Scaffold Next.js

Scaffold a Next.js turborepo with full tooling, GitHub, and Vercel deployment.

• IS: bootstrapping a brand-new Next.js turborepo end to end: app creation, Blode UI, Ultracite with ultracite/oxlint/shadcn, turborepo conversion, GitHub, and Vercel.
• IS NOT: scaffolding a TypeScript CLI or npm package (use scaffold-cli), designing folder structure or module contracts for an existing app (use codebase-architecture), building a page inside an existing app, or choosing visual direction and palettes (use ui-design).

The references encode the house stack and dependency order. Verify version-sensitive flags against the installed CLI and bundled documentation; update a proven incompatible template rather than forcing stale flags. Where a Next.js question comes up that the references do not answer, read the bundled docs at node_modules/next/dist/docs/ in the app (they match the installed version) rather than training data.

Reference Files

File	Read When
references/app-setup.md	Phase 2: create-next-app flags, TypeScript 7 upgrade, Instant Navigations config and the rules block for apps/web/AGENTS.md, shadcn + Blode registry, icons, Agentation, Ultracite 7.12+ with ultracite/oxlint/shadcn, move into apps/web/
references/turbo-configs.md	Phase 6: root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, turbo.json, root lefthook.yml, .gitignore, knip.json, workspace scripts, next.config.ts, root and app AGENTS.md
references/deploy-and-launch.md	Phase 7 and 8: GitHub, Vercel, CI workflow, metadataBase, verification, security.txt, favicon, OG image, validation checklist

Scaffold Workflow

Copy this checklist to track progress:

Scaffold progress:
- [ ] Phase 1: Gather project info
- [ ] Phase 2: Create Next.js app
- [ ] Phase 2.1: Upgrade to TypeScript 7
- [ ] Phase 2.2: Turn on Instant Navigations
- [ ] Phase 3: Install Blode UI components and icons
- [ ] Phase 4: Install Agentation
- [ ] Phase 5: Install Ultracite
- [ ] Phase 5.1: Enable ultracite/oxlint/shadcn
- [ ] Phase 6: Convert to Turborepo
- [ ] Phase 7: GitHub and Vercel setup
- [ ] Phase 8: Pre-launch checklist
- [ ] Validation: run the checklist in deploy-and-launch.md

Phase 1: Gather project info

Collect from the user (ask only for what is missing):

Variable	Example	Default	Used in
{{name}}	acme-web	none (required)	Root package.json, directory name, README
{{description}}	Marketing site for Acme	none (required)	App package.json, README
{{repo}}	acme-corp/acme-web	none (required)	GitHub remote URL
{{domain}}	acme.com	none (ask if missing)	Vercel custom domain, metadataBase
{{author}}	Your Name	none (required)	package.json author
{{year}}	2026	current year	LICENSE

Phase 2: Create Next.js app

Run the create-next-app command from references/app-setup.md exactly as written (it pins linter, React Compiler, and package-manager flags). Confirm the app loads on the port reported by the server. Use a free task-owned port when 3000 is occupied.

Phase 2.1: Upgrade to TypeScript 7

TypeScript 7 section of references/app-setup.md: install typescript@^7 and confirm pnpm run build type-checks through tsc. No config accompanies it.

Phase 2.2: Turn on Instant Navigations

Instant Navigations section of references/app-setup.md: set cacheComponents, partialPrefetching, and experimental.turbopackRustReactCompiler in next.config.ts. Cheap here and expensive later, so do it before any route exists. Read the Instant Navigations rules block that follows it before Phase 3; it governs how every page is written, and Phase 5.1 appends it to AGENTS.md.

Phase 3: Install Blode UI components and icons

Blode UI section of references/app-setup.md: shadcn init, register the @blode namespace, set iconLibrary in components.json, install blode-icons-react, then add components.

Phase 4: Install Agentation

Agentation section of references/app-setup.md: install the package, add the client DevTools component that holds the dev-only guard and render it in app/layout.tsx. Optionally add Google Analytics via @next/third-parties.

Phase 5: Install Ultracite

Ultracite section of references/app-setup.md: run ultracite@latest init with the exact flags listed, including --js-plugins @shadcn/lint (Ultracite ≥ 7.12). Verify with pnpm exec ultracite fix and pnpm exec ultracite check. The lefthook.yml it writes is temporary; Phase 6 replaces it with a root-level one.

Phase 5.1: Enable ultracite/oxlint/shadcn

ultracite/oxlint/shadcn section of references/app-setup.md: confirm init wrote import shadcn from "ultracite/oxlint/shadcn" into extends alongside core/next/react. If it did not, add that import (and jsPlugins: shadcn.jsPlugins). Do not hand-roll jsPlugins: ["@shadcn/lint"] or a starter-only no-restyle rule. The preset already turns shadcn/no-restyle off inside **/components/ui/**; add a matching override only when aliases.ui is a different path.

Phase 6: Convert to Turborepo

Move the app into apps/web/ (commands at the end of references/app-setup.md), then from references/turbo-configs.md:

1. Generate root package.json, pnpm-workspace.yaml, turbo.json, lefthook.yml, knip.json, and .gitignore from the templates. Delete apps/web/lefthook.yml; git only reads the copy next to .git. Move any build-script settings from apps/web/pnpm-workspace.yaml into the root file, then delete it.
2. Update apps/web/package.json scripts to the turbo-compatible block and remove its prepare script (the root one installs the hooks).
3. Verify apps/web/next.config.ts still has reactCompiler: true, cacheComponents: true, and partialPrefetching: true.
4. Write the root AGENTS.md from the template. Keep the Phase 5.1 Instant Navigations and design-system lint sections in apps/web/AGENTS.md outside the Next-managed markers.
5. Run pnpm install from the root, then pnpm run dev once from the coding agent's shell. When Next 16.3 detects a coding agent in the environment it appends its managed nextjs-agent-rules block to apps/web/AGENTS.md (some generators also create a CLAUDE.md wrapper). Commit AGENTS.md and remove any duplicate CLAUDE.md wrapper. From a plain terminal nothing is written; that is fine, the block arrives on the agent's first run.
6. Verify pnpm run check, pnpm run build, and pnpm exec lefthook run pre-commit --all-files pass from the root, then pnpm --filter web start and load the home page from the production build.

Phase 7: GitHub and Vercel setup

From references/deploy-and-launch.md: create the GitHub repo with gh, deploy to Vercel, attach {{domain}}.

Phase 8: Pre-launch checklist

From references/deploy-and-launch.md: add the CI workflow, set metadataBase to https://{{domain}}, register the site with Search Console and Bing, add security.txt, the favicon package, and the OG image, then run the validation checklist at the end of that file. Done only when every validation item passes; "the site loads" is not sufficient evidence.

Placeholder Reference

Templates use {{variable}} syntax. Before Phase 7, sweep for missed placeholders:

grep -rn '{{' --include='*.json' --include='*.ts' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.md' --include='*.yml' .

A {{name}} left in package.json fails pnpm install (invalid-name error); a {{domain}} left in metadata ships broken OG URLs. Two placeholders in the root package.json template are not gathered in Phase 1: {{ultracite_version}} is copied from the ultracite entry that ultracite init wrote into apps/web/package.json, and {{pnpm_version}} is the output of pnpm --version.

Gotchas

• No src/ directory. The scaffold uses --no-src-dir; adding src/ later breaks the @/* alias and every shadcn component path.
• Never add output: "standalone". It is for self-hosting, and on Vercel it stops .next/next-server.js.nft.json being written, so the build compiles every page and then dies in Vercel's onBuildComplete.
• Add no Turbopack cache config. turbopackFileSystemCacheForDev, turbopackFileSystemCacheForBuild, and memory eviction ('auto') are on by default in 16.3.
• No ESLint or Prettier. Ultracite owns lint and format via Oxlint + Oxfmt; a stray .eslintrc makes the editor disagree with the lefthook pre-commit hook.
• Run lint and format through the workspace scripts: root pnpm run check / pnpm run fix (turbo runs them inside apps/web), or pnpm exec ultracite check from apps/web. Running ultracite, oxlint, or oxfmt from the repo root finds no oxlint.config.ts there and lints with defaults, which disagrees with the hook and skips the shadcn preset. Remaining design-system findings after ultracite fix can go to pnpm exec ultracite fix --codex (or --claude) from apps/web.
• No manual git hooks. Lefthook owns them; husky or another hook manager double-runs or skips fixes.
• pnpm does not hoist dependencies to the root node_modules, so a tool resolves only in the workspace that declares it. Run oxlint, oxfmt, and @shadcn/lint through pnpm exec inside apps/web (the lefthook root: and the turbo scripts already do), never by adding them to the root.
• No app dependencies in the root package.json (root holds only turbo, ultracite, and lefthook); they break workspace isolation and turbo cache keys. @shadcn/lint stays in apps/web with oxlint.config.ts. Pin the same ultracite version (≥ 7.12) at the root and in apps/web so config resolution cannot drift.
• Never create apps/web/ by hand. Scaffold at the root first, then move it in Phase 6; hand-building skips create-next-app defaults (Tailwind wiring, alias config).
• node --test runs a test file directly, where the @/ alias does not resolve; test files and the modules they import use relative paths, and a test script globs lib/**/*.test.ts rather than naming one file, or a new test is never executed while the gate reports green. The tsc build checks the whole project, test files included: keep them type-clean or add **/*.test.ts to tsconfig.json exclude.

Skill Handoffs

When	Run
After deployment, optimise SEO	seo
Before launch, audit UI quality	ui-design (Audit mode)
Before launch, add motion and animation	ui-animation

Maintenance only: evals/evals.json contains regression scenarios for changes to this skill; it does not load during a user task.