---
title: Prerequisites
description: How to configure your development environment for next-forge.
---

## Operating System

next-forge is designed to work on macOS, Linux and Windows. While next-forge itself is platform-agnostic, the tooling and dependencies we use have different requirements.

We've tested and confirmed that next-forge works on the following combinations of operating systems, Node.js versions and next-forge versions:

| Operating system | next-forge version | Node.js version | Notes |
| ---------------- | ----------------- | --------------- | ----- |
| macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 (24A348) | 2.14.3 | 20.12.2 |  |
| Ubuntu 24.04 Arm64 | 2.14.3 | 20.18.0 |  |
| Fedora, Release 41 | 2.14.3 | 22.11.0 |  |
| Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (26100.2033) | 2.14.3 | 20.18.0 | Turborepo only supports specific architectures. `windows ia32` is not supported. |

We're aware of issues on [non-Ubuntu Linux distributions](https://github.com/haydenbleasel/next-forge/issues/238). While we don't officially support them, we'd love to know if you get it working!

## Package Manager

next-forge defaults to using [pnpm](https://pnpm.io/) as a package manager, but you can use [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/), [yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/) or [bun](https://bun.sh/) instead by passing a flag during the [installation](/setup/installation) step.

<Card title="Install pnpm" icon="bolt" href="https://pnpm.io/installation" horizontal>
  Install pnpm for your operating system.
</Card>

## Stripe CLI

We use the Stripe CLI to forward [payments webhooks](/packages/payments#webhooks) to your local machine.

<Card title="Install the Stripe CLI" icon="bolt" href="https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli" horizontal>
  Install the Stripe CLI for your operating system.
</Card>

Once installed, you can login to authenticate with your Stripe account.

```sh Terminal
stripe login
```

## Mintlify CLI

We use the Mintlify CLI to preview the [docs](/apps/docs) locally.

<Card title="Install the Mintlify CLI" icon="bolt" href="https://mintlify.com/docs/development" horizontal>
  Install the Mintlify CLI.
</Card>

## Accounts

next-forge relies on various SaaS products. You will need to create accounts with the following services then set the API keys in your [environment variables](/env):

- [Arcjet](https://arcjet.com), for [application security](/packages/security/application).
- [BetterStack](https://betterstack.com), for [logging](/packages/observability/logging) and [uptime monitoring](/packages/observability/uptime).
- [Clerk](https://clerk.com), for [authentication](/packages/authentication).
- [Google Analytics](https://developers.google.com/analytics), for [web analytics](/packages/analytics/web).
- [Posthog](https://posthog.com), for [product analytics](/packages/analytics/product).
- [Resend](https://resend.com), for [transactional emails](/packages/email).
- [Sentry](https://sentry.io), for [error tracking](/packages/observability/error-capture).
- [Stripe](https://stripe.com), for [payments](/packages/payments).
