Make It Yours

Getting Started runs the template as-is, demos included, so you can see everything working. This page is the separate, one-time checklist for the moment after that - turning the starter into your product: what to rip out, what to rename, what to configure, and what to double-check before you start building real features.

1. Rebrand

• src/config/constants.ts - APP_NAME and APP_DESCRIPTION. These feed the page <title>/description in src/app/layout.tsx and any emails sent via src/lib/mailer.ts.
• messages/en.json / messages/de.json - auth.layout.brand and any other hardcoded "SaaS Starter" strings.
• package.json - name, version, and add a description if you want one.
• src/app/favicon.ico - replace with your own icon.
• Root README.md - replace the template description/tech-stack table with your own project's, once it stops matching reality.
• docs/ - don't feel obligated to rebrand it. If you don't need the doc site, just delete the whole docs/ folder, the vitepress devDependency in package.json, the docs:dev/docs:build/docs:preview scripts, and .github/workflows/docs.yml. If you're keeping it, rebrand title and the base path in docs/.vitepress/config.mts instead (base must match your repo's name for GitHub Pages - see Deployment).
• Git remote - point it at your own repository (git remote set-url origin <your-repo-url>) instead of pushing back to the template.

2. Remove the demo features

Everything under /demo/* exists to demonstrate a technique (see Features) - none of it is meant to ship. Delete what you don't need, feature by feature, rather than all at once, since demo/posts in particular is the pattern to copy for your first real feature (full CRUD, ownership checks, all four UI states, delete confirmation, premiumProcedure usage) - see Features. A reasonable order:

1. Delete the feature module(s): src/features/demo/<name>/.
2. Delete the pages: src/app/(dashboard)/demo/<name>/.
3. Unregister the router in src/trpc/routers/_app.ts (remove the import and the entry in the router object).
4. Remove the sidebar entry in src/components/app-sidebar.tsx - delete the item from demoItems, and once all demos are gone, remove the whole "Demo" section (demoSection in messages/*.json) and its nav.* translation keys.
5. Delete the docs page under docs/demos/<name>.md and its entry in docs/README.md and docs/.vitepress/config.mts (sidebar).

demo/ai also owns src/app/api/chat/ and src/lib/stream-context.ts (Redis-backed resumable streams) - remove those too if you don't keep AI chat. demo/posts owns the Post model in prisma/schema.prisma - drop it (and migrate) once you've copied the pattern into your own feature and no longer need it as a live reference.

3. Decide what you're actually using, and remove the rest

Every integration in this template is opt-in and degrades gracefully when unconfigured, but half-configured integrations left lying around are a maintenance trap. For each one, either configure it properly (see Environment Variables) or rip it out:

Integration	Keep it by...	Remove it by...
OAuth (Google/GitHub)	Setting the client id/secret pair in .env (see Auth & Billing)	Deleting the unused provider block in src/lib/auth.ts and its buttons in the login/signup UI
Polar billing	Replacing YOUR_PRODUCT_ID in src/lib/auth.ts with your real product id and setting the three POLAR_* vars	Leaving all three POLAR_* vars unset - isPolarEnabled (src/lib/polar.ts) turns off the plugin and premium gating automatically, no code changes needed
Resend (email)	Setting RESEND_API_KEY + EMAIL_FROM	Leaving unset - emails log to the console instead, fine for a while but not for production
AI / OpenRouter	Setting OPENROUTER_API_KEY and keeping demo/ai (renamed into a real feature)	Deleting demo/ai per step 2 above
Plausible analytics	Setting NEXT_PUBLIC_PLAUSIBLE_SRC	Leaving unset - no tracking script is rendered, nothing further to clean up

4. Re-check the required environment variables

src/config/env.ts fails fast at startup if a required variable is missing, but it can't catch values that are merely wrong for your setup. Before your first deploy, walk through Environment Variables end to end and confirm:

• BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is a freshly generated secret (openssl rand -base64 32), not the one from .env.example.
• BETTER_AUTH_URL and POLAR_SUCCESS_URL point at your real domain, not localhost.
• DATABASE_URL / REDIS_URL point at your production instances, not the Docker Compose defaults.

5. i18n

The template ships en and de (see Frontend). If you only need one locale, remove the other from messages/, the locales list in the next-intl config, and the language switcher UI - otherwise keep both messages/*.json files in sync as you add strings.

6. Design system

DESIGN.md at the repo root currently encodes an Airbnb-style design language (colors, type scale, spacing, component specs) as a starting point, not a mandate. If you're rebranding visually, rewrite DESIGN.md first with your own tokens, then bring the Tailwind theme (src/app/globals.css) and shadcn components in line with it - AGENTS.md and any AI coding agent working in this repo treat DESIGN.md as the source of truth for every UI change, so an out-of-date DESIGN.md will actively steer future work in the wrong direction.

7. Docs

If you kept docs/ (see step 1), sweep it for template-specific language that no longer applies once you've trimmed the demos and configured your integrations - this page included, delete it once you're done with it, or leave it for the next person who forks your repo. Quick Reference is worth keeping current as you add utilities - it's the fastest way for future contributors (human or AI) to avoid reinventing something that already exists.

Checklist

• [ ] Renamed the app (APP_NAME, package.json, docs title, favicon)
• [ ] Removed unused demo features (module, page, router registration, sidebar entry, docs page)
• [ ] Configured or removed OAuth, Polar, Resend, AI, and analytics
• [ ] Generated a fresh BETTER_AUTH_SECRET and pointed URLs at your real domain
• [ ] Decided on one or two locales and cleaned up the rest
• [ ] Updated DESIGN.md to your own brand, or confirmed you're keeping the default
• [ ] Repointed the git remote and GitHub Pages base path at your own repo

Once this is done, move on to Deployment to get it running in production.