The problem.
Starting a Stacks blockchain project meant assembling the entire tooling stack by hand: contract scaffolding, frontend, wallet authentication, and build scripts. There was no standard starting point, so every developer wasted hours re-solving the same initial setup before writing any product code.
The approach.
A single command-line tool that scaffolds an opinionated, production-ready Stacks full-stack application. Published directly to npm so developers can run it instantly with `npx @devvmichael/create-stacks-app` without manual installation.
The process.
Designed the interactive CLI prompts first with intuitive terminal choices, because developer experience begins before a single dependency installs.
Packaged modern templates linking Clarity smart contracts, Hiro / Stacks.js wallet authentication, and a clean Next.js frontend.
Iterated rapidly in public across 40+ releases, fixing edge cases reported by developers and keeping boilerplate lean and reliable.
The screens.
The outcome.
“Developer tools are products with terminal user interfaces. The CLI prompts, clear error messages, and a no-fuss README matter just as much as the underlying scripts. Shipping in public taught me how fast community feedback sharpens a developer tool.”