Create T3 App — Full-Stack TypeScript Starter with Next.js, tRPC & Prisma

Introduction

Create T3 App is the quickest way to scaffold a production-ready, full-stack TypeScript application. It bundles the most popular and well-tested libraries in the Next.js ecosystem into a single interactive CLI that lets you pick exactly the pieces you need.

What Create T3 App Does

• Scaffolds a Next.js project with full TypeScript configuration out of the box
• Optionally includes tRPC for end-to-end typesafe APIs without code generation
• Integrates Prisma ORM for type-safe database access and migrations
• Adds Tailwind CSS with sensible defaults and a ready-to-use design system
• Configures NextAuth.js for authentication with multiple provider support

Architecture Overview

Create T3 App generates a Next.js application using the App Router. tRPC routers live alongside your Next.js API routes and share TypeScript types with the frontend automatically. Prisma manages the database schema and generates a typed client. NextAuth.js handles session management through server-side callbacks. The entire stack shares a single TypeScript project, so type errors surface at build time rather than at runtime.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Run npm create t3-app@latest and follow the interactive prompts to choose your stack
• Set DATABASE_URL in .env to point at any Prisma-supported database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite)
• Configure OAuth providers in src/server/auth.ts for NextAuth.js
• Deploy to Vercel, Railway, or any Node.js hosting that supports Next.js
• Use npx prisma db push for rapid prototyping or npx prisma migrate dev for production migrations

Key Features

• Interactive CLI that lets you opt in to tRPC, Prisma, Tailwind, and NextAuth individually
• End-to-end type safety from database schema to React components
• Zero boilerplate API layer when using tRPC with automatic type inference
• Follows the T3 Stack philosophy: simplicity, modularity, and full-stack type safety
• Actively maintained with frequent updates tracking the latest Next.js releases

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Next.js create-next-app — provides a bare Next.js scaffold without opinionated library choices; T3 adds a curated full-stack starting point
• Blitz.js — offers a Rails-like full-stack framework on top of Next.js; T3 stays closer to vanilla Next.js with opt-in pieces
• RedwoodJS — full-stack React framework with its own router and GraphQL layer; T3 uses Next.js routing and tRPC instead
• SvelteKit — different UI framework with its own full-stack approach; T3 is Next.js and React-specific

FAQ

Q: Do I have to use every part of the T3 stack? A: No. The CLI lets you pick and choose which libraries to include. You can start with just Next.js and Tailwind and add tRPC or Prisma later.

Q: Which databases does it support? A: Any database supported by Prisma, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, CockroachDB, and SQL Server.

Q: Can I deploy it outside of Vercel? A: Yes. The generated project is a standard Next.js application that can run anywhere Node.js is available, including Docker containers, AWS, and Railway.

Q: Is it suitable for production applications? A: Yes. The T3 stack is used in production by many companies. The scaffold includes TypeScript strict mode, ESLint, and sensible security defaults.

Sources

• https://github.com/t3-oss/create-t3-app
• https://create.t3.gg