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 Longting 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 Longting repository, so your project lives in a private repository of your own:

git clone https://github.com/vlavera/longting.git my-restaurant
cd my-restaurant
git remote rename origin longting         # 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 enquiry button inert.

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

LONGTING_FIXTURE=client npm run dev                    # macOS / Linux
$env:LONGTING_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 LONGTING_FIXTURE makes active, and stop, naming the path, if it references a photo or film that is not in public/restaurant/.

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 film, and understand their license: docs/ASSETS.md.
• Deploy: docs/DEPLOY.md.

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

Longting 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 Longting are recorded here. Versions follow Semantic Versioning.

1.0.0

First release.

• A one-page restaurant site built around one signature dish: hero, the dish with a short looping film, the counter, the menu, a tea room, private rooms, and how to visit.
• The menu: signature dishes as cards with photo, price and tags; a daily board; a short guide to ordering for two, four or a group.
• A second name for dishes, rooms, teas and chapter headings, in the restaurant's own script.
• Enquiry buttons that go to the one contact you configure.
• Buyer guides in docs/, AGENTS.md for coding agents, and the license.

Known limitations

• One restaurant, one page, one language (English). The names in the restaurant's own script are content beside the English, not a second language version of the page.
• No CMS: content is a TypeScript file in src/restaurant/fixtures/. The menu and the board are what that file says; changing them is an edit and a deploy.
• No bookings, payments or availability. An enquiry button is a link to wherever you take enquiries.
• No map, and no opening-hours logic: hours are text you write.
• Colours and typefaces are CSS, not configuration.
• The example photos and film 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.