Getting Started With Spiderly

Install Prerequisites

Before getting started with Spiderly, make sure you have the following prerequisites installed:

• Visual Studio Code
• .NET 9.0
• Docker (recommended) or a direct PostgreSQL/SQL Server installation — the CLI can start a database container automatically if Docker is available; see Database Providers for guidance on choosing
• Node.js — npm comes bundled with Node.js. You can also use pnpm, yarn, or bun via the --pm flag
• C# Dev Kit
• Run the Spiderly CLI installation command from any terminal location:

  dotnet tool install -g Spiderly.CLI

Verify Prerequisites

Before running spiderly init, verify your environment:

dotnet --version   # Must be 9.0 or higher
node --version     # Must be 18 or higher
docker --version   # Optional, but recommended for automatic database setup

The CLI also validates these automatically before initializing.

Initialize the App

Open a terminal in the folder where you want your app to be created and run:

spiderly init

This will create a new folder with your app name containing the full Spiderly project structure.

Non-Interactive Mode

For AI agents or CI pipelines, use flags to skip all interactive prompts:

spiderly init --name MyApp --db postgresql

With a specific package manager:

spiderly init --name MyApp --db postgresql --pm pnpm

With a custom database connection string:

spiderly init --name MyApp --db postgresql --db-connection-string "Host=localhost;Port=5432;Database=myapp;Username=postgres;Password=secret"

To skip database setup entirely:

spiderly init --name MyApp --db skip

When --db postgresql or --db sqlserver is specified in non-interactive mode and no running database is found, the CLI will automatically start one via Docker if Docker is available.

Open the Project

Navigate into your newly created app folder and open it in VS Code:

cd your-app-name

code .

Start the App

Press F5 to start the app.

Register the User

Use the UI of your generated app to register a new user via email.