Installation Guide

Complete setup guide for all features including database, authentication, payments, and email services.

1. Unpack & Install Dependencies

Every customer receives StartupKit as a downloadable .zip file ready to import into your own Git host (or keep private). Unzip it, enter the folder, then install dependencies:

unzip startupkit.zip cd startupkit npm install

2. MongoDB Setup

You’ll need a MongoDB database. We recommend MongoDB Atlas for production:

1. Go to MongoDB Atlas
2. Create a free account and a new cluster
3. Click “Connect” and choose “Connect your application”
4. Copy the connection string
5. Replace <password> with your database user password

Your connection string should look like:

mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/dbname?retryWrites=true&w=majority

3. Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Required Variables

# Database
DATABASE_URL="your-mongodb-connection-string"

# NextAuth
NEXTAUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"
NEXTAUTH_SECRET="generate-with-openssl-rand-base64-32"

Generate NEXTAUTH_SECRET

openssl rand -base64 32

4. Google OAuth Setup (Optional)

To enable Google authentication:

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Navigate to “APIs & Services” → “Credentials”
4. Click “Create Credentials” → “OAuth client ID”
5. Select “Web application”
6. Add authorized redirect URI: http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback/google
7. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret

Add to your .env:

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

5. Stripe Setup

For subscription billing and payments:

Create Stripe Account

1. Sign up at Stripe
2. Go to Developers → API keys
3. Copy your Publishable key and Secret key

Create Products and Prices

1. Go to Products in Stripe Dashboard
2. Create a product for each plan (Starter, Foundation, Accelerate)
3. Add a recurring price to each product
4. Copy the Price ID for each plan

Add to your .env:

STRIPE_SECRET_KEY="sk_test_..."
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY="pk_test_..."
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET="whsec_..." # We'll get this in step 6

# Price IDs from your Stripe products
STRIPE_STARTER_PRICE_ID="price_..."
STRIPE_FOUNDATION_PRICE_ID="price_..."
STRIPE_ACCELERATE_PRICE_ID="price_..."

Update Stripe Configuration

Edit src/lib/stripe.ts and update the plan details to match your Stripe products:

export const STRIPE_PLANS = {
  STARTER: {
    id: "starter",
    name: "Starter",
    price: 29, // Your price in dollars
    priceId: process.env.STRIPE_STARTER_PRICE_ID!,
    // ... update features
  },
  // ... update other plans
};

6. Stripe Webhooks

Webhooks are required for subscription updates:

Local Development (Stripe CLI)

1. Install Stripe CLI
2. Login: stripe login
3. Forward webhooks: stripe listen --forward-to localhost:3000/api/stripe/webhook
4. Copy the webhook signing secret shown (starts with whsec_)
5. Add it to your .env as STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET

Production Webhooks

1. Go to Developers → Webhooks in Stripe Dashboard
2. Click “Add endpoint”
3. Enter your endpoint: https://yourdomain.com/api/stripe/webhook
4. Select these events:
   • checkout.session.completed
   • customer.subscription.created
   • customer.subscription.updated
   • customer.subscription.deleted
5. Copy the webhook signing secret to your production environment

7. Resend Email Setup

For transactional emails:

1. Sign up at Resend
2. Go to API Keys and create a new key
3. Add your domain in Settings → Domains (or use onboarding@resend.dev for testing)
4. Follow the DNS verification steps

Add to your .env:

RESEND_API_KEY="re_..."
EMAIL_FROM="noreply@yourdomain.com"
ADMIN_EMAIL="admin@yourdomain.com"

8. Database Schema Setup

Initialize your database with Prisma:

npx prisma generate npx prisma db push

This will create all required tables and generate the Prisma client.

9. Run the Application

Start the development server:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

10. Test the Setup

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

• Environment Variables Reference - Complete list of all variables
• Authentication Guide - Deep dive into auth system
• Billing Guide - Managing subscriptions
• Deployment Guide - Deploy to production