Installation

Requirements

macOS 12 or later, Linux x86_64 or arm64 (glibc), or Windows 10 or later.
For package-manager installations, Node.js 22.3 or later, Deno 2.2 or later, or Bun 1.1 or later. The standalone binary includes its runtime.
2 GB of RAM for local development.
Disk space for the selected CLI installation and project dependencies. See Install the CLI for current artifact sizes.

Blank or existing project

Add Veryfront Code to an existing or blank Node.js, Deno, or Bun project.

npm install veryfront

pnpm add veryfront

yarn add veryfront

bun add veryfront

deno add npm:veryfront

Installing the package adds the framework, the CLI, and react / react-dom, which ship as dependencies of veryfront. It does not scaffold any files or touch your package.json beyond the dependency entry. Add the four pieces below yourself. veryfront init writes all of them for you, see Create project.

Set the module type

Veryfront emits ES modules. Set "type": "module" in package.json:

package.json

{
  "type": "module"
}

npm init -y writes "type": "commonjs", and an existing project may have no type field at all. Without "type": "module", veryfront build fails with SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module.

Add the CLI scripts

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "veryfront dev",
    "build": "veryfront build",
    "start": "veryfront serve"
  }
}

Extend the base TypeScript config

The veryfront package ships a base tsconfig.json with the compiler options Veryfront expects, including "jsx": "react-jsx" and "moduleResolution": "Bundler". Extend it:

tsconfig.json

{
  "extends": "veryfront/tsconfig.json",
  "include": ["**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules"]
}

Add a page and run it

Veryfront discovers routes under app/. Create a home page:

app/page.tsx

export default function Home() {
  return <h1>Hello from Veryfront</h1>;
}

Then start the dev server:

npm run dev

Open the URL the CLI prints, http://localhost:3000 by default, to see the page. For where the remaining files go, see Project structure. To add an API route under app/api/, see Create API.

New scaffolded project

Create a new Veryfront Code project when you want scaffolding and starter files.

npm create veryfront

pnpm create veryfront

yarn create veryfront

bun create veryfront

deno init --npm veryfront

Install the CLI

Install the CLI globally when you use Veryfront commands often.

Method	Use when	Approximate size
npm package	You use Node.js, Deno, Bun, or another npm client	6 MB download, 28 MB before dependencies
Standalone binary	You need one executable with an included runtime	0.9 to 1.2 GB for the downloaded executable

These measurements describe recent releases and vary by platform and package manager. A clean global npm installation used approximately 145 MB in one measurement. Model weights are not included. The optional embedded ONNX runtime adds approximately 500 MB, and supported model weights add 0.9 to 6 GB.

npm (recommended)

npm install -g veryfront@latest

This installs the latest published Veryfront CLI and adds veryfront to your shell path.

pnpm

pnpm add -g veryfront

yarn

yarn global add veryfront

bun

bun add -g veryfront

deno

deno install -gArf npm:veryfront

The CLI is published to npm only, so install it through Deno’s npm: specifier. Deno resolves that specifier from the current working directory, so inside a project that depends on veryfront the global binary runs that project’s version instead. Run veryfront --version outside any project directory to see the globally installed version.

Standalone binary

Use the standalone binary when you need an executable that includes its own runtime. On macOS or Linux, run:

curl -fsSL https://veryfront.com/install.sh | sh

On Windows PowerShell, run:

irm https://veryfront.com/install.ps1 | iex

Both installers verify what they download. Each release publishes a SHA256SUMS manifest; the binary is staged, checked against it, and only then moved into place, so a mismatch installs nothing. Releases published before that manifest existed have none, so pinning to one of those fails unless you set VERYFRONT_INSTALL_SKIP_CHECKSUM=1 deliberately. The commands still execute a script fetched at run time. To read it first, and to pin a version instead of tracking latest:

curl -fsSL https://veryfront.com/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh --version <VERSION>

To skip the installer entirely, download the binary for your platform from the release assets and put it on your path. Check it against the SHA256SUMS published with the same release:

sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

The installer downloads the binary for the current platform and adds it to your shell path. Embedded ONNX inference is not available from compiled standalone binaries. Use a package-manager installation when the app runs an embedded ONNX model.

One-shot CLI usage

Use npx when you do not want a global install:

npx veryfront@latest

Runs the latest published veryfront CLI without installing it globally. Use npm create veryfront when you want to scaffold a new project.

Coding-agent setup

Starter templates include AGENTS.md. For older projects, install the shared project guide with --target agents:

veryfront install --target agents

Then run veryfront dev. It starts an HTTP MCP server two ports above the port the dev server actually bound, always at the path /mcp. With the default port 3000 that is http://localhost:3002/mcp, so point your MCP-aware coding agent there. Read the port off the URL the dev server printed rather than off the --port you asked for. When the requested port is taken, veryfront dev moves to the next free one, and MCP follows it: a dev server that falls forward to 3001 serves MCP on 3003. The dev server lists the MCP address itself only under --verbose. See Coding agents.

Verify the CLI

veryfront --version

You should see the installed version printed. If the command is not found, restart your shell so the new PATH entry takes effect.

Getting Started

Concepts

Guides

API Reference

Requirements

Blank or existing project

Set the module type

Add the CLI scripts

Extend the base TypeScript config

Add a page and run it

New scaffolded project

Install the CLI

npm (recommended)

pnpm

yarn

bun

deno

Standalone binary

One-shot CLI usage

Coding-agent setup

Verify the CLI

​Requirements

​Blank or existing project

​Set the module type

​Add the CLI scripts

​Extend the base TypeScript config

​Add a page and run it

​New scaffolded project

​Install the CLI

​npm (recommended)

​pnpm

​yarn

​bun

​deno

​Standalone binary

​One-shot CLI usage

​Coding-agent setup

​Verify the CLI

Requirements

Blank or existing project

Set the module type

Add the CLI scripts

Extend the base TypeScript config

Add a page and run it

New scaffolded project

Install the CLI

npm (recommended)

pnpm

yarn

bun

deno

Standalone binary

One-shot CLI usage

Coding-agent setup

Verify the CLI