Solokit Templates Guide

December 4, 2025 · View on GitHub

Solokit provides production-ready project templates with tier-based quality gates. This guide helps you choose the right template and tier for your project.

Available Templates

1. SaaS Application (T3 Stack)

Template ID: saas_t3

A full-stack SaaS application template built with the T3 Stack.

Tech Stack:

Frontend: Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind CSS 4
Backend: tRPC 11, Prisma ORM, PostgreSQL
State Management: TanStack Query
Type Safety: TypeScript, Zod validation

Best for:

SaaS products
B2B applications
Internal tools with complex data models
Projects requiring type-safe API

Key Features:

End-to-end type safety (frontend to database)
Optimistic updates with React Query
Server-side rendering
API routes with tRPC

Time to initialize: 25 minutes (tier-4)

2. Full-Stack Product (Next.js)

Template ID: fullstack_nextjs

A flexible full-stack application template with REST APIs.

Tech Stack:

Frontend: Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind CSS 4
Backend: Next.js API Routes
Styling: Tailwind CSS 4 with Lightning CSS
Type Safety: TypeScript

Best for:

Marketing websites with dynamic features
Content platforms
E-commerce sites
Projects that need REST APIs

Key Features:

Server and client components
REST API endpoints
Static and dynamic rendering
Edge runtime support

Time to initialize: 10 minutes (tier-4)

3. Internal Dashboard (Refine)

Template ID: dashboard_refine

A data-driven admin dashboard built with Refine framework.

Tech Stack:

Frontend: Next.js 16, React 19, Refine 4
Backend: Backend-agnostic (works with any REST/GraphQL API)
UI: Tailwind CSS 4, Ant Design components
Type Safety: TypeScript

Best for:

Admin panels
Internal dashboards
CRUD applications
Data management tools

Key Features:

Out-of-the-box CRUD operations
Built-in authentication
Table views with filtering/sorting
Form generation
Backend-agnostic architecture

Time to initialize: 20 minutes (tier-4)

4. ML/AI Tooling (FastAPI)

Template ID: ml_ai_fastapi

A Python backend template for ML/AI applications with async support.

Tech Stack:

Backend: FastAPI 0.115, Python 3.11+
Database: PostgreSQL with SQLModel ORM
Async: asyncpg, aiosqlite
Validation: Pydantic 2
Migrations: Alembic

Best for:

ML model serving APIs
Data processing pipelines
Python microservices
AI/ML tooling backends

Key Features:

Async request handling
Automatic API documentation (OpenAPI)
Type validation with Pydantic
Database migrations with Alembic
Health check endpoints

Time to initialize: 35 minutes (tier-4)

Quality Tiers

Each template supports 4 quality tiers. Choose based on your project phase and requirements:

Tier 1: Essential (Minimum Viable Quality)

Best for: Prototypes, proof of concepts, learning projects

Includes:

Unit testing framework
Code linter
Type checker
Hot reload/dev server
Basic test examples

Coverage requirement: 60% Installation time: +5-15 minutes

Tier 2: Standard (Team Collaboration)

Best for: Small team projects, internal tools, MVPs

Includes: Everything in Tier 1, plus:

Code formatter
Security vulnerability scanning
Git pre-commit hooks
Commit message linting
License checking

Coverage requirement: 70% Installation time: +3-5 minutes

Tier 3: Comprehensive (Quality Assurance)

Best for: Production projects, client projects, open source

Includes: Everything in Tier 2, plus:

End-to-end testing (Playwright/Locust)
Performance monitoring (Lighthouse)
Code quality analysis (SonarQube/Radon)
Mutation testing
Load testing

Coverage requirement: 80% Installation time: +5-13 minutes

Note: Requires one-time browser setup for E2E tests: npm run setup (see Next Steps below)

Tier 4: Production (Enterprise Ready)

Best for: Enterprise applications, high-traffic sites, critical systems

Includes: Everything in Tier 3, plus:

Error tracking (Sentry)
Analytics and monitoring
Performance observability (OpenTelemetry/Prometheus)
Health check endpoints
Production deployment configs
Bundle analysis and optimization

Coverage requirement: 80% Installation time: +3-5 minutes

Note: Requires one-time browser setup for E2E tests: npm run setup (see Next Steps below)

Additional Options

All templates support these optional features:

CI/CD Integration

Option: ci_cd

GitHub Actions workflows for:

Running tests on PR
Type checking
Linting and formatting
Building production bundles
Automated deployments

Docker Support

Option: docker

Production-ready Docker configuration:

Multi-stage Dockerfile
Docker Compose for local development
Optimized image layers
Health checks

Environment Templates

Option: env_templates

Environment variable templates:

.env.local.example - Local development
.env.development.example - Dev environment
.env.staging.example - Staging environment
.env.production.example - Production environment

Quick Start

Interactive Mode

cd your-project-directory
sk init

Follow the prompts to select:

Template type
Quality tier
Coverage target
Additional options

Command Line Mode

sk init \
  --template=saas_t3 \
  --tier=tier-4-production \
  --coverage=80 \
  --options=ci_cd,docker,env_templates

Decision Guide

Choose by Project Type

Building a SaaS product? → Use saas_t3 for type-safe APIs and complex data models

Need a marketing website with some dynamic features? → Use fullstack_nextjs for flexibility and simplicity

Creating an admin panel or dashboard? → Use dashboard_refine for built-in CRUD and data management

Building ML/AI APIs or Python microservices? → Use ml_ai_fastapi for async Python backend

Choose by Team Size

Solo developer or learning: → Start with Tier 1 or 2

Small team (2-5 developers): → Use Tier 2 or 3

Medium to large team (5+ developers): → Use Tier 3 or 4

Enterprise or critical systems: → Always use Tier 4

Choose by Project Phase

Early prototype/POC: → Tier 1 (Essential)

MVP or alpha: → Tier 2 (Standard)

Beta or pre-launch: → Tier 3 (Comprehensive)

Production/launched: → Tier 4 (Production)

Upgrading Tiers

You can upgrade to a higher tier later by re-running initialization:

sk init --template=saas_t3 --tier=tier-3-comprehensive

Note: This will overwrite your configuration files. Commit your changes first!

Template Comparison

Feature	SaaS T3	Full-Stack Next.js	Dashboard Refine	ML/AI FastAPI
Type Safety	End-to-end	Frontend + API	Frontend + API	Backend
API Style	tRPC	REST	REST/GraphQL	REST
Database	Prisma + PG	Optional	Optional	SQLModel + PG
Best Use Case	SaaS apps	General web apps	Admin panels	ML/AI APIs
Learning Curve	Medium	Low	Low	Medium
Setup Time	25 min	10 min	20 min	35 min

Package Versions

All templates use the latest stable versions:

JavaScript/TypeScript:

Next.js 16.0.7
React 19.2.1
TypeScript 5.9.3
Tailwind CSS 4.1.17

Python:

FastAPI 0.115.6
Python 3.11.7+
Pydantic 2.12.4
SQLModel 0.0.25

For complete version information, see stack-versions.yaml.

Next Steps

After initialization:

Review the README.md in your project for specific getting started instructions
Set up environment variables from .env.example
For Tier-3 & Tier-4 only: Install Playwright browsers for E2E tests
```
npm run setup  # Installs browsers (~400MB, one-time setup)
```
This is required before running npm run test:e2e or npm run test:all
Create your first work item: /sk:work-new
Start a development session: /sk:start

Troubleshooting

Installation fails

Check Node.js version:

node --version  # Should be 18+ for Next.js templates

Check Python version:

python3 --version  # Should be 3.11+ for FastAPI template

Tests fail after initialization

Most templates require environment setup:

Copy .env.example to .env.local
Fill in required values
For database templates, ensure PostgreSQL is running
Run npm install or pip install -e . again

For Tier-3 & Tier-4 E2E test failures:

If you see Error: browserType.launch: Executable doesn't exist, run:

npm run setup  # Installs Playwright browsers

This is a one-time setup required for E2E tests with Playwright.

Build fails

Clear caches and reinstall:

Next.js:

rm -rf .next node_modules package-lock.json
npm install
npm run build

Python:

rm -rf venv __pycache__ .pytest_cache
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"