Installation & Setup

Welcome to the InkWell developer documentation. This guide walks you through setting up a local development environment, configuring your project, and deploying your first instance.

ℹ️ Prerequisites

Ensure you have Node.js v18+, npm v9+, and Git installed on your machine before proceeding.

Quick Installation

The fastest way to get started is using our official CLI scaffolding tool. It automatically configures ESLint, Prettier, and the content pipeline.

                # Create a new project
npx create-inkwell-app my-blog

# Navigate into the directory
cd my-blog

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the development server
npm run dev
            

Once the server is running, visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser. You'll see the default InkWell starter theme with sample content.

Configuration

InkWell uses a inkwell.config.js file at the root of your project. Below is a minimal example:

                export default {
  site: {
    name: "My InkWell Blog",
    url: "https://example.com",
    theme: "minimal"
  },
  auth: {
    provider: "github",
    scopes: ["read:user", "repo"]
  },
  content: {
    source: "./content",
    formats: ["mdx", "md"]
  }
}
            

Environment Variables

Sensitive data should be stored in a .env.local file. InkWell automatically loads these variables during build and runtime.

Variable	Type	Description	Required
`INKWELL_API_KEY`	String	Authentication token for API requests	Yes
`DATABASE_URL`	String	PostgreSQL connection string	Yes
`CACHE_TTL`	Number	Cache duration in seconds (default: 3600)	No
`ENABLE_ANALYTICS`	Boolean	Toggle built-in privacy-first tracking	No

⚠️ Security Notice

Never commit your .env.local file to version control. Always add it to your .gitignore to prevent credential leaks.

Next Steps

Now that your environment is configured, you're ready to explore the core features:

Content Pipeline: Learn how Markdown and MDX files are transformed into optimized blog posts.
Authentication: Set up OAuth providers and configure role-based access control.
Custom Themes: Extend or replace the default UI with Tailwind CSS components.

For production deployments, check out our guides on Vercel, Netlify, and Docker containerization.

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