NodeForgeCMS Quickstart: Your First Instance in 10 Minutes

This guide gets you from zero to a fully running NodeForgeCMS instance on your local machine. By the end you’ll have the backend server, frontend, and admin dashboard all running — ready for you to log in and start building.

Check Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure the following are installed and running on your machine:

Node.js 20.x — NodeForgeCMS requires Node 20 or later.
MySQL 8.x — The primary data store for all CMS content and configuration.
Redis 7 — Used for session caching and performance optimization.
pnpm — The package manager used across both the server and admin packages.

Confirm your versions before continuing to avoid setup issues.

Clone the Repository and Install Dependencies

Clone the NodeForgeCMS repository, then install dependencies for both the server/ and admin/ packages separately.

git clone https://github.com/your-org/node-forge-cms.git
cd node-forge-cms

Install server dependencies:

cd server
pnpm install

Install admin panel dependencies:

cd ../admin
pnpm install

Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the server/ directory. You can copy the provided example file and fill in your values:

cp server/.env.example server/.env

Edit server/.env with your local configuration:

server/.env

DATABASE_USERNAME=root
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_password
DATABASE_HOST=127.0.0.1
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_DB=node_forge_cms

JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key

REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_DB=5

SERVER_HOST=http://127.0.0.1:3000
IMG_HOST=http://127.0.0.1:3000

FORM_USER_EMAIL=
FORM_USER_EMAIL_PASSWORD=
USER_EMAIL_SERVICE=QQ

Replace your_password and your_secret_key with your own values. The email fields are optional for local development.

Initialize the Database

Create the node_forge_cms database in MySQL, then import the bundled SQL schema and seed file:

mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE node_forge_cms CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"
mysql -u root -p node_forge_cms < server/sql/node_forge_cms.sql

This creates all required tables and inserts default configuration data, including the initial admin user.

Start the Development Server

From the project root, start the Nuxt4 backend and frontend server:

cd server && pnpm dev

The server will start at http://localhost:3000. You can visit this URL to see the public-facing site frontend.

Start the Admin Panel

Open a second terminal and start the admin panel:

cd admin && pnpm dev

The admin dashboard will be available at http://localhost:4000.Log in with the default credentials:

Field	Value
Username	`admin`
Password	`admin123`

Change the default admin password immediately after your first login. Do not use admin123 in any environment beyond initial local development.

This quickstart uses development mode for both packages. For production deployment — including PM2 process management, production builds, and shared vs. separate domain configurations — see the full Installation Guide.