jack new

Create a new project from a template.

Usage

jack new [name] [options]

First-Time Usage

Install jack, then create a project:

curl -fsSL docs.getjack.org/install.sh | bash
jack new my-app

Or try without installing: npx -y @getjack/jack new my-app

Auth is handled automatically on first deploy.

Arguments

Options

Templates

Forking Projects

Every project you deploy with jack ship becomes a template you can fork.

# Fork your own project
jack new my-new-api -t my-existing-api
 
# Fork someone's published project
jack new my-fork -t alice/cool-api

Your Personal Template Library

Every jack ship stores your source alongside the deployment. This means:

• Build on your own work — Start new projects from proven foundations
• No extra steps — Just deploy normally, forking is automatic
• Private by default — Only you can fork your projects (unless you jack publish)

From your project directory (for example, /projects/my-great-api):

jack ship

Now start something new based on it:

jack new my-new-thing -t my-great-api

Publishing for Others

Want others to fork your work? Publish it:

jack publish

Then any logged-in jack user can fork with jack new -t yourname/project.

AI Agent Forking

AI agents can fork projects directly via the MCP create_project tool:

create_project  name: "my-fork", template: "alice/cool-api"

See the AI Agents guide for more.

Examples

# Interactive mode
jack new
 
# Create with a name
jack new my-cool-app
 
# Use a builtin template
jack new my-api -t api
 
# Fork your own project
jack new v2 -t my-existing-api
 
# Fork a published project
jack new my-version -t alice/her-api

What Happens

1. Creates a new directory with your project name
2. Copies template files (or downloads from published/your project)
3. Installs dependencies
4. Deploys with jack ship
5. Opens your AI agent

Your project is live before you write a line of code.