Getting Started with AlpacApps Infra

Clone the template, open Claude Code, and let the setup wizard build your project. Three commands, then the AI takes over.

0 Prerequisites

You need these installed before starting. Everything else is handled by Claude Code.

Git
Version control
Install Git →
Claude Code
AI developer CLI (includes Node.js)
Install Claude Code →
GitHub Account
Free, for hosting
Sign up →
Quick check — paste into your terminal: git --version && claude --version
If both print version numbers, you're good. If not, install whatever's missing above.

1 Clone the template 1 min

First, create a folder to keep all your coding projects in one place (skip this if you already have one):

mkdir -p ~/Projects
cd ~/Projects

Now pick a name for your project (lowercase, hyphens, no spaces). This becomes your GitHub repo name and folder name.

Clone the template into your projects folder:

git clone https://github.com/rsonnad/alpacapps-infra.git my-project-name
cd my-project-name
Your folder structure should look like this: 
~/Projects/
  my-project-name/     ← you are here
    .claude/
      skills/          ← setup wizard lives here
    shared/
    spaces/
    ...
Windows: "git is not recognized"? Download Git from git-scm.com, install with defaults, close and reopen your terminal, then try again.

2 Open Claude Code 30 sec

Make sure you're inside the project folder, then launch Claude Code:

claude
Important: you must be inside the cloned folder. The setup skill lives inside the project at .claude/skills/. If you run claude from a different directory, it won't find the skill. If you see "skill not found," run pwd to check you're in the right place.

3 Run the setup wizard 15-30 min

Once Claude Code is running, type this command:

/setup-alpacapps-infra

The wizard will:

  1. Ask what you're building — describe your project in one sentence
  2. Ask which services you need — email, SMS, payments, AI, etc.
  3. Create your own GitHub repo — disconnects from the template, pushes to your account
  4. Set up Supabase — database, auth, storage, edge functions
  5. Configure each service — one at a time, validating credentials as it goes
  6. Build your CLAUDE.md — so future Claude sessions know your entire stack

You'll be asked to create accounts and paste credentials. Claude handles all the terminal work — you never need to run commands yourself.

4 You're live

When the wizard finishes, you'll have:

From here, just tell Claude Code what to build. It has all the context it needs.

Pro tip: After setup, every new Claude Code session automatically reads your CLAUDE.md and knows your entire stack — database schema, API keys location, deployment flow, everything.
Version tracking is built in. Every push to main triggers a GitHub Action that bumps a version string (vYYMMDD.NN) in your footer and writes version.json. No setup needed — the Action and script are already in the template. Your first real push will show v260403.01 1:44p (or whatever today's date is).

Troubleshooting

"Skill not found" or "setup-alpacapps-infra doesn't exist"

You're not inside the cloned project folder. The skill only works when Claude Code is launched from inside the project. Fix:

cd my-project-name
claude

"Supabase CLI not logged in"

Claude will handle this — it runs supabase login which opens your browser. Just click authorize.

"psql connection refused"

Usually a region mismatch in the connection string. Claude will try alternate regions automatically. If it persists, check that your database password doesn't have un-encoded special characters.

"Pages not deploying"

Make sure GitHub Pages is set to "Deploy from a branch" (not GitHub Actions). Go to repo Settings → Pages → select main branch, / (root) folder.

Want the full detailed guide with service-by-service instructions?

Read the Full Infrastructure Guide →
v260403.01 1:44p