Getting started with Salon

Hosted app

The hosted app is at salon.openship.org. The storefront is at / and the dashboard at /dashboard.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later (package.json sets "node": ">=20.0.0"; the README suggests Node 22).
• npm.
• A PostgreSQL database you can migrate.
• For production: S3-compatible object storage.

Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/openshiporg/openfront-salon.git
cd openfront-salon
npm install

Environment

Copy the example file and replace every placeholder:

cp .env.example .env

Required:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/openfront_salon
SESSION_SECRET=replace-with-at-least-32-random-characters

The app will not start without DATABASE_URL and SESSION_SECRET. The secret must be at least 32 characters. Generate one with openssl rand -hex 32.

File storage. Required when NODE_ENV=production. Outside production the app falls back to placeholder values, so uploads will not work until you set real ones:

S3_BUCKET_NAME=
S3_REGION=
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
S3_ENDPOINT=

Optional variables the code reads:

.env.example also lists NEXTAUTH_SECRET, NEXTAUTH_URL, INTERNAL_BACKEND_URL, and AI_CHAT_ENABLED. The current application code does not read them.

Never commit .env.

Migrations

The repo has checked-in Prisma migrations in migrations/. Apply them with:

npm run migrate

npm run dev runs keystone build, then npm run migrate, then next dev. It changes whatever database DATABASE_URL points at.

npm run migrate:gen creates new development migrations after a model change. Run it only against a disposable database.

Run locally

npm run dev

• Storefront: /
• Dashboard: /dashboard
• GraphQL: /api/graphql

First user

On an empty database, open /dashboard/init. The form asks for name, email, and password. That user gets an Admin role with every permission, including canManageOnboarding and canManageCareRecords.

Create other staff and roles from the dashboard. Give each role only the flags the job needs. Clients create accounts at /account/signup once the first user exists; they get a client profile and no role.

Onboarding

After sign-in, the dashboard sidebar shows onboarding cards. Open the setup dialog and pick a template:

• Complete Salon Setup: the full sample seed.
• Essential Booking Setup: a smaller subset for booking.
• Custom Setup: copy the seed JSON, edit it, and paste it back.

The dialog calls runSalonOnboarding once. It creates the sample salon "Morrow & Mane" with a location, resources, services, stylists, schedules, sample clients, a consultation form, memberships, a package, a product, appointments, gallery images, and payment providers. It reports created and reused counts. Running it again reuses existing rows.

This is starter data. Replace the salon name, hours, services, prices, and staff before real use, and delete the starter clients and appointments.

Checks

npm run lint
npm run build

tests/ holds Node test files (*.test.cjs) for helpers and security rules. They need no database. package.json has no test script, so run them with node --test tests/.

Deploy

railway.toml builds with keystone build --no-ui && next build and starts with npm run migrate && next start, so migrations run on each start. npm run build alone does not migrate.

For any host:

1. Provision PostgreSQL and S3-compatible storage.
2. Set DATABASE_URL, SESSION_SECRET, the five S3_* values, and any optional integrations.
3. Back up the database.
4. Build, apply migrations, then start:

npm run build
npm run migrate
npm start

5. Create the first user at /dashboard/init and run onboarding or enter your own data.
6. For Stripe, point the webhook at /api/payments/webhooks/pp_stripe (or your provider's code). The route only accepts an installed Stripe provider. PaymentProvider records cannot be created or edited through GraphQL, and the seed's Stripe record is not installed, so turning it on needs a direct database change or a custom seed.

All app processes must share the same database, SESSION_SECRET, and storage settings.