Get started

Plank can be installed in minutes and leaves a new instance ready with the base configuration, dependencies, and scripts needed to start the CMS.

Requirements

Node.js 20 or newer
PostgreSQL 18

Create the project

With pnpm (recommended):

pnpm dlx @plank-cms/plank init .

Alternative with npm:

npx @plank-cms/plank init .

The installer will ask for the project name, create a new directory, and then automatically:

generate a .env file
generate package.json
generate .gitignore
install dependencies

Generated variables

During installation, Plank creates a .env file with a base similar to this:

PLANK_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/plank
PLANK_JWT_SECRET=your_generated_secret
PLANK_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_generated_encryption_key
PLANK_PORT=5500

PLANK_JWT_SECRET and PLANK_ENCRYPTION_KEY are generated automatically.

Before starting the instance, PLANK_DATABASE_URL must be updated with a real PostgreSQL 18 connection string.

## Start the instance

After completing PLANK_DATABASE_URL, into the project directory start Plank:

pnpm plank

Alternative with npm:

npm run plank

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