How do you create a new Next.js application?

The official scaffolder is create-next-app. Run it with your package manager:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app
# or
pnpm create next-app my-app
yarn create next-app my-app

You'll get an interactive prompt asking about TypeScript, ESLint, Tailwind CSS, the src/ directory layout, App Router vs Pages Router, Turbopack, and import aliases. For most new projects, accept the defaults: TypeScript on, App Router, Tailwind, Turbopack.

Skip the prompt with flags when scripting:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app \
  --typescript --tailwind --eslint \
  --app --src-dir --use-pnpm \
  --import-alias "@/*"

What you get:

• app/ — your routes, layouts, and pages.

• public/ — static assets served at the root.

• next.config.js (or .ts) — framework config.

• tsconfig.json — strict TypeScript config wired up.

• package.json with the standard scripts: dev, build, start, lint.

Run the dev server:

cd my-app
npm run dev    # http://localhost:3000

Other ways to start:

• From a template — npx create-next-app --example with-mdx my-app bootstraps from any of the official examples.

• From a GitHub repo — --example https://github.com/user/repo/tree/main/path uses any directory in any repo as a starter.

• Manual install — for adding Next.js to an existing project: npm install next react react-dom, then add the dev/build/start scripts and create an app/ directory yourself.

For real projects, after scaffolding most teams add: a UI library (shadcn/ui), a database client (Prisma or Drizzle), an auth library (Auth.js or Clerk), and a deployment target (Vercel, Cloudflare, or self-hosted via Docker).