Local Development
ReactPress 4.0 offers three local paths — choose by scenario.
| Scenario | Approach | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|
| Build / try a site (recommended) | Global reactpress init | Node ≥ 20 |
| Offline writing | Desktop client | See Desktop client |
| Contribute to monorepo | pnpm dev | Node ≥ 20, pnpm |
Option 1: Global CLI (recommended)
npm i -g @fecommunity/reactpress
mkdir my-blog && cd my-blog
reactpress init
init generates config, initializes SQLite, and auto-starts the full stack.
| Service | Port | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | 3001 /admin/ | http://localhost:3001/admin/ |
| Visitor theme | 3001 | http://localhost:3001 |
| API | 3002 | http://localhost:3002/api/health |
| Theme preview | 3003 | http://localhost:3003 |
Common commands
reactpress doctor # environment diagnostics
reactpress logs -f # live logs
reactpress stop # stop services
Manage themes and plugins in Admin. Full CLI reference: CLI command reference.
Option 2: Desktop client
No Docker — great for local writing:
# monorepo root, or download Release installer
pnpm dev:desktop
See Desktop client.
Option 3: Monorepo development
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/fecommunity/reactpress.git
cd reactpress
npm i -g pnpm && pnpm install
pnpm run build:plugins
pnpm dev
Full guide: Monorepo local development.
Configuration
init / pnpm dev generate .reactpress/config.json and .env by default. Advanced scenarios: Configuration.