npm create startups

npm create startups turns a name, a domain, or an Idea into a running Startup: staffed, reachable on four Interfaces, and defined as code. A person runs it at a terminal; an Agent runs it with no terminal at all.

One commandCopy Anchor Link

proofhound.com copyedits manuscripts for self-published authors and charges $89 per 10,000 words. Its founder starts it with one line:

npm create startups proofhound.com -- --template agent-run-services \
  --json '{"idea":"Copyedits for self-published novels, back in 48 hours"}'

Created Proofhound in test
  Startup      startup_1
  State        Idea
  Template     Agent-run services firm
  Roles        every Role held by an Agent
  Interfaces   https://api.sb/proofhound.com · MCP · SDK · CLI
  Claim token  ct_4Rk9pW
Next: cd proofhound

The first argument is a domain, a name, several names, or nothing. A domain becomes the namespace, and a name gets a free subdomain until a Domain is connected. With nothing, the command asks for the Idea and proposes names.

pnpm create, yarn create, and bun create run the same package.

Choose a Startup TemplateCopy Anchor Link

A Startup Template makes three choices: an operating model, one or more Product Templates, and the Motions it sells through. Who runs it, what it sells, and to whom. --template names a combination that already works.

proofhound.com sells a finished copyedit, so it starts from the Agent-run services firm. It inherits intake, delivery, acceptance, and the Roles that staff them. Its own definition adds only what makes it different: the price per word and the 48-hour promise.

To mix your own combination, name the three choices in the input instead:

npm create startups tallyfox.com -- --yes --json '{
  "idea": "Sales-tax filing for online stores in all 50 states",
  "operatingModel": "single-human",
  "products": ["services-as-software", "headless-saas"],
  "motions": ["b2b", "b2a2b"]
}'

With no --template and no choices, a Startup starts from the base that every Startup Template extends. The base is a Brand, a Site, the four developer Interfaces, every System, and an Agent in each default Role. The Startup adds a Product once it learns what sells.

What it createsCopy Anchor Link

One run writes records in api.sb and files on disk. In api.sb it creates the Idea, the Startup in the test environment at the Idea state of its Lifecycle, and its first Domain. It seats a Worker in every Role the Startup Template staffs: an Agent, or a Human where the operating model names one.

From the first second, the Startup answers on every Interface. https://api.sb/proofhound.com serves its records, the MCP server reaches it, and the CLI and SDK act in it with the key the command stored.

On disk, the command writes a project:

A coding agent is at work from cd proofhound, with no setup page to find. AGENTS.md opens:

This repository defines Proofhound. Connect MCP from .mcp.json.
Fetch /$.d.ts before writing code. Rehearse every write with mode "try".
Read the slots with `npx startup-builder show /hypothesis --fields slot,grade,next`.
Take work with next, claim and done. Never mark a Task done that fails its checks.

startup.ts holds only what differs from the Startup Template, starting with the Founding Hypothesis drafted from the Idea:

import { Startup } from 'startup-builder'

export default Startup({
  name: 'Proofhound',
  domain: 'proofhound.com',
  extends: 'agent-run-services',
  idea: 'Copyedits for self-published novels, back in 48 hours.',
  hypothesis: {
    customer: 'Self-published novelists who release two or more books a year',
    problem: 'Typos in a first chapter cost reviews, and a freelance copyeditor takes three weeks',
    approach: 'Agents copyedit line by line, and an editor checks every tracked change',
    switch: 'A freelance copyeditor at $200 per 10,000 words',
    differentiation: 'Back in 48 hours, at under half the price',
  },
  offers: {
    copyedit: {
      price: { amount: 89, currency: 'USD' },
      interval: 'once',
      terms: 'A line-level copyedit of up to 10,000 words with tracked changes, delivered within 48 hours.',
    },
  },
})

Inherited, not scaffoldedCopy Anchor Link

A scaffold copies code once and then rots. A Startup Template stays the parent of every Startup that extends it, so delivery, billing, and every Process improve when the Startup Template does.

startups.lock pins each Startup Template to a Version. An upgrade arrives as a Change you review, never as a surprise. A file you add, such as an Offer or a Noun, overrides exactly one inherited record, and project structure lists every reserved path.

The record of the definition is always db.sb. Each project picks one leader. Database-first regenerates the files from db.sb; git-first imports each commit as a Change.

Unattended runsCopy Anchor Link

The same command runs with no person present. It switches to agent mode when its output is not a terminal, or when CI, CLAUDECODE, or CODEX is set. In agent mode it never prompts, never opens a browser, and prints JSON.

--yes accepts every default, and --dry-run prints the plan and writes nothing. A list of ideas creates one Startup per Idea, so an agent tests three directions in one call:

npx create-startups --template autonomous-data-api --yes --output json --json '{"ideas":[
  "Freight lane rates for brokers, updated hourly",
  "Daily used-forklift prices by region",
  "Port congestion scores for importers"
]}'

[
  { "startup": "startup_1", "name": "Lanerate", "state": "Idea", "claimToken": "ct_8Pq1sA" },
  { "startup": "startup_2", "name": "Liftprice", "state": "Idea", "claimToken": "ct_2Vn6dE" },
  { "startup": "startup_3", "name": "Berthwatch", "state": "Idea", "claimToken": "ct_9Lm3kT" }
]

An agent drafts each Founding Hypothesis and reserve page in test, then names a human sponsor. The sponsor claim opens the reserve page, and the agent guide walks the rest.

From Idea to BuildingCopy Anchor Link

Every Startup takes one path, from a terminal, startups.new or an agent. Edit the slots in startup.ts, set the Minimum Success Criteria, claim the Startup with the token from create, and publish the reserve Offer:

cd proofhound
npx startup-builder do MinimumSuccessCriteria.create --json '{"objective":"Authors pay for every manuscript they publish","metric":"outside-revenue","value":4000,"by":"2027-06-30"}'
npx startup-builder do Startup.claim --json '{"startup":"startup_1","claimToken":"ct_4Rk9pW"}'
npx startup-builder do Offer.publish --json '{"offer":"offer_1"}'
npx startup-builder show /hypotheses --fields kind,grade
npx startup-builder do Startup.build --json '{"startup":"startup_1"}'

Claim connects Stripe, and live then serves only the reserve page and its refundable deposit. Outside deposits and Interviews grade the slots. Build refuses until the customer, problem and switch slots reach Commitment, then moves the Startup to Building.

Build reads 5 checks for proofhound.com, a Agent-run services firm Startup: the ones every Startup passes. Some templates add more; the launch checklist lists them all.

From Building to LiveCopy Anchor Link

A sample Customer completes the Offer in test, and a --try launch lists every check still failing:

npx startup-builder do Offer.accept --json '{"offer":"offer_1","party":"Sample Author"}'
npx startup-builder do Startup.launch --json '{"startup":"startup_1"}' --try
npx startup-builder do Startup.launch --json '{"startup":"startup_1"}'

Launch refuses until every entry check of Live passes, all five slots at Commitment among them. It then puts the Startup on its domain, selling to Customers.

Launch reads 12 checks for proofhound.com, a Agent-run services firm Startup.

NextCopy Anchor Link

• Quickstart: from this command to a reserve page that takes real refundable deposits.
• create-startups reference: every input, flag, and output.
• The template catalog: every combination, and what each one adds.
• CLI: the commands that run the Startup once it exists.