Prerequisites
This guide outlines the tools needed for your development environment. Windows users should set up WSL first.
WSL (Windows Only — Do This First)
This project uses makefiles, shell scripts, and toolchains that require a Linux environment. WSL ensures your development environment matches our deployment environment.
Node.js (via NVM)
Next.js relies on the Node.js runtime. We use NVM to manage Node.js versions and avoid compatibility issues.
PNPM
PNPM is our package manager for Node.js dependencies. It's faster, more efficient, and resolves dependencies better than NPM. Used for the web application.
Note: Install PNPM on WSL, not Windows.
Go
Go is used for our backend API services. Install version 1.24 or higher.
Docker
Docker is used to containerize applications for consistent builds across environments. We use it to package images for production deployment.
Infisical CLI
Infisical manages our environment variables. The CLI lets you securely access secrets during development and production, with real-time distribution across the team.
Postman
Postman is used for documenting, testing, and building API endpoints. We use it as a centralized reference for API endpoints across environments.
Note: For Windows, download the native Windows application or use the web version.
DataGrip by JetBrains
DataGrip is a cross-platform database IDE with support for virtually every database. We use it to directly inspect and manage data in our stores.
Gemini Student Pro Plan
Google offers nearly unlimited Gemini tokens on the student plan. We can leverage this for developing our AI assistant at zero cost.
Optional: nektos/act
Act allows you to run GitHub Actions locally. Useful for writing and testing CI/CD pipelines without pushing to GitHub.