#Install

Every way to get a branded StoryLark site running, from "just try it" to "one command to a live URL."

#Recommended: create a standalone publisher site

npm create storylark generates a thin site and runs npm install for you. The result contains exact compatible versions of storylark-core, storylark-worker, and storylark-pipeline, plus a package lock and a non-secret .storylark/project.json provenance marker. It does not copy the engine source or create a monorepo.

npm create storylark my-site

Use npm run doctor in the new folder before setup, or npm run doctor -- --json in automation. --no-install exists only for an advanced operator who deliberately wants to manage dependency installation; it cannot be combined with --deploy.

#Installing to a platform

Every platform folder (platforms/cloudflare/, platforms/azure/) is driven by an env file — fill it in, run that platform's installer. --verify checks everything (login state, config validity, that the infrastructure template compiles) and creates nothing; --deploy --yes provisions real resources.

cd platforms/cloudflare        # or platforms/azure
cp install.env.example install.env
$EDITOR install.env
node install.mjs --verify
node install.mjs --deploy --yes

See deploy-your-own.md (Cloudflare) or deploy-azure.md (Azure) for what each env value means and what gets created.

#The setup wizard

Don't want to fill out two files by hand (the env file plus your brand)? The wizard asks which platform, collects the values, writes the env file, and runs that platform's installer for you:

node platforms/wizard.mjs

The wizard verifies first, then asks for confirmation before it deploys. A non-interactive deployment must state both --deploy and --yes.

Non-interactive (scriptable) form:

node platforms/wizard.mjs --platform=cloudflare --deploy --yes BRAND_ID=my-site APP_ORIGIN=https://app.example.com ...

Works identically whether you cloned the repo or ran npm create storylark — it's the same script either way.

#The one-command path

npm create storylark my-site -- --deploy chains straight from scaffolding into the wizard — one command, a few prompts, done. This is the "seamless" path: you never see the copy step and the wizard as separate actions, just one continuous flow ending at a live site.

#Advanced: clone the engine

Clone StoryLark/storylark only when you intend to develop, debug, or fork the engine itself. It is a workspace checkout, not the normal way to operate one publisher site:

git clone https://github.com/StoryLark/storylark.git
cd storylark
npm install

Running npm install at the workspace root is required. A clone without that step is not an installed StoryLark deployment.

#What every path has in common

Regardless of how you got here, you end up with:

• A brand folder (brands/<id>/) — yours to edit, never touched by an engine update. See build-your-own-theme.md.
• A CI setup (.github/workflows/) with publish.yml already wired up, for content publishing — see admin-guide.md. Engine updates need no CI at all: they run from your machine with one command, see updating.md.
• An empty shelf until you publish. See publishing-stories.md.

Found a gap? StoryLark is open source — improve these docs on GitHub.