Local Development

Prerequisites

Tool	Version	Install
Node.js	>= 20.0.0	`brew install node` or download from nodejs.org
pnpm	>= 10	`npm install -g pnpm@10`
Docker	Engine 20+	Docker Desktop or `brew install docker`
Git	Any recent	`brew install git` or download from git-scm.com

Fork and clone the repository

Fork ashwineaso/theterms on GitHub, then clone your fork:
Terminal window
```
git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/theterms.git
cd theterms
```
Install dependencies

TheTerms uses pnpm workspaces. Install all dependencies across the monorepo:
Terminal window
```
pnpm install
```
Configure environment variables
Terminal window
```
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env.local
```
Edit apps/web/.env.local. The database and Redis defaults work with the Docker Compose dev setup. You must generate a NEXTAUTH_SECRET:
Terminal window
```
openssl rand -base64 32
```
Paste the output as the NEXTAUTH_SECRET value.
Start PostgreSQL and Redis

The development Docker Compose file provides a Postgres 16 and Redis 7 instance:
Terminal window
```
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d
```
Generate Prisma client and apply the schema
Terminal window
```
pnpm db:generate    # Generates the TypeScript Prisma client
pnpm db:push        # Applies the schema to the database (dev only)
```
db:push is for initial local setup and experimentation. For changes meant to be committed, use pnpm db:migrate. See Database for details.
Start the development server
Terminal window
```
pnpm dev
```
Open http://localhost:3000. Create an account to start using the app.

pnpm test            # Run all unit and integration tests
pnpm test:coverage   # With coverage report

Tests require a live PostgreSQL connection. The DATABASE_URL in .env.local must point to a running database.

Install pnpm globally: npm install -g pnpm@10

Ensure Docker containers are running: docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml ps

Kill the process using port 3000: lsof -i :3000 | grep LISTEN then kill <PID>