Install Astro

The create astro CLI command is the fastest way to start a new Astro project from scratch. It will walk you through every step of setting up your new Astro project and allow you to choose from a few different official starter templates.

You can also run the CLI command with the template flag to begin your project using any existing theme or starter template. Explore our themes and starters showcase where you can browse themes for blogs, portfolios, documentation sites, landing pages, and more!

To install Astro manually instead, see our step-by-step manual installation guide.

[Online previews]

Prefer to try Astro in your browser? Visit astro.new to browse our starter templates and spin up a new Astro project without ever leaving your browser.

Prerequisites

• Node.js - v22.12.0 or higher. Odd-numbered versions like v23 are not supported.
• Text editor - We recommend VS Code with our Official Astro extension.
• Terminal - Astro is accessed through its command-line interface (CLI).

Browser compatibility

Astro is built with Vite which targets browsers with modern JavaScript support by default. For a complete reference, you can see the list of currently supported browser versions in Vite.

Install from the CLI wizard

You can run create astro anywhere on your machine, so there’s no need to create a new empty directory for your project before you begin. If you don’t have an empty directory yet for your new project, the wizard will help create one for you automatically.

CLI installation flags

You can run the create astro command with additional flags to customize the setup process (e.g. answering “yes” to all questions, skipping the Houston animation) or your new project (e.g. install git or not, add integrations).

Add integrations

You can start a new Astro project and install any official integrations or community integrations that support the astro add command at the same time by passing the --add argument to the create astro command.

Run the following command in your terminal, substituting any integration that supports the astro add command:

Use a theme or starter template

You can start a new Astro project based on an official example or the main branch of any GitHub repository by passing a --template argument to the create astro command.

Run the following command in your terminal, substituting the official Astro starter template name, or the GitHub username and repository of the theme you want to use:

By default, this command will use the template repository’s main branch. To use a different branch name, pass it as part of the --template argument: <github-username>/<github-repo>#<branch>.

Manual Setup

This guide will walk you through the steps to manually install and configure a new Astro project.

If you prefer not to use our automatic create astro CLI tool, you can set up your project yourself by following the guide below.