repo-init-next-js

name	repo-init-next-js
description	Bootstrap a Next.js project with Prisma (PostgreSQL), tRPC, React Query, optional Clerk auth, next-themes, sonner, shadcn/ui config, and a clean folder structure. Use when the user says "set up this project", "scaffold with Prisma and tRPC", "/repo-init-next-js", "add Prisma and tRPC to this Next.js app", or wants to initialize a fresh Next.js project with the full stack.

Next.js Project Setup

Bootstrap a Next.js App Router project with the full stack: Prisma + PostgreSQL, tRPC + React Query, optional Clerk auth, next-themes, sonner toasts, Tailwind v4 with shadcn/ui theme, and Prettier.

Prerequisites

• A Next.js project already created (pnpm create next-app)
• pnpm as package manager

Workflow

0. Ask the User

Before creating any files, ask the user for:

1. Project name — used in README.md title and package.json name.
2. Project description — used in CLAUDE.md, README.md, and package.json.
3. Node.js version — default 24. Used in .nvmrc.
4. PostgreSQL version — default 16. Used in docker-compose.yml.
5. With Clerk auth? — default: yes. If no, skip all Clerk-related files and packages.
6. If the user chose Clerk, also ask for:
   • Clerk Publishable Key (NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY) — from https://dashboard.clerk.com
   • Clerk Secret Key (CLERK_SECRET_KEY) — from https://dashboard.clerk.com

1. Create folder structure

Create these directories (skip any that already exist):

src/server/routers/
src/lib/trpc/
src/providers/
src/components/ui/
src/app/api/trpc/[trpc]/
prisma/

If using Clerk, also create:

src/app/main/
src/app/sign-in/[[...sign-in]]/
src/app/sign-up/[[...sign-up]]/

2. Clean public folder

Remove Next.js boilerplate assets:

rm -rf public/*.svg public/*.ico

3. Create all template files

Read references/file-contents.md and create every file listed there at its specified path. Replace {{PROJECT_NAME}}, {{DESCRIPTION}}, {{NODE_VERSION}}, and {{PG_VERSION}} with the user's answers from Step 0.

Important — existing files: Before overwriting any file that already exists from create-next-app (e.g. layout.tsx, page.tsx, next.config.ts, tsconfig.json, README.md), you must read it first using the Read tool. The Write tool will reject writes to unread existing files, and if one write fails in a parallel batch, all sibling writes in that batch fail too. To avoid this, split file creation into two batches:

1. First batch: all new files (files that don't exist yet).
2. Second batch: read all existing files, then overwrite them.

Replace existing Next.js defaults for layout.tsx, next.config.ts, and tsconfig.json. Note: src/proxy.ts is the Next.js 16 equivalent of middleware.ts (only created with Clerk).

If the user chose no Clerk, skip these files and use the alternative templates marked with "(without Clerk)" in file-contents.md:

• src/providers/clerk-provider.tsx — skip entirely
• src/proxy.ts — skip entirely
• src/app/main/ — skip entirely
• src/app/sign-in/ and src/app/sign-up/ — skip entirely
• src/providers/index.tsx — use the "without Clerk" variant
• src/server/trpc.ts — use the "without Clerk" variant
• .env.example — use the "without Clerk" variant
• src/app/page.tsx — use the "without Clerk" variant

4. Install dependencies

Run the setup script:

bash <skill-path>/scripts/setup.sh

If the user chose no Clerk, pass the --no-clerk flag:

bash <skill-path>/scripts/setup.sh --no-clerk

5. Initialize shadcn/ui

npx shadcn@latest init --defaults
npx shadcn@latest add sonner button card avatar

This generates globals.css, components.json, lib/utils.ts, and postcss.config.mjs automatically.

6. Set up environment

Copy .env.example to .env. If using Clerk, replace the empty NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY and CLERK_SECRET_KEY values with the credentials the user provided in Step 0:

cp .env.example .env

Then update the Clerk key lines in .env with the user's provided values.

7. Push database schema

docker compose up -d
npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push

8. Verify

Run pnpm dev and confirm the app starts without errors.