OD Labs Payload CMS Template CLI

An internal tool for OD Labs to quickly bootstrap new Payload CMS projects pre-configured with our premium white-label branding, customized UI, and optimized developer experience.

Quick Start

The easiest way to start a new project is using npx (which runs the CLI without installing it permanently):

npx create-odlabs-payload

# Or use the npm init shorthand:
npm init odlabs-payload

Global Installation (Optional)

If you prefer to install it globally:

pnpm add -g create-odlabs-payload

# or
npm install -g create-odlabs-payload

# Then run:
create-odlabs-payload

Setup Process

1. Project Name: Enter a name for a new directory, or leave it blank to use the current directory.
2. Current Directory Confirmation: If left blank, the CLI confirms whether it should scaffold into the current directory and warns again if that directory is not empty.
3. Template Selection: Choose either the Website Template or Plugin Template.
4. Configuration:
   • Website Template: Provide a validated PostgreSQL connection string.
   • Plugin Template: Optionally provide a validated GitHub repository URL and choose whether to enable the sample post seed.
5. Review: Confirm the generated project path, template, environment file target, and configuration before the CLI starts downloading files.
6. Wait: The CLI will download the selected template, generate the appropriate .env file, and install dependencies automatically.

Dry Run

Use --dry-run to walk through the prompts and preview what the CLI would do without writing files, removing .git, or installing dependencies.

npx create-odlabs-payload --dry-run

Project Structure

The generated project follows the standard Payload CMS structure, with template-specific scaffolding for:

• website/: A white-labeled Payload website starter with OD Labs branding.
• plugin/: A branded Payload plugin template with a local dev app and seeded plugin metadata.

Features

• Template Selection: Choose between website and plugin scaffolds from the CLI.
• Prompt Validation: Database URIs, GitHub repository URLs, and project names are validated with clearer recovery messages.
• Current Directory Support: Leave the project name blank to scaffold into the current directory after confirmation.
• OD Labs Branding: A branded CLI splash screen using the ANSI Shadow wordmark plus pre-configured plugin defaults.
• Setup Review Screen: Confirm target path, template, environment output, and template-specific settings before execution.
• Plugin Env Customization: Plugin scaffolds generate dev/.env from dev/.env.example with fixed internal defaults, generated secrets, and your optional repository URL.
• Streamlined Setup: Automatic environment variable configuration and dependency installation.

After Generation

The CLI installs dependencies for you. When setup completes, run:

cd your-project-name
pnpm dev

If you scaffolded into the current directory, just run:

pnpm dev

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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© 2026 OD Labs. Internal use only.