Install and create a portfolio project

This is the starting point for every new Portfoliable project.

Requirements

Before creating a project, make sure your machine has:

• Node.js 18 or newer
• npm available in your terminal
• a writable local folder where the project will be created
• internet access so npm can download the initializer and dependency packages

Check your versions:

node -v
npm -v

If both commands return a version, you are ready to continue.

Create a project

Run the initializer from a folder where you want the project to live:

npm create portfoliable@latest my-portfolio

You can replace my-portfolio with your own project name. If the target folder does not exist, the initializer creates it. If it already exists, the initializer may ask before overwriting files.

If you prefer shorter syntax, this is equivalent:

npm create portfoliable my-portfolio

You can also skip install during scaffolding if needed:

npm create portfoliable@latest my-portfolio -- --no-install

And if the folder already exists and you want to overwrite, use:

npm create portfoliable@latest my-portfolio -- --force

Move into the new project

cd my-portfolio

Install dependencies

If you used --no-install, install manually:

npm install

Start the local app

npm run portfoliable

This starts the development server and opens the app in the browser by default. The app validates content and protection rules before the dev session becomes active.

Useful startup flags

If you want to prevent the browser from opening automatically:

npm run portfoliable -- --no-open

If you want to force the command guide to appear after startup:

npm run portfoliable -- --commands

If you want to suppress the command guide entirely:

npm run portfoliable -- --no-commands

What you should expect on first run

The first dev run typically does three things:

1. starts the Vite development server
2. loads the generated project content and config
3. checks that case metadata and protection config are valid before continuing

If you are using a non-interactive terminal, the create flow skips prompt-based interaction automatically.

Generated scripts you will use most often

In the generated project, these are the core scripts:

npm run portfoliable
npm run build
npm run preview
npm run validate:content
npm run portfoliable-create-case -- --name "Your Case"
npm run portfoliable-thumbnail-options
npm run add:language -- --code es --name Español --html-lang es-ES

You do not need to understand every command immediately. The important thing is that the generated project gives you a complete local workflow for building, validating, and previewing your portfolio.

Next step

Continue to the quickstart to go from a fresh project to a complete first case and preview.

• Quickstart
• Configuration