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Quick Start: create-centrali-app

The fastest way to start building with Centrali. Scaffold a fully configured app in seconds.

Prerequisites

  • A Centrali account (sign up at centrali.io)
  • A publishable key — create one in Console > ACCESS > Publishable Keys
  • Node.js 18+

Create Your App

npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app my-app

You'll be prompted to choose:

  • Template: React + Vite or Next.js
  • TypeScript: Yes (default) or No

Or skip the prompts with flags:

# React + Vite (TypeScript)
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app my-app --template=react-vite

# Next.js (TypeScript)
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app my-app --template=nextjs

# JavaScript instead of TypeScript
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app my-app --template=react-vite --no-typescript

Configure Environment

The fastest way to set up your environment variables:

cd my-app
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app env

This detects your template type, prompts for your workspace slug and publishable key, and writes a .env.local file.

Or configure manually — copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in your values:

VITE_CENTRALI_API_URL=https://centrali.io
VITE_CENTRALI_WORKSPACE=your-workspace-slug
VITE_CENTRALI_PK=pk_live_your_publishable_key

# Client-side (safe for browser)
NEXT_PUBLIC_CENTRALI_API_URL=https://centrali.io
NEXT_PUBLIC_CENTRALI_WORKSPACE=your-workspace-slug
NEXT_PUBLIC_CENTRALI_PK=pk_live_your_publishable_key

# Server-side (API routes and server components only)
CENTRALI_API_URL=https://centrali.io
CENTRALI_WORKSPACE=your-workspace-slug
CENTRALI_CLIENT_ID=ci_your_client_id
CENTRALI_CLIENT_SECRET=sk_your_client_secret

Where to get credentials

Publishable key: Console > ACCESS > Publishable Keys > Create Key. Select which collections and actions the key can access.

Service account (Next.js server-side): Console > ACCESS > Service Accounts. Create one and add it to the workspace_developers group.

Run

npm install
npm run dev

Your app will start at http://localhost:5173 (React + Vite) or http://localhost:3000 (Next.js).

What's Included

The scaffolded app comes with a working CRUD flow:

  1. List collections — auto-discovers collections in your workspace
  2. Create collection — inline form to create your first collection (starts with name and description fields)
  3. View records — click into any collection to see its records
  4. Create records — form auto-generated from collection properties

Templates

React + Vite

  • React 19 + Vite + TailwindCSS 4
  • Client-side app with the Centrali SDK
  • Publishable key authentication (safe for browser)
  • Single-page with state-based navigation

Next.js

  • Next.js 15 + TailwindCSS 4
  • Server components for data fetching (service account)
  • Client components for forms (publishable key)
  • API routes for mutations (collections, records)
  • File-based routing (/ → collections list, /collections/[slug] → records)

Deploy

Each template includes a DEPLOY.md with step-by-step instructions for deploying to Vercel and Netlify, including which environment variables to set.

You can also generate platform-specific env var commands:

# Vercel CLI commands
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app env --format=vercel

# Netlify CLI commands
npx @centrali-io/create-centrali-app env --format=netlify

Using Your Own Auth Provider

The template starts with publishable key authentication for simplicity. Once your app needs user-specific access, you can switch to your own auth provider (Clerk, Auth0, etc.) and pass user tokens instead.

Next Steps