Introduction

Build a TanStack Start and Hono application with VitNode plugins, then deploy and operate it confidently.

VitNode is a TanStack Start front end, a Hono API, Postgres, and an AdminCP. Its important rule is pleasantly simple: product features live in plugins. A plugin owns its pages, APIs, data, translations, and AdminCP extensions, so your host app does not become a drawer full of mystery cables.

Canary documentation

These pages follow VitNode 2.0 on the canary branch. It moves quickly; when code and prose disagree, trust the code and send the prose a friendly PR.

Start with a running app

Create an app

Create a VitNode app
bun create vitnode-app@canary

Choose Single App for one TanStack Start app with Hono at /api, or a monorepo when web and API deploy separately. If you plan to create plugins, enable Turborepo during setup: the generator needs a workspace root.

The five-minute path

  1. Start Postgres (Docker is the low-drama local choice).
  2. Run db:migrate to create core tables and your first administrator.
  3. Run dev, then visit http://localhost:3000/admin.
  4. Create a plugin for your first product page, API endpoint, content type, or dashboard widget.

Every command above is expanded in Getting started. From there, Build your first plugin gives you a real route to visit—not just a philosophical plugin.

Find the right reference