tanstack-router: React with TanStack Router
• react-router: React with React Router
• tanstack-start: React with TanStack Start (SSR)
• next: Next.js
• nuxt: Nuxt (Vue)
• svelte: SvelteKit
• solid: SolidJS
• astro: Astro

Native Frameworks:

• native-bare: React Native (bare setup)
• native-uniwind: React Native with UniWind (NativeWind alternative)
• native-unistyles: React Native with Unistyles

No Frontend:

• none: Backend-only project

# Single web frontend
create-better-t-stack --frontend tanstack-router

# Web + native frontend
create-better-t-stack --frontend next native-uniwind

# Backend-only
create-better-t-stack --frontend none

Authentication

--auth <provider>

Choose authentication provider:

• better-auth: Better-Auth authentication (default)
• clerk: Clerk authentication
• none: No authentication

create-better-t-stack --auth better-auth
create-better-t-stack --auth clerk
create-better-t-stack --auth none

Note:

• better-auth requires a backend framework (cannot be none)
• if you choose a database, you should also choose an ORM
• with --backend convex, better-auth supports react-router, tanstack-router, tanstack-start, next, and native Expo frontends
• clerk requires a compatible frontend
• Supported Clerk backends: convex, hono, express, fastify, elysia, and self with Next.js or TanStack Start
• Authentication is automatically set to none when using --backend none

Payments

--payments <provider>

Payments provider:

• none: No payments integration
• polar: Polar payments integration

create-better-t-stack --payments polar --auth better-auth

Note: Polar payments requires Better-Auth authentication.

Addons

--addons <types...>

Additional features to include:

• none: No addons
• pwa: Progressive Web App support
• tauri: Desktop app support
• electrobun: Lightweight desktop shell for web frontends
• starlight: Starlight documentation site
• fumadocs: Fumadocs documentation site
• biome: Biome linting and formatting
• lefthook: Git hooks with Lefthook
• husky: Git hooks with Husky
• turborepo: Turborepo monorepo setup
• nx: Nx monorepo setup
• ultracite: Ultracite configuration
• oxc: Oxlint + Oxfmt (linting & formatting)
• mcp: Install MCP servers, including Better T Stack itself, with add-mcp
• opentui: OpenTUI components
• wxt: WXT browser extension framework
• skills: Install AI agent skills for coding assistants (Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, etc.)

create-better-t-stack --addons pwa biome husky

Examples

--examples <types...>

Example implementations to include:

• none: No examples
• todo: Todo app example
• ai: AI chat interface example

create-better-t-stack --examples todo ai

Deployment

--web-deploy <setup>

Web deployment configuration:

• none: No deployment setup
• cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers deployment (via Alchemy infrastructure as code)

create-better-t-stack --web-deploy cloudflare

Note: Alchemy uses TypeScript to define infrastructure programmatically. See the Deploying to Cloudflare with Alchemy Guide for details.

Automation Surfaces

These are part of the CLI contract for agents and scripts even though they are commands or JSON fields instead of traditional flags:

• create-json
• add-json
• schema --name <schema>
• mcp
• addonOptions
• dbSetupOptions

See Agent Workflows for examples.

--server-deploy <setup>

Server deployment configuration:

• none: No deployment setup
• cloudflare: Cloudflare Workers deployment (when runtime is workers, via Alchemy infrastructure as code)

create-better-t-stack --server-deploy cloudflare

Note: Alchemy uses TypeScript to define infrastructure programmatically. See the Deploying to Cloudflare with Alchemy Guide for details.

History

history

View your project creation history. Projects are tracked locally using platform-specific directories:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/better-t-stack/history.json
• Linux: ~/.local/share/better-t-stack/history.json
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\better-t-stack\Data\history.json

# Show last 10 projects
create-better-t-stack history

# Show last 5 projects
create-better-t-stack history --limit 5

# Output as JSON
create-better-t-stack history --json

# Clear all history
create-better-t-stack history --clear

Options:

• --limit <number>: Number of entries to show (default: 10)
• --clear: Clear all project history
• --json: Output history as JSON

Option Validation

The CLI validates option combinations and will show errors for incompatible selections. See the Compatibility page for detailed rules.

Examples

Full Configuration

create-better-t-stack \
  --database postgres \
  --orm drizzle \
  --backend hono \
  --runtime bun \
  --frontend tanstack-router \
  --api trpc \
  --auth better-auth \
  --addons pwa biome \
  --examples todo \
  --package-manager bun \
  --web-deploy cloudflare \
  --server-deploy cloudflare \
  --install

Minimal Setup

create-better-t-stack \
  --backend none \
  --frontend tanstack-router \
  --addons none \
  --examples none