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Install Medusa with create-medusa-app

In this document, you’ll learn how to use create-medusa-app to set up a Medusa backend and an admin dashboard.

create-medusa-app allows you to install and setup a Medusa backend project with minimal configurations. If you're more familiar with Medusa and you need to have more control over the configurations of the Medusa backend, please use the backend quickstart instead.

Overview​

Medusa is a toolkit for developers to create digital commerce applications. In its simplest form, Medusa is a Node.js backend with the core API, plugins, and modules installed through npm.

create-medusa-app is a command that facilitates creating a Medusa ecosystem. It installs the Medusa backend and admin dashboard, along with the necessary configurations to run the backend.

Prerequisites​

Before you can install and use Medusa, you need the following tools installed on your machine:

How to Create a Medusa Project​

create-medusa-app uses a beta version of the Medusa backend and admin. If you want to use a stable Medusa setup, consider passing the --stable option to the command. However, when using this option, you'll have to install the Medusa admin manually.

In your terminal, run the following command:

npx create-medusa-app@latest
Available Options
  • --stable: A flag that allows you to opt-out of the beta Medusa backend project. When using this option, the Medusa admin won't be installed.
  • --repo-url <url>: The repository URL to create the project from. By default it will be https://github.com/medusajs/medusa-starter-default.
  • --seed: A flag indicating whether the database should be seeded with demo data. By default, seeding is disabled.
  • --no-boilerplate: A flag that removes all files added for an enhanced onboarding experience (files under src/admin, src/api, etc...). This is helpful if you want to create a clean project, and is only recommended if you're familiar with Medusa.

Step 1: Specify Project Name​

You’ll first be asked to enter the name of your project, which is used to create the directory holding your Medusa backend. You can use the default my-medusa-store or enter another project name.

(Optional) Step 2: Specify PostgreSQL credentials​

By default, this command will try to use the default PostgreSQL credentials to connect to your PostgreSQL server. If they don't work, you'll be prompted to enter your PostgreSQL database and password. If they work, you can move ahead to the next step.

These credentials will be used to create a database during this setup and configure your Medusa backend to connect to that database.

Step 3: Enter an admin email​

You'll then be prompted to enter an admin email for your admin user. You'll be using this admin email later to login to your admin dashboard. You can use the default admin@medusa-test.com or enter any other email.

Step 4: Wait for Project Setup​

After the above steps, the project setup will start which includes:

  1. Creating the project directory. The directory name will be the project name you entered in step 1.
  2. Creating the project database.
  3. Installing dependencies in your project directory.
  4. Building project and running migrations to migrate the Medusa schema into your project database.
  5. Create the admin user.
  6. Seeding the database with demo data.

Step 5: Log into admin dashboard​

If you passed the --stable option, the localhost:9000/store/products endpoint will open in your browser instead.

Once the project is prepared, the Medusa backend will start and the admin dashboard will be opened in your default browser. You'll then be asked to enter a password for the admin email you entered earlier, as well as other account information.

Once you're logged in, you can start using Medusa! Try following the setup guide to create your first product and order.

Did you set up Medusa successfully?

Next Steps: Start your Development​

Based on what you're building, you can find a development path for you in the Recipes page.

Troubleshooting​

Error: EADDRINUSE

When you run your backend you may run to an error similar to the following:

code: 'EADDRINUSE',
errno: -48,
syscall: 'Listen',
address: '::',
port: 9000

This means that there's another process running at port 9000. You need to either:

  • Change the default port used by the Medusa backend. You can do that by setting the PORT environment variable to a new port. When you do this, make sure to change the port used in other apps that interact with your Medusa backend, such as in your admin or storefront.
  • Terminate other processes running on port 9000.
EAGAIN error

When using the create-medusa-app npx command, you might run into an NPM EAGAIN error. This error can randomly occur due to conflicting processes.

The easiest solution is to start the command over. Alternatively, if your setup crossed the "create database" point, you can manually perform the following steps in the directory of your created project. You can skip any steps that you're sure have been performed by create-medusa-app:

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

2. Build project:

npm run build

3. Run migrations:

npx @medusajs/medusa-cli migrations run

4. Create an admin user:

npx @medusajs/medusa-cli user -e user@test.com -p supersecret

5. Optionally seed the database:

npx @medusajs/medusa-cli seed -f ./data/seed.json

6. Start project:

npx @medusajs/medusa-cli develop
TypeError: cmd is not a function

This error typically occurs when you set up a Medusa project with create-medusa-app and try to run the Medusa backend.

To resolve this issue, make sure you change into the backend directory of the Medusa project you created before trying to start the Medusa backend:

cd backend
npx @medusajs/medusa-cli develop
Error: connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:5432

When you start your Medusa backend you may run into the following error:

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:5432

This error occurs because the backend couldn't connect to the PostgreSQL database. The issue could be one of the following:

  1. PostgreSQL server isn't running. Make sure it's always running while the Medusa backend is running.
  2. The connection URL to your PostgreSQL database is incorrect. This could be because of incorrect credentials, port number, or connection URL format. The format should be postgres://[user][:password]@[host][:port]/[dbname]. Make sure that the connection URL format is correct, and the credentials passed in the URL are correct. You can learn more about formatting the connection URL here
AwilixResolutionError: Could Not Resolve X

If you get the error on a fresh installation of the Medusa backend, or you haven't made any customizations that would cause this error, try to remove the node_modules directory, then run the following command in the root directory of the Medusa backend to re-install the dependencies:

npm install
Other Errors

As a last resort to resolve your issue, please try to clear your npx cache, as it could hold a cached version of create-medusa-app with errors.

Run the following command:

rm -rf "$(npm config get cache)/_npx"

Try running the create-medusa-app command again.

If your issue persists, please try to search through our GitHub issues to see if there's a solution for your issue. If not, please create an issue on GitHub and our team will help you resolve it soon.

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