#Get Started Contributing

Set up your local environment to contribute to ciderpress.

#Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 24.0.0
• pnpm 10.x (corepack enable to activate)
• Git
• Claude Code CLI (optional but recommended)

#Steps

#1. Fork and clone

gh repo fork thebytefarm/ciderpress --clone
cd ciderpress

#2. Install dependencies

pnpm install

#3. Verify the build

Run a full build and check suite to confirm everything works:

pnpm build && pnpm check

Build must run first so that workspace packages have compiled output for cross-package type checking.

#4. Run the dev server

Start the ciderpress documentation site locally using the project-blessed script (package.json:22):

pnpm docs:dev

For non-TTY shells (tmux panes without a real PTY, background agent tasks, CI logs), use the headless variant — it skips the Ink TUI and emits plain log output:

pnpm docs:dev --headless

Both run a sync + Rspress dev server on http://localhost:6174 with file watching.

#5. Understand the project

Read the project docs in this order:

1. CLAUDE.md (repo root) -- tech stack, project structure, available commands
2. contributing/concepts/architecture.md -- packages, sync engine, and data flow
3. contributing/concepts/engine/overview.md -- sync engine, build vs dev, key concepts
4. Relevant standards in the Contributing overview as needed

#6. Set up Claude Code (optional)

The repo includes built-in configuration for Claude Code:

#Verification

Confirm all checks pass:

pnpm build && pnpm check

Build must run first so that workspace packages have compiled output for cross-package type checking.

#Troubleshooting

#pnpm not found

Issue: Running pnpm returns "command not found."

Fix:

corepack enable

#Lockfile mismatch after switching branches

Issue: Build or install fails after checking out a different branch.

Fix:

pnpm install

#References

• Architecture
• Contributing