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

git clone https://github.com/vlavera/marea.git my-restaurant
cd my-restaurant
git remote rename origin marea          # 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 and call button inert.

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

MAREA_FIXTURE=client npm run dev                    # macOS / Linux
$env:MAREA_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 MAREA_FIXTURE makes active, and stop, naming the path, if it references a photo 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 understand their license: docs/ASSETS.md.
• Deploy: docs/DEPLOY.md.

Everything that makes a Marea 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.

Marea 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 Marea are recorded here. Versions follow Semantic Versioning.

1.0.2

• The demo carries no notice or note. The placeholder note under the visit table is removed. In a demo the reserve and call buttons stay on the page and go nowhere, and the address row reads "Sample address · your city".
• The address has its own field. visit.address is the first row of the visit table: its lines are your address, shown once the site is switched on. A demo shows the shared sample line there instead. sampleAddressNote is removed from the configuration's shape. If you already have a configuration: add visit.address and delete sampleAddressNote; the type check reports both. An address you wrote as a row of visit.rows still shows; move it to visit.address.lines so it is not shown twice.
• The shared code under src/chassis/ is version 0.9.0.

1.0.1

• The demo no longer carries a notice beside its buttons. In a demo the reserve and call buttons stay on the page and go nowhere; the line "Sample only · this demo sends nothing · …" beside them is removed. Nothing changes on a configured site, which never showed it.
• docs/DEPLOY.md: the canonical link's fallback address is read when the site is built. If you attach a domain later and set neither SITE_URL nor seo.siteUrl, redeploy.

1.0.0

First release.

• A one-page restaurant and bar site: hero, the story, the dining room with its board, the bar, a private room, a late room, and how to visit.
• The board: a menu in two parts, what changes and what does not, with a set menu and photos of the plates. Its date is the restaurant's day in its own time zone; on a closed day the page shows the next board and says so.
• Reserve and call 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).
• No CMS: content is a TypeScript file in src/restaurant/fixtures/. The board is what that file says; changing it is an edit and a deploy.
• No bookings, payments or availability. A reserve button is a link to wherever you take reservations.
• No map.
• Colours and typefaces are CSS, not configuration.
• The example photos 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.