Getting Started

Quick Start

The fastest way to get set up is with the project generator:

npm create @bluecadet/launchpad

It will ask which plugins you need, configure everything, and generate a working launchpad.config.ts. See Creating a Project for details.

Manual Installation

Install the @bluecadet/launchpad package, which includes the CLI and all first-party plugins:

npm install @bluecadet/launchpad

If you use CMS integrations or image processing, also install the relevant peer dependencies — see Packages and Modularity for the full list.

The project generator handles this automatically.

TIP

You can also install individual packages (@bluecadet/launchpad-content, @bluecadet/launchpad-monitor, etc.) instead of the umbrella. Both work identically at runtime. See Packages and Modularity for when to prefer one over the other.

Basic Setup

1. Create a configuration file:

// launchpad.config.js (or .ts, .mjs, etc.)
import { defineConfig } from '@bluecadet/launchpad/cli';
import { content } from '@bluecadet/launchpad/content';
import { monitor } from '@bluecadet/launchpad/monitor';
import { jsonSource } from '@bluecadet/launchpad/content/sources';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    content({
      sources: [
        jsonSource({
          id: "flickr-images",
          files: {
            "spaceships.json": "https://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?format=json&nojsoncallback=1&tags=spaceship",
            "rockets.json": "https://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?format=json&nojsoncallback=1&tags=rocket",
          },
        }),
      ]
    }),
    monitor({
      apps: [
        {
          pm2: {
            name: "my-app",
            script: "my-app.exe",
            cwd: "./builds/",
          }
        }
      ]
    }),
  ]
});

2. Run launchpad:

# Download content and start apps
npx launchpad start

# Only download fresh content
npx launchpad content

# Only manage apps
npx launchpad monitor

# Stop any running launchpad processes
npx launchpad stop