From repository to live site.

From the repository to a running site and a production build.

Requirements

Requirement	Version
Node.js	24.x
npm	11 or newer (ships with Node 24)
Git	Any recent version
Operating system	macOS, Linux, or Windows
Accounts or API keys	None, and no secrets. A production build needs the site's URL (step 4).

Check your versions:

node -v   # v24.x.x
npm -v    # 11.x.x

1. Get the source

Clone the Bloem repository you were given access to, then start your own project from it. Your license does not allow the source in a public repository, and you cannot add anyone to the Bloem repository, so your project lives in a private repository of your own:

git clone https://github.com/vlavera/bloem.git my-restaurant
cd my-restaurant
git remote rename origin bloem        # keep it, to pull future releases
git remote add origin <your own private repository>
git push -u origin main

2. Install dependencies

npm ci

npm ci installs the exact versions in package-lock.json. It reports two moderate vulnerabilities in test tooling. That is expected; read docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md before doing anything about it.

3. Run the site locally

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:4321 (or the port it prints). You'll see the demo: a fictional restaurant, kept out of search, with every reserve, call and directions button inert.

To run your own configuration once you've created it (docs/CUSTOMIZE.md):

BLOEM_FIXTURE=client npm run dev                    # macOS / Linux
$env:BLOEM_FIXTURE="client"; npm run dev            # Windows PowerShell

Stop the development server with Ctrl+C in the terminal where it runs.

4. Check and build

npm run typecheck          # TypeScript and the configuration's shape
npm test                   # the configuration is coherent and its media files exist
SITE_URL=https://your-domain.com npm run build   # production build, into dist/
npm run preview            # serve the production build at http://localhost:4321 (Ctrl+C to stop)

npm run build and npm run dev check whichever configuration BLOEM_FIXTURE makes active, and stop, naming the path, if it references a photo that is not in public/restaurant/. npm run build also stops if that configuration is switched on and still carries one of the demo's invented claims (docs/CUSTOMIZE.md, "What the build refuses").

The site URL

npm run build needs to know where the site will live, because the page carries a canonical link that points there. It looks in this order:

1. SITE_URL in the environment, as in the command above (PowerShell: $env:SITE_URL="https://your-domain.com"; npm run build).
2. seo.siteUrl in your configuration (docs/CUSTOMIZE.md).
3. The project's production domain, when Vercel builds the site from a connected Git repository. A build run anywhere else does not have it.

If none of these gives a real https:// URL, the build stops and says so. There is no placeholder that quietly works. npm run dev does not need it.

Next steps

• Make it your own restaurant: docs/CUSTOMIZE.md.
• Replace the example photos and understand their license: docs/ASSETS.md.
• Deploy: docs/DEPLOY.md.

Everything that makes a Bloem site one restaurant is in one file: the configuration, src/restaurant/fixtures/*.ts. Every word, price and photo is there, with the facts they belong to. Its shape is RestaurantContract in src/restaurant/contract.ts, where every field is described.

Bloem builds to a static site (npm run build produces dist/): no server process, no adapter, no secrets. The build needs the site's URL. When Vercel builds the site from a connected Git repository it is picked up automatically; anywhere else, set SITE_URL (docs/INSTALL.md, "The site URL").

All notable changes to Bloem are recorded here. Versions follow Semantic Versioning.

1.0.0

First release.

• A gastrobar's site in one page: a hero, a strip for today, the wine and a list by the glass, the board of plates, the room with a second room and the terrace, the flowers, what guests have said, the place, and a table.
• Today's date in the restaurant's own time zone. A weekday can carry its own label and line; on a closed day the strip shows the next open day.
• Reserve, call and directions buttons that go to the one contact you configure.
• A build check that stops a switched-on site still carrying the demo's guest quotes, its opening year or its demonstration line.
• Buyer guides in docs/, AGENTS.md for coding agents, and the license.

Known limitations

• One restaurant, one page, one language (English).
• No CMS: content is a TypeScript file in src/restaurant/fixtures/. The wine list and the board are what that file says; changing them is an edit and a deploy.
• No bookings, payments or availability. A reserve button is a link to wherever you take reservations.
• No map is shown. "See the map" opens OpenStreetMap at coordinates you configure.
• Opening hours are text you write, in two places; only the closed days of the week are understood by the page.
• Colours and typefaces are CSS, not configuration.
• The example photographs are AI-generated and must be replaced before a commercial site goes live (LICENSE.md section 8).
• Deployment is verified on Vercel through its Git integration only.