encore-getting-started

Setting Up Encore.ts

Instructions

This guide is for Encore.ts. For Encore Go, use encore-go-getting-started. If the user hasn't said which language they want, ask.

Do the steps in order. Each step says how to tell it worked. If a step fails, load the skill it names.

1. Check the CLI

encore version

• Prints encore version v...: go to step 2.
• Command not found: install it (encore-install), then go to step 2.

2. Log in

Skip this step if the user only wants to run the app locally.

encore auth whoami

• logged in as <email>: go to step 3.
• not logged in.: start encore auth login in the background. Send the user the pairing code and URL it prints, and ask them to approve it in a browser on any device. Wait for Successfully logged in! (encore-login).
• logged in as app <app-id>, or no person can approve a login (CI): an auth key can't create apps. Ask the user to create the app in the Cloud Dashboard, then run encore app clone <app-id>, cd into it, and go to step 4.

3. Create the app

encore app create my-app --example=ts/hello-world
cd my-app

• Ends with Successfully created app my-app!: go to step 4.
• Keep the --example flag. In a terminal, the CLI asks for a language and template when it's missing. Without a terminal, which is how agents usually run commands, it can't ask, and creates an empty Go app instead.
• Empty app: for an app with no services, use --example=ts/empty instead, and skip step 4.
• Other templates and errors: see encore-create-app.

4. Check that it runs

encore check 'curl /hello/world'

• Prints {"message":"Hello world!"} and exits 0: go to step 5.
• Fails: see encore-run.

To keep the app running for the user, start encore run in the background, never in the foreground (encore-run). The API is at http://localhost:4000, and the local development dashboard, with a trace of every request, is at http://localhost:9400.

5. Connect Encore's MCP servers

The MCP servers let you inspect and call the app while you build it, and read its deploys once it's on Encore Cloud. If the user created the app with --llm-rules=<tool>, the local server may already be configured for that tool: check before adding it again.

1. Local server: from the app's root directory, run encore mcp start. It prints MCP stdio Command: encore mcp run --app=<app-id>. Add that command to the user's tool. In Claude Code:

   claude mcp add --transport stdio encore-local -- encore mcp run --app=<app-id>
   

2. Encore Cloud server (only if you logged in at step 2):

   claude mcp add --transport http --scope user encore-cloud https://api.encore.dev/mcp
   

3. Cursor, VS Code, other tools, or an API key instead of signing in: see encore-mcp.

6. Report back

Setup is done. Tell the user:

• Where the app is: its directory, and, if it's on Encore Cloud, its Cloud Dashboard at https://app.encore.dev/<app-id>.
• What's left for them: their tool loads the new MCP servers when it restarts. If you added encore-cloud, they also need to authenticate it once: in Claude Code, /mcp, select encore-cloud, and choose Authenticate.

To build on the app, load the skill for the task. The hello-world app has one service, hello, in hello/.

To	Load
Add endpoints, validation, and errors	encore-api
Add services or call one service from another	encore-service
Add a SQL database	encore-database
Require login on endpoints	encore-auth
Add Pub/Sub, cron jobs, buckets, secrets, or caching	encore-pubsub, encore-cron, encore-bucket, encore-secret, encore-cache
Write tests	encore-testing
Deploy: commit, then git push encore	encore-deploy