Install Seedly Sites

This guide takes you from the ZIP you downloaded to the whole platform running on your own computer: the admin, the visual builder, and a rendered site. You do not need to be a programmer. If you can copy a line of text and paste it into a terminal, you can finish this setup.

Your download also ships with a complete SETUP/ handbook inside the project folder, with numbered chapters (00 through 14) covering everything from "what is a terminal" to launch day. This page is the condensed version.

The Guided Path (Recommended)#

From the project folder in a terminal, run:

npx pnpm run setup

That launches Pixl, the Seedly Sites setup companion, who walks you through the whole setup one small step at a time and checks your work as you go. If you would rather be led than read, run that command and skip the rest of this page.

Pixl uses a few commands you can also run yourself at any time:

There is also a path for Claude Code users: open the project folder, start Claude, and ask it to read SETUP/CLAUDE_START.md and walk you through setup one chapter at a time.

Prerequisites#

You need three tools installed once per computer:

Node (version 22 or newer)#

Node runs the platform's code. Download the LTS version from nodejs.org and install with the defaults. Check it:

node --version

You want v22 or higher as the first number.

pnpm#

pnpm installs the project's building blocks. You do not install it separately: the project uses it through npx, which comes with Node. Whenever you see npx pnpm ..., that is pnpm. Check it (answer y if it offers to download):

npx pnpm --version

Git#

Git tracks your code and publishes sites through GitHub. On a Mac, run xcode-select --install. On Windows, install from git-scm.com with the defaults.

Run It Locally#

The local sandbox uses a small built-in file database, so it needs no accounts, no keys, and costs nothing.

1. Point the terminal at the project. Type cd (with a trailing space), drag the unzipped seedly-sites folder onto the terminal window, and press Enter.

2. Install the pieces:

   npx pnpm install

   Lots of text scrolls by for a minute or two. It is done when you can type again.

3. Start both dev servers:

   npx pnpm m6:dev

   This starts the two halves of the platform together: the CMS (your admin and portal) on http://localhost:3000 and the render studio (the visual builder and page preview) on http://localhost:4321. Leave the terminal window running; closing it stops the servers.

4. Create your first admin. Open http://localhost:3000/admin in a browser. A brand-new database asks you to create the first admin account. Pick an email and password you will remember.

5. Look around. Create a site (tenant), add a page, open the visual builder, and see the page render in the preview. This is the whole platform, running entirely on your computer.

To stop the servers, press Ctrl and C in the terminal. Run npx pnpm m6:dev to start them again.

What Just Happened#

You proved the full path works locally: the CMS stores content, the builder edits it, and the renderer turns it into a website. Going live is the same thing on real infrastructure, with your own domains - that is the Provisioning guide.

Estimated time: 15 to 30 minutes for the local sandbox, then a couple of hours (spread over sittings) for the live setup. You can stop anywhere and resume.

Two Things That Trip People Up#

Your download contains hidden files, and it needs them. Files whose names begin with a dot are part of the project. Some unzip tools, and some file managers, quietly drop them. If setup behaves as though configuration is missing, this is usually why. Setup checks for the loss and tells you before anything else breaks, but the fix is to unzip again with a tool that keeps hidden files rather than trying to work around it.

Do not copy your project folder through a shortcut or symlink. Setup and check scripts launched through a symlink used to do nothing at all, quietly. That is now caught and reported, but the simplest answer is to run them from the real folder.

Where the Templates Are#

The download ships the platform, not the template library. Your starter packs are downloaded separately from your account and imported with the CLI.

That is deliberate: it keeps the download small, and it lets you take new packs as they are published without updating the platform. A fresh instance with no packs imported shows an honest empty state on the intake screen rather than listing packs you do not have.

The import command is in SETUP/operations/managing-templates.md inside your download.

If You Get Stuck#

1. Run the doctor: npx pnpm run setup:check. It names what is wrong.
2. Check the Troubleshooting guide.
3. Look up any confusing word in the Glossary.
4. Ask in the Seedly Community on Facebook.

One caution: the SETUP/ folder inside your project is your installation manual. Do not edit or delete it; setup tooling depends on those files.