Installation

Scaffold your first Aero project and have a site running in minutes.

The fastest way to start is with Vite+ and the @aero-js/create template manifest: copy a starter, then install dependencies and run the dev server.

1. Scaffold a project

   Install Vite+ (vp), then create a project directory from the minimal or fullstack template:

   minimal

   pnpm dlx vp create @aero-js:minimal --directory my-app --no-interactive
   

   Then install dependencies:

   cd my-app
   pnpm install
   

   Starters include vite-plus, @aero-js/core, Prettier + @aero-js/prettier-plugin-aero for Aero HTML, and (fullstack) Nitro under server/.

   Fullstack adds Nitro and a root nitro.config.ts so you can run a full server from .output/ after vp build. Use @aero-js:fullstack instead of minimal when you need server/ routes out of the box.

2. Start the dev server

   vp dev
   

   Open http://localhost:5173. Vite’s HMR keeps HTML, CSS, content, and client scripts in sync as you edit.

3. Create your first page

   Every .html file in client/pages/ becomes a route. Create client/pages/about.html:

   about.html

   <h1>About</h1>
   <p>This is a new page.</p>
   

   Visit http://localhost:5173/about — no routing config needed.

   To add a layout, wrap your content in the layout tag (no import required by default):

   pages/about.html

   <base-layout>
     <h1>About</h1>
     <p>This is a new page.</p>
   </base-layout>
   

   The layout’s <slot /> is replaced with your page content at build time.

4. Build for production

   vp build
   

   This produces a static dist/ folder. Deploy it to any static host.

   Use vp preview to serve the production build locally after vp build.

   Static preview

   vp preview
   

   Fullstack preview (Nitro)

   After vp build with Nitro enabled:

   vpx nitro preview
   

   Default: Nitro serves static assets and API routes from .output/ using your project’s build info (same flow Nitro suggests after build).

   node .output/server/index.mjs
   

   Production parity: Runs the Node server bundle exactly as in a Node deployment — useful for debugging the deploy artifact or CI-style checks.

Commands reference

Command	Description
vp dev	Start the dev server with HMR
vp build	Build to dist/ (and .output/ with Nitro)
vp preview	Serve the production build locally after vp build (static / no Nitro APIs)
vpx nitro preview	Preview static + API from one origin after vp build (Nitro; recommended locally)
node .output/server/index.mjs	Same Nitro app via the production Node entry (after vp build; deploy parity)
pnpm fmt	Format JS/TS (vp fmt) and Aero HTML (Prettier)

Next steps

Project structure

Understand how your scaffolded project is organized.

Configuration

Configure the Aero Vite plugin and project options.