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Get Tank running locally for development and testing.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:
  • Node.js 24 or later
  • pnpm 10 or later (install via corepack: corepack enable)
  • Python 3.14 or later (for security analysis functions)
  • A Supabase project (for database and storage)
  • A GitHub OAuth App (for authentication)

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Setup Steps

1

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/tankpkg/tank.git
cd tank
2

Enable pnpm and install dependencies

corepack enable
pnpm install
This installs all dependencies across the monorepo workspaces using pnpm 10.29.3.
3

Configure environment variables

cp .env.example .env.local
Edit .env.local and fill in the required values:
  • DATABASE_URL — PostgreSQL connection string
  • SUPABASE_URL — Your Supabase project URL
  • SUPABASE_ANON_KEY — Public key
  • SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY — Service role key (server-only)
  • BETTER_AUTH_SECRET — Session encryption secret
  • GITHUB_CLIENT_ID / GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET — OAuth credentials
  • FIRST_ADMIN_EMAIL — Email address to promote to admin role
See .env.example for the complete list of configuration options.
4

Push database schema

cd apps/web
npx drizzle-kit push
This creates all necessary tables in your PostgreSQL database.
5

Bootstrap admin user

pnpm --filter=web admin:bootstrap
This promotes the user matching FIRST_ADMIN_EMAIL to admin role.
6

Start development server

pnpm dev
This starts all development servers using Turbo:
  • Web app at http://localhost:3000
  • Python API at http://localhost:8000
To run only the web app:
pnpm dev --filter=web

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Available Commands

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Development

pnpm dev                    # Start all dev servers (Turbo)
pnpm build                  # Build all packages
pnpm lint                   # Run all linters (Next.js lint + react-doctor)

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Testing

pnpm test                   # Run all tests (461 TypeScript + 16 Python)
pnpm test --filter=cli      # Run CLI tests only
pnpm test --filter=web      # Run web tests only
pnpm test --filter=shared   # Run shared package tests only
pnpm test:e2e               # Run E2E tests (needs .env.local)
pnpm test:perf              # Run performance tests (needs real DB)

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Database

pnpm --filter=web drizzle-kit generate  # Generate migration
pnpm --filter=web drizzle-kit push      # Push schema to DB

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Admin

pnpm --filter=web admin:bootstrap       # Promote bootstrap admin user

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Project Structure

Tank is a monorepo managed by Turborepo with pnpm workspaces: 
tank/
├── apps/
│   ├── web/          # Next.js 15 web app + API (Vercel)
│   └── cli/          # Tank CLI (TypeScript)
├── packages/
│   └── shared/       # Shared schemas, types, constants
├── python-api/       # Security scanner (FastAPI, 6-stage pipeline)
├── e2e/              # End-to-end tests
├── docs/             # Product brief, architecture, roadmap
└── scripts/          # Utilities and tooling

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Troubleshooting

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Hot Reload Issues

The web app uses a globalThis.__db singleton to prevent database connection leaks during hot reload. If you see connection pool errors, restart the dev server.

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Test Failures

E2E tests require real credentials in .env.local. If tests fail:
  1. Ensure all environment variables are set
  2. Check that the database is accessible
  3. Verify Supabase storage is configured

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Python Dependencies

If the security scanner fails: 
cd python-api
pip install -r requirements.txt

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Next Steps

Architecture

Understand the system design and tech stack

Contributing

Learn how to contribute to Tank

Testing

Run and write tests

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