How does ct3a launch the cli on install?

Hi! I am trying to build a template/cli app of my own and I've been studying the ct3a github repo (the cli portion specifically), and I don't really have a clue as to how the cli is launched on install!

Currently, my app works by pnpm init -> pnpm install package -> npx package. (Weirdly, it only works if I use pnpm, npm is a no-go).

On a similar note, create-next-app uses npx to launch itself which adds more to the confusion.

Any clue about any of these would be great help!

Solution

npm fetches the

create-t3-app

create-t3-app

package, as well as it's dependencies, and stores them in a cache before executing the command. more details: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v8/commands/npm-exec#description

npm-exec | npm Docs

Run a command from a local or remote npm package

Jump to solution

Sturlen•8/2/23, 10:11 AM

npx and npm init both run the file given by the field in the

package.json

package.json

, which here points to https://github.com/t3-oss/create-t3-app/blob/next/cli/package.json#L23C4-L23C4
This script file then starts the CLI https://github.com/t3-oss/create-t3-app/blob/next/cli/src/index.ts#L36C22-L36C22

SSturlen npx and npm init both run the file given by the `bin` field in the `package.json...

metalpipemomoOP•8/2/23, 2:31 PM

Ah! makes sense. So the key "create-t3-app" in bin would be the name of the command as well. How does that allow it to skip the npm install step?

Solution

Mmetalpipemomo Ah! makes sense. So the key "create-t3-app" in bin would be the name of the comm...

Sturlen•8/2/23, 4:11 PM

npm fetches the

create-t3-app

create-t3-app

package, as well as it's dependencies, and stores them in a cache before executing the command. more details: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v8/commands/npm-exec#description

npm-exec | npm Docs

Run a command from a local or remote npm package

metalpipemomoOP•8/2/23, 11:14 PM

Thanks! This should be enough for me to figure the rest of my questions out :]