Installation

The create-ponder CLI tool is the best way to get started with Ponder. If it runs without error, your system meets the requirements.

System requirements

• MacOS, Linux, or Windows using WSL.
• Node.js 18 or 20
• npm, yarn, or pnpm (recommended)

FAQ

Windows

Ponder currently requires WSL (the Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run on Windows machines. To get started, we strongly recommend following this well-written guide for Node.js app development using WSL.

Guide: Install Node.js on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)

better-sqlite3 installation error

Ponder's SQLite driver package (better-sqlite3) uses a native binary that must be compiled for your device's specific platform and Node version. Most of the time, the installer finds and downloads a prebuilt binary that's compatible with your device.

If no prebuilt binary is found, the installer attempts to build better-sqlite3 from source (#1043) which often fails. If this happens, you might need to install node-gyp globally using your package manager:

pnpm install -g node-gyp

Once you've installed node-gyp, try running create-ponder again.