1. Run the template locally

What you are starting with

ioy.ai is a private Cloudflare SaaS starter for independent developers. This site explains the template. The account and AI workspace are a reference application you can try after installation; you do not need a demo account to read these guides. For the architecture and how it compares with Next.js on Workers, read the Cloudflare Workers SaaS template overview.

You will first run everything locally with simulated email and AI. Real Google login, email delivery, payments and models come later, using your own accounts.

Before you begin

Install Node.js 24 or newer for building the template, npm, Git and the system zip command. The public Skill installer itself supports Node.js 22.20+, but generated projects require Node.js 24+. Sign in to ioy.ai and get the template. Create a clone credential, then run the command below in your project folder. When Git asks, enter username ioy and use the temporary credential as the password, not your Google password. No GitHub account is needed.

git -c credential.helper= clone https://ioy.ai/template.git ioy-template
cd ioy-template
npm ci
node scripts/local-secrets.mjs
npm run db:local
npm run dev

The credential expires after one hour and can be revoked on the template page. A replacement revokes the previous credential. Keep it out of chat, URLs, screenshots and Git. The clone is a read-only sanitized release from the private GitHub project, without its original history or production configuration. Existing GitHub collaborators may still use the original repository directly.

npm ci installs dependencies. The secrets helper creates a private .dev.vars file without printing its values. db:local applies the database migrations to local storage. dev starts the site; leave this terminal running.

Open the site

Visit http://127.0.0.1:5188. You should see a page introducing the SaaS starter, Get the starter and Explore the demo links, and these setup guides. If the page does not open, check the terminal for an error and follow troubleshooting.

The local state lives in .wrangler/. Nothing in this sequence deploys a Worker or charges a model provider. Do not replace the generated .dev.vars with the empty .env.example.

Choose your next step

To build your own SaaS, continue to step 2: generate a product. To inspect the local account, task and API flow first, follow the reference demo. Local demo accounts are separate from your ioy.ai account.

What should happen, and how do you recover?

The homepage explains the free starter; /demo is an anonymous, read-only preview. Your local workspace uses simulated email and AI until you configure independent services. External Cloudflare, Google, model, email and payment services have their own charges and account requirements.

Run npm run ioy -- doctor to check local prerequisites. After generating your own product, use npm run ioy -- launch --config launch-config.json, then npm run ioy -- status to see the next required step. If interrupted, use npm run ioy -- resume: it reconciles remote state before repeating operations. Follow the launch checklist for expected results and recovery at each stage.

If cloning fails, check that the username is ioy and obtain a replacement credential if the one-hour expiry has passed. If installation fails, verify Node.js 24+, rerun npm ci, and keep the original terminal error locally; never paste credentials into support messages.