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Documentation Index

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The Better-T-Stack CLI can be used programmatically from TypeScript/JavaScript applications. This enables integration with build tools, automation scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and custom generators.

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Installation

Install as a package dependency: 
npm install create-better-t-stack

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Core API Functions

The programmatic API exports the following functions:

create()

Create a new Better-T-Stack project on disk

createVirtual()

Generate a project in-memory (virtual filesystem)

add()

Add addons to an existing project

Types

TypeScript types and interfaces

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Key Concepts

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Silent Mode

All programmatic API functions run in silent mode:
  • No interactive prompts
  • No CLI UI output
  • No process exits
  • Returns typed results instead

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Result Type

The API uses the Result type from better-result for type-safe error handling: 
import { create } from "create-better-t-stack";

const result = await create("my-app", {
  frontend: ["tanstack-router"],
  backend: "hono",
  database: "sqlite",
  orm: "drizzle",
});

result.match({
  ok: (data) => console.log(`Created at: ${data.projectDirectory}`),
  err: (error) => console.error(`Failed: ${error.message}`),
});

​
Use Cases

Integrate project scaffolding into custom build tools and generators:
import { create } from "create-better-t-stack";

async function scaffoldProject(config) {
  const result = await create(config.name, {
    frontend: config.framework,
    backend: config.backend,
    database: config.database,
    install: false, // Handle installation separately
  });
  
  if (result.isErr()) {
    throw new Error(`Scaffolding failed: ${result.error.message}`);
  }
  
  return result.value.projectDirectory;
}
Generate projects in CI/CD pipelines:
import { create } from "create-better-t-stack";

// In your CI script
const result = await create("test-app", {
  frontend: ["tanstack-router"],
  backend: "hono",
  runtime: "bun",
  database: "sqlite",
  orm: "drizzle",
  git: false,
  install: true,
});

if (result.isErr()) {
  process.exit(1);
}
Use virtual filesystem for testing and web previews:
import { createVirtual } from "create-better-t-stack";

const result = await createVirtual({
  frontend: ["tanstack-router"],
  backend: "hono",
  database: "sqlite",
  orm: "drizzle",
});

result.match({
  ok: (tree) => {
    console.log(`Generated ${tree.fileCount} files`);
    // Render file tree in UI
  },
  err: (error) => console.error(error.message),
});
Build custom project generators:
import { create, add } from "create-better-t-stack";

async function generateCustomStack(name: string) {
  // Create base project
  const createResult = await create(name, {
    frontend: ["next"],
    backend: "hono",
    database: "postgres",
    orm: "drizzle",
    auth: "better-auth",
  });
  
  if (createResult.isErr()) {
    return createResult;
  }
  
  // Add custom addons
  await add({
    projectDir: createResult.value.projectDirectory,
    addons: ["biome", "mcp"],
    install: true,
  });
  
  return createResult;
}

​
Quick Example

Here’s a complete example: 
import { create, Result } from "create-better-t-stack";

const result = await create("my-app", {
  frontend: ["tanstack-router"],
  backend: "hono",
  runtime: "bun",
  database: "sqlite",
  orm: "drizzle",
  auth: "better-auth",
  addons: ["biome"],
  packageManager: "bun",
  install: false,
});

result.match({
  ok: (data) => {
    console.log(`Project created at: ${data.projectDirectory}`);
    console.log(`Time taken: ${data.elapsedTimeMs}ms`);
    console.log(`Reproducible command: ${data.reproducibleCommand}`);
  },
  err: (error) => {
    console.error(`Failed: ${error.message}`);
    process.exit(1);
  },
});

// Or use unwrapOr for a default value
const data = result.unwrapOr(null);
if (data) {
  console.log(data.projectDirectory);
}

​
Next Steps

create()

Learn about the create() function

Error Handling

Handle errors properly

Types Reference

Explore all available types

Examples

See complete examples

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