Quick Start: Launch a Nuxt 4 SaaS Server with Talon Core

Goal: 15 Minutes to Hello World
Follow this guide to set up the Talon Core environment and run your local server. We use Docker to containerize the database (MariaDB & Redis), so you don't need to install them manually.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

Node.js: v22.x or higher (LTS recommended)
Docker & Docker Compose: For running the database infrastructure
Git: For version control

Step 1: Download and Install

Talon Core is a premium boilerplate. You need to download the source code directly from our official portal.

Sign Up & Download: Go to https://pivottalon.com, sign up, and download the latest source code package.
Extract: Unzip the downloaded file to your workspace.
Install: Open your terminal, navigate to the project folder, and install dependencies using npm or pnpm.

bash

# 1. Navigate to the project directory
cd talon-core  # (Replace with your extracted folder name)

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

Step 2: Configure Environment

Talon Core uses strict environment variable validation via Zod. You must set up your .env file before running the app.

bash

# Copy the example environment file
cp .env.example .env

Open the .env file and fill in the required secrets. For local development, you can use the default database settings provided in docker-compose.dev.yml.

bash

# .env (Required for Local Dev)
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_USER=pivottalon
DB_PASSWORD=pivottalon
DB_NAME=talon_app

# Security (Generate a random string for JWT)
NUXT_JWT_SECRET=change_this_to_a_secure_random_string

Step 3: Start Infrastructure (Database)

Start the local MariaDB and Redis instances using Docker Compose. This ensures your environment matches production exactly.

bash

# Start Database & Redis containers in detached mode
docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

Once the containers are running, apply the database schema using Drizzle Kit.

bash

# Generate migration files (if needed)
npx drizzle-kit generate

# Apply migrations to the database
npx drizzle-kit migrate

Step 4: Build Design System

Talon Core separates design tokens from the application logic. You need to build the SCSS variables from the token definitions (design-system/tokens/).

bash

# Generate SCSS variables (Primitive & Semantic tokens)
npm run tokens:build

Step 5: Run Development Server

You are ready to go! Start the Nuxt development server.

bash

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser. You should see the Talon Core landing page running on a local Nuxt 4 development server.

Troubleshooting

Database connection failed

Error

🚨

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3306
Access denied for user

Solution

Check if the database containers are running:

bash

docker ps

Verify that your .env credentials match the configuration in docker-compose.dev.yml:

bash

DB_USER=pivottalon
DB_PASSWORD=pivottalon

If you changed the database password in Docker Compose, remove the existing volume and restart the containers:

bash

rm -rf .docker/db_data_talon
docker-compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d

Design token changes are not reflected

Symptom

You modified design tokens under design-system/tokens/, but the UI styles did not change.

Cause

Talon Core ships with pre-generated design token outputs. When token definitions are updated, the generated SCSS and CSS variables are not rebuilt automatically.

Solution

Rebuild the design tokens manually:

bash

npm run tokens:build

Then restart the development server to apply the updated styles:

bash

npm run dev