What's the fastest way to try DashCommerce?

Run npm create @dashcommerce@latest . This scaffolds a full storefront using @dashcommerce/starter — products, cart, checkout, blog, admin, six demo products, Stripe-ready. Then bun run bootstrap runs emdash init + dashcommerce-merge-seed + emdash seed . Then bun run dev starts Astro at port 4321.

Do I need EmDash installed first?

The scaffolded path includes EmDash automatically. If you have an existing EmDash project, add DashCommerce with bun add @dashcommerce/core and register the plugin in your astro.config . DashCommerce ships as an EmDash plugin — there is no supported path that bypasses EmDash.

Which package manager should I use?

Any. The npm create invocation works with npm , bun create , pnpm create , and yarn create — the invoking package manager is used for the install. Internally, the project can also be run with any package manager.

What's the dashcommerce-merge-seed CLI?

It merges DashCommerce's required collection definitions (products, product_category, product_tag) into your EmDash seed.json so the schema stays aligned with the plugin. Dedupe is by slug/name. Run npx dashcommerce-merge-seed once after installing, then run emdash seed to apply the merged definitions.

Where do Stripe keys go?

After starting the project, open http://localhost:4321/_emdash/admin/plugins/dashcommerce/settings and paste your Stripe test keys. See Stripe setup for details on Payment Element vs hosted Checkout, webhooks, and test cards.

How do I pin a version for production?

@dashcommerce/core is on npm under 0.x semver. Until 1.0.0, minor versions may contain breaking API or schema changes — pin with ~0.1.3 (patches only) in production, and review the CHANGELOG before bumping minors.

← Documentation

Documentation

Getting started

The fast path — scaffold a new project

One command gets you a working storefront with six demo products, Stripe-ready checkout, blog, admin, and all the surfaces the core ships with:

npm create @dashcommerce@latest
cd your-shop
bun run bootstrap   # emdash init + merge-seed + seed
bun run dev         # Astro at :4321

The scaffold uses the @dashcommerce/starter template. Works with bun create, pnpm create, and yarn create too — the invoking package manager is used for the install.

Open http://localhost:4321, then paste your Stripe test keys at /_emdash/admin/plugins/dashcommerce/settings — see Stripe setup.

Or — add core to an existing EmDash site

If you already run an EmDash project, wire the plugin in directly. DashCommerce ships as an EmDash plugin — there is no supported path that bypasses EmDash.

1. Install the package

From your project root (same package manager you use for EmDash):

bun add @dashcommerce/core

2. Register the plugin

Add dashcommerce() to your EmDash plugins array in astro.config. The following matches the monorepo README (adjust database / storage to your setup):

import { defineConfig } from "astro/config";
import emdash from "emdash/astro";
import { sqlite } from "emdash/db";
import { local } from "emdash/storage/local";
import { dashcommerce } from "@dashcommerce/core";

export default defineConfig({
  integrations: [
    emdash({
      database: sqlite({ url: "file:./data.db" }),
      storage: local({
        directory: "./uploads",
        baseUrl: "/_emdash/api/media/file",
      }),
      plugins: [dashcommerce()],
    }),
  ],
});

3. Seed and open the admin

Merge the DashCommerce collections into your existing seed.json via the dashcommerce-merge-seed CLI that ships with @dashcommerce/core, then run your EmDash seed:

bunx dashcommerce-merge-seed
bun emdash seed

Open /_emdash/admin, then configure DashCommerce (including Stripe keys) under the DashCommerce settings screen.

Versioning

@dashcommerce/core is on npm. Until 1.0.0, minor versions in the 0.x range may include breaking API or schema changes — pin semver carefully in production. The reference storefront lives at emdashCommerce/starter ; a hosted demo runs at demo.dashcommerce.dev .

Stripe setup →