Start from the tested template

Requires: An approved PRD, Git, Bun, the starter's supported Node runtime, an empty learner-owned GitHub repository, and a new local destination.

Done when: The local project points at the exact audited commit, retains the upstream MIT licence and history, passes baseline checks, and can push to the learner's repository.

Step 0 — Check the ground

Confirm the destination does not contain work. Run git --version, bun --version, and node --version. The audited starter declares Bun 1.3.0 and Node >=20.9.0; recheck the pinned package.json before a later cohort. This baseline was audited on 2026-07-25. The commands below use my-app/ as a concrete example. Confirm that name does not exist before continuing.

Approval gate

Approve the new my-app/ destination, upstream URL, full audited commit, learner GitHub account, empty repository, visibility, and exact origin URL. Cloning, changing branches/remotes, installing packages, and pushing do not begin until this gate passes.

Steps

1. Clone without checking out the moving default branch:

git clone --no-checkout https://github.com/KRSHH/standard-saas-starter.git my-app
cd my-app

1. Inspect the current remote, status, and branch. The worktree should still be empty.
2. Preserve the moving upstream branch under a different local name, then create the learner's main from the audited commit without force-resetting any branch:

git branch -m upstream-current
git switch --detach e887b0cc9d380576aa3318bf8c095afbc3d768cb
git switch -c main

1. Keep the source remote for comparison, and add the learner's empty repository as origin:

git remote rename origin upstream
AI_DEV_ORIGIN_URL=https://github.com/YOUR-GITHUB-ACCOUNT/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git
git remote add origin "$AI_DEV_ORIGIN_URL"

1. Confirm git rev-parse HEAD prints the full tested commit and git remote -v names only the intended repositories.
2. Read and preserve LICENSE. Credit the baseline:

App starter: KRSHH/standard-saas-starter, MIT, tested at commit e887b0c.

1. Run bun install, then bun run check and bun run test. Run bun run setup to create the ignored local environment file, but do not add credentials yet and do not apply migrations.
2. Push only after reviewing the remote and baseline diff.

The pinned starter README is the source for the starter scripts. GitHub says a repository created with “Use this template” starts from the template's default branch (or all branches), with new unrelated history. That flow does not select this audited commit, so the course uses the pinned clone procedure above. See GitHub's template-repository documentation.

Context: Audit this freshly cloned app starter against commit
e887b0cc9d380576aa3318bf8c095afbc3d768cb. Do not modify source.

Report the current HEAD, remotes, licence, package manager/runtime declarations,
git status, baseline check commands, and any difference from the pinned
commit. Stop if the commit differs, the directory was not fresh, or the MIT
notice is missing.

Verify

• HEAD is the full pinned commit.
• upstream is KRSHH's repository; origin is the learner's.
• The MIT licence remains tracked.
• The lockfile remains consistent with Bun.
• Check and test commands pass, or the unchanged baseline failure is recorded before customization.
• .env.local is ignored and absent from git status.

Save point

Push the unchanged tested baseline first. Record its commit in todos.md; it is the recovery point for every later customization.

If this fails

• The target contains work: stop and choose a new folder.
• The commit cannot be found: fetch upstream, then recheck the exact hash; do not substitute current main.
• Bun or Node is incompatible: fix the runtime before installing.
• Baseline checks fail: capture the first failure with versions and stop. Do not hide it inside product changes.
• The wrong remote was added: inspect with git remote -v; change it only after identifying the correct learner repository.