Now liveThe Skillselion MCP - thousands of ranked skills, loaded into your agent mid-task. No install.Get it →
vercel-labs avatar

Bootstrap

  • 1.1k installs
  • 229 repo stars
  • Updated July 27, 2026
  • vercel-labs/vercel-plugin

bootstrap is a Vercel plugin skill orchestrating link, integration provisioning, env pull, and safe first-run db and dev commands.

About

The bootstrap skill is a Vercel project bootstrapping orchestrator enforcing strict order before migrations or dev servers start. Rules block db:push, db:migrate, db:seed, and dev until vercel link completes and required env keys verify. Preflight checks vercel CLI auth, .vercel/project.json linkage, and env templates from .env.example, .env.sample, or .env.template copied to .env.local. Postgres setup prefers vercel integration add neon with vercel env pull, falling back to dashboard or Neon CLI only when integration flow is unavailable. AUTH_SECRET generation uses node crypto randomBytes piped to vercel env add without printing values. Env verification diffs template key names against .env.local using comm, proceeding only when missing list is empty. App setup runs package-manager db scripts then dev after verification. chainTo routes sunset @vercel/postgres to vercel-storage, auth libraries to auth skill, and AI keys to env-vars guidance. next-forge monorepos get per-app env files and pnpm migrate instead of db:push.

  • Strict order: link Vercel, verify env keys, then run db commands or dev server.
  • Preferred Postgres path uses vercel integration add neon and env pull.
  • Never echo secret values in terminal output, logs, or summaries.
  • chainTo routes legacy postgres, auth libs, and AI env vars to sibling skills.
  • next-forge detection switches to per-app env files and pnpm migrate workflow.

Bootstrap by the numbers

  • 1,145 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • Ranked #305 of 1,041 Cloud & Infrastructure skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: MEDIUM risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
At a glance

bootstrap capabilities & compatibility

Capabilities
ordered bootstrap workflow · neon integration provisioning · env key diff verification · chainto skill routing · next forge monorepo handling
Use cases
orchestration · api development
From the docs

What bootstrap says it does

Do not run `db:push`, `db:migrate`, `db:seed`, or `dev` until Vercel linking is complete
SKILL.md
Never echo secret values in terminal output, logs, or summaries.
SKILL.md
npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/vercel-plugin --skill bootstrap

Add your badge

Show developers this skill is listed on Skillselion. Paste this into your README.

Listed on Skillselion
Installs1.1k
repo stars229
Security audit2 / 3 scanners passed
Last updatedJuly 27, 2026
Repositoryvercel-labs/vercel-plugin

How do I set up a Vercel-linked repo with database env vars and run migrations safely?

Orchestrate safe Vercel project bootstrap: link, integration provisioning, env pull, DB setup, and first dev run.

Who is it for?

Developers initializing or repairing Vercel-dependent repos with managed integrations.

Skip if: Skip when the project is already linked, env-complete, and dev runs without config errors.

When should I use this skill?

User sets up project, initializes repo, links vercel, or pulls env vars for first run.

What you get

Linked project with verified env keys, completed resource path, and recorded migration and dev status.

  • vercel project link
  • local .env.local file
  • bootstrap result summary

By the numbers

  • Metadata priority 8 with 10 pathPatterns and 9 importPatterns for repo detection
  • Chains to 3 related skills: vercel-storage, auth, and env-vars
  • Adds 12 shadcn baseline primitives in the documented UI setup step

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Project Bootstrap Orchestrator

Execute bootstrap in strict order. Do not run migrations or development server until project linking and environment verification are complete.

Rules

  • Do not run db:push, db:migrate, db:seed, or dev until Vercel linking is complete and env keys are verified.
  • Prefer Vercel-managed provisioning (vercel integration ...) for shared resources.
  • Use provider CLIs only as fallback when Vercel integration flow is unavailable.
  • Never echo secret values in terminal output, logs, or summaries.

Preflight

1. Confirm Vercel CLI is installed and authenticated.

vercel --version
vercel whoami

2. Confirm repo linkage by checking .vercel/project.json. 3. If not linked, inspect available teams/projects before asking the user to choose:

vercel teams ls
vercel projects ls --scope <team>
vercel link --yes --scope <team> --project <project>

4. Find the env template in priority order: .env.example, .env.sample, .env.template. 5. Create local env file if missing:

cp .env.example .env.local

Resource Setup: Postgres

Preferred path (Vercel-managed Neon)

1. Read integration setup guidance:

vercel integration guide neon

2. Add Neon integration to the Vercel scope:

vercel integration add neon --scope <team>

3. Verify expected environment variable names exist in Vercel and pull locally:

vercel env ls
vercel env pull .env.local --yes

Fallback path 1 (Dashboard)

1. Provision Neon through the Vercel dashboard integration UI. 2. Re-run vercel env pull .env.local --yes.

Fallback path 2 (Neon CLI)

Use Neon CLI only when Vercel-managed provisioning is unavailable. After creating resources, add required env vars in Vercel and pull again.

AUTH_SECRET Generation

Generate a high-entropy secret without printing it, then store it in Vercel and refresh local env:

AUTH_SECRET="$(node -e "console.log(require('node:crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('base64url'))")"
printf "%s" "$AUTH_SECRET" | vercel env add AUTH_SECRET development preview production
unset AUTH_SECRET
vercel env pull .env.local --yes

Env Verification

Compare required keys from template file against .env.local keys (names only, never values):

template_file=""
for candidate in .env.example .env.sample .env.template; do
  if [ -f "$candidate" ]; then
    template_file="$candidate"
    break
  fi
done

comm -23 \
  <(grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*=' "$template_file" | cut -d '=' -f 1 | sort -u) \
  <(grep -E '^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*=' .env.local | cut -d '=' -f 1 | sort -u)

Proceed only when missing key list is empty.

App Setup

After linkage + env verification:

npm run db:push
npm run db:seed
npm run dev

Use the repository package manager (npm, pnpm, bun, or yarn) and run only scripts that exist in package.json.

UI Baseline for Next.js + shadcn Projects

After linkage and env verification, establish the UI foundation before feature work: 1. Add a baseline primitive set: npx shadcn@latest add button card input label textarea select switch tabs dialog alert-dialog sheet dropdown-menu badge separator skeleton table 2. Apply the Geist font fix in layout.tsx and globals.css. 3. Confirm the app shell uses bg-background text-foreground. 4. Default to dark mode for product, admin, and AI apps unless the repo is clearly marketing-first.

Bootstrap Verification

Confirm each checkpoint:

  • vercel whoami succeeds.
  • .vercel/project.json exists and matches chosen project.
  • Postgres integration path completed (Vercel integration, dashboard, or provider CLI fallback).
  • vercel env pull .env.local --yes succeeds.
  • Required env key diff is empty.
  • Database command status is recorded (db:push, db:seed, db:migrate, db:generate as applicable).
  • dev command starts without immediate config/auth/env failure.

If verification fails, stop and report exact failing step plus remediation.

Summary Format

Return a final bootstrap summary in this format:

## Bootstrap Result
- **Linked Project**: <team>/<project>
- **Resource Path**: vercel-integration-neon | dashboard-neon | neon-cli
- **Env Keys**: <count> required, <count> present, <count> missing
- **Secrets**: AUTH_SECRET set in Vercel (value never shown)
- **Migration Status**: not-run | success | failed (<step>)
- **Dev Result**: not-run | started | failed

Bootstrap Next Steps

  • If env keys are still missing, add the missing keys in Vercel and re-run vercel env pull .env.local --yes.
  • If DB commands fail, fix connectivity/schema issues and re-run only the failed db step.
  • If dev fails, resolve runtime errors, then restart with your package manager's run dev.

next-forge Projects

If the project was scaffolded with npx next-forge init (detected by pnpm-workspace.yaml + packages/auth + packages/database + @repo/* imports):

1. Env files are per-app (apps/app/.env.local, apps/web/.env.local, apps/api/.env.local) plus packages/database/.env. 2. Run pnpm migrate (not db:push) — it runs prisma format + prisma generate + prisma db push. 3. Minimum env vars: DATABASE_URL, CLERK_SECRET_KEY, NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY, NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_WEB_URL, NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL. 4. Optional services (Stripe, Resend, PostHog, etc.) can be skipped initially — but remove their @repo/* imports from app env.ts files to avoid validation errors. 5. Deploy as 3 separate Vercel projects with root directories apps/app, apps/api, apps/web.

=> skill: next-forge — Full next-forge monorepo guide

Related skills

Forks & variants (1)

Bootstrap has 1 known copy in the catalog totaling 393 installs. They canonicalize to this original listing.

How it compares

Use bootstrap for ordered Vercel CLI onboarding instead of running db:migrate or dev before link and env verification complete.

FAQ

Can I run db:push before linking?

No; migrations and dev wait until linkage and env verification complete.

How is AUTH_SECRET set?

Generated with node crypto and added via vercel env add without printing the value.

What if next-forge is detected?

Use per-app .env.local files and pnpm migrate instead of single-app db:push.

Is Bootstrap safe to install?

skills.sh reports 2 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

Cloud & Infrastructureintegrationsdevops

This week in AI coding

Five minutes, every Monday - the tools, releases and tactics for developers.

unsubscribe anytime.