how to party.
Your copy runs. This step changes nothing. It is a walk through your own site, start to finish, so you know what working looks like before you start changing things. When something breaks later, this is what you compare against. It has no database and no sign-in yet, and it does not need them for people to read it.
this is a work in progress
Start it.
Run your site.
Walk it.
The pages anyone can open.
Try the locks.
The doors that stay shut.
Start it.
Run your site.
Success.you have seen all of it, working.
1️⃣ Start It Fresh
If your site is still running from the last step, stop it first with Ctrl + C. Then, inside your copy:
# Switch to your copy's Node version (fnm use on Windows)
nvm use
# Start your site
npm run dev
# Then open this in your browser:
# http://localhost:3000It looks the same as the first time you ran it in Install the tools. That is the point: this is your site, whole.
2️⃣ Walk Your Site
Your site has pages anyone can open. Visit each of these:
| Visit | Who can see it | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| / | Everyone | Your homepage runs |
| /article/setup-first-run | Everyone | Your copy carries every article, including this one |
| /covers | Everyone | Your pictures are all there |
| /founders | Everyone | Your site reads its own settings. It still says unparty until the identity step |
- Visit
- /
- Who can see it
- Everyone
- What it proves
- Your homepage runs
3️⃣ Try the Locks
Now try the doors that stay shut. They open for you later, if you want them to:
- localhost:3000/admin and localhost:3000/party send you to sign in
- localhost:3000/sign-in says no sign-in here yet, with the step that connects it
“Open where it should be open. Locked where it should be locked.”
— unparty-app
⚠️ Normal on a New Site
- Sign in says no sign-in here yet — your site has no accounts, so nobody can sign in, you included
- Some sections are empty — thoughts, votes and books read from a database. Add one when you want them
- Songs have no play button — Apple Music is not connected, so a song is a link to it. That is an optional step too
- The first visit to each page is slow — your computer builds each page the first time you open it. The second visit is fast
🧯 If Something Is Off
- A page shows an error — stop your site with Ctrl + C, run npm run dev again, and reload. Still there? Ask your LLM below, with what the terminal printed
- Nothing opens at localhost:3000 — your site may have started somewhere else. The terminal prints its address; localhost:3001 means something else is using 3000
🤖 Ask Your LLM
I am running my copy of a Next.js site with npm run dev. When I
open [the page] I see [describe it], and the terminal printed:
[paste it]. Is this normal for a brand-new site, or is something
misconfigured? Do not change anything, and do not ask me for my keys.
Read src/middleware.ts in this project and list, in plain words,
which pages anyone can open and which ones need sign-in or admin.✅ You Are Done When
- npm run dev starts your site at localhost:3000
- The homepage, an article, /covers and /founders all open
- /admin and /party send you to sign in, and /sign-in says no sign-in here yet
You have seen your whole site working, on your own computer. Next is Deploy: putting it on the internet, at an address anyone can open. A database, sign-in and your admin tools are there when you want people to sign in, leave thoughts or save their progress.
“Know what working looks like. Then change it.”
— unparty-app
RUN. build and run your app.
Three tools turn the folder on your computer into a site that runs. By the end of this step, you will see your copy working, before any accounts or keys.
Your copy runs. Start it up and walk through it, so you know what working looks like before you change anything.
Three tools turn the folder on your computer into a site that runs. By the end of this step, you will see your copy working, before any accounts or keys.