---
title: Prerequisites
description: What you need before creating a kreogen project.
type: guide
---

# Prerequisites



## Required

**[Bun](https://bun.sh) 1.3.14 or later.** The template is developed against
bun; pnpm and npm are supported, and the CLI rewrites the project for whichever
you pick.

**Node.js 22 or later.** Some tooling in the chain is not bun-native.

**[Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/).** Postgres, Redis, object
storage and a mail catcher all run in `docker compose` locally, so there is
nothing to install natively and nothing to sign up for.

**Git.** The CLI clones the template at a version tag.

## Optional

**[Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli)** — forwards webhooks to
`localhost:3002` while developing payments. `bun dev --filter api` starts the
listener automatically when it is installed.

## Accounts

None are required to run the project. Every integration is optional and
disables cleanly when its key is absent, so you can start with `bun run dev`
and add services as you need them.

When you do want them:

| Service                                          | Enables                      |
| ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------- |
| [PostHog](https://posthog.com)                   | Product analytics and flags  |
| [Google Analytics](https://analytics.google.com) | Web analytics                |
| [Resend](https://resend.com)                     | Outbound email in production |
| [Stripe](https://stripe.com)                     | Payments                     |
| [BaseHub](https://basehub.com)                   | Blog and legal content       |
| [Knock](https://knock.app)                       | In-app notifications         |

Locally, MinIO stands in for object storage, so S3 is not needed during
development.

Resend is the exception worth knowing about early, and the one you can skip.
Outbound mail goes through its HTTPS API in production; with no token,
`@kreogen/auth` delivers over SMTP to the Mailpit container in
`docker-compose.yml` instead, and you read the verification link at
[localhost:8025](http://localhost:8025). What you cannot skip is having one or
the other: email verification is required to sign in, so a sign-up with no
Resend token and no sink running fails outright. See
[transactional email](/en/docs/packages/email).

## What you do need to decide

**A domain layout.** Authentication is simplest when the app and marketing site
share a registrable domain — `app.example.com` and `example.com`. Cookies stay
host-only, and there is no CORS to configure.

Splitting them across unrelated domains forces `SameSite=None` and full CORS,
which is a materially weaker posture and one that browser changes keep
eroding. Decide this before buying domains.


---

For a semantic overview of all documentation, see [/sitemap.md](/sitemap.md)

For an index of all available documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)