solid-start Documentation

• For building apps with SolidStart, check the package README and our official docs
• For contributing to codebase, check CONTRIBUTING.md
• For creating a new template, please head over to solidjs/templates

[!IMPORTANT]
This is the branch for the SolidStart 2.0.0-alpha that is currently under heavy development.

Current SolidStart is maintained at 1.x.

Prerequisites Copy Chapter

• Node.js: Use the version specified in .nvmrc. To manage multiple versions across your system, we recommend a version manager such as fnm, or another of your choice.
• pnpm: Install globally via npm install pnpm. Or let Corepack handle it in the setup step below.
• Git: Ensure Git is installed for cloning and managing the repository.

Monorepo Structure Copy Chapter

SolidStart is a pnpm-based monorepo with nested workspaces. Key directories include:

• packages/start: The core @solidjs/start package.
• apps/landing-page: The official landing page.
• apps/tests: Unit and end-to-end (E2E) tests using Vitest and Playwright.
• apps/fixtures: Fixture projects for testing.

Use pnpm filters (e.g. pnpm --filter @solidjs/start ...) to target specific packages.

Local Setup Copy Chapter

1. Clone the repository

   bash Copy

   git clone https://github.com/solidjs/solid-start.git
   cd solid-start

2. Enable the correct pnpm version specified in package.json

   bash Copy

   corepack enable

3. Install dependencies

   bash Copy

   pnpm dedupe

   (pnpm dedupe will install dependencies and clean the lockfile from duplicates, useful for preventing conflicts).

4. Build all packages and the landing page

   bash Copy

   pnpm run build:all

If you encounter issues (e.g. missing node_modules), clean the workspace

pnpm run clean:all

Then reinstall dependencies and rebuild.

Running Tests Copy Chapter

End-to-end tests are located in apps/tests projects. For manual testing and development use the apps/fixtures apps, and finally, integration and unit tests live inside their respective packages.

1. Install the Chromium for Playwright binary (required only once)

   bash Copy

   pnpm --filter tests exec playwright install chromium

2. For unit tests that check build artifacts, build the test app first

   bash Copy

   pnpm --filter tests run build

3. Run unit tests (puts vitest in watch mode)

   bash Copy

   pnpm --filter tests run unit

   • CI mode (run once): pnpm --filter tests run unit:ci
   • UI mode: pnpm --filter tests run unit:ui

4. Run E2E tests

   bash Copy

   pnpm --filter tests run e2e

   • UI mode: pnpm --filter tests run e2e:ui

5. Clean test artifacts

   bash Copy

   pnpm run clean:test

Development Copy Chapter

1. Make your changes in the relevant package (e.g. packages/start)

2. Rebuild affected packages

   bash Copy

   pnpm run packages:build

   For a full rebuild: pnpm run build:all

3. Test your changes

   • For fixtures, pick the name of the fixture and run the dev with workspace filtering.
     bash Copy

     pnpm --filter fixture-basic dev

   • For the landing page (from the root directory)
     bash Copy

     pnpm run lp:dev

4. Clean builds if needed

   bash Copy

   pnpm run packages:clean # Cleans packages' node_modules and dist folders
   pnpm run lp:clean # Cleans the landing page
   pnpm run clean:root # Cleans root-level caches

If you have read all the way here, you're already a champ! 🏆
Thank you.