Clerk Init: The fastest way to start a new project

Clerk's been quietly building toward a moment where you can start a new app in a single command. That command is clerk init.

Shipped with the Clerk CLI, clerk init covers the essential scaffolding for some of the most popular frameworks. Run this command in an empty directory and Clerk delivers a fully bootstrapped project with auth pages and route protection ready to go.

This post demonstrates how quick and easy it is to get a fully working app with auth, organizations, and billing configured - all without leaving your terminal or agent.

Break out your terminal and follow along.

Starting from zero

From an empty directory, run:

Follow the interactive prompts for project name, framework, and package manager. Choose "Next.js" and Bun for this example.

Clerk scaffolds a new Next.js project with batteries included. Before init completes, the CLI offers to install agent skills⁠ like clerk, clerk-setup, and clerk-nextjs-patterns. You accept, pick your agent, and select "Project" for the installation scope.

A few seconds later, the terminal prints the next steps:

localhost loads. There's a sign-in page. There's a sign-up page. They just work. No Clerk account created, no API keys copied, no dashboard opened. Clerk development keys are generated on-the-fly so you can start building right away.

Going beyond the bootstrap

Building a SaaS product with Clerk means tapping into some of our other key products like Organizations and Billing. The bootstrapped app gets you started, but you'll want to link your new project to your account for greater flexibility and control. Once your project is linked, you can configure your instance straight from the terminal.

Run clerk link from the project root:

If you're not already authenticated, the CLI opens a browser tab for sign-in. From there, clerk link claims the app you've been building.

Next, pull the credentials from the dashboard into your local environment:

Restart the dev server (if it doesn't auto-refresh), and you're connected to your Clerk instance.

Enabling features

This used to be the part where you'd context-switch in and out of the dashboard to turn features on. With your project linked, that same workflow gets reduced to a single step: clerk enable.

Start with Organizations:

Done. Organizations are now enabled. You didn't leave your terminal.

Want to get paid? Turn on Billing:

The CLI offers to install the clerk-billing skill. You accept, and now your favorite coding agent just got more superpowers.

clerk enable is designed for incremental opt-in to Clerk's core services. Each feature you turn on ships with a matching skill, and that pairing wasn't an afterthought, it was the point. Enabling a feature on your instance should also enable your agent's understanding of how to use it.

Organizations and Billing are the start. Expect more features to land behind clerk enable over time.

Pairing with your agent

Stacked on the init skills, the clerk-billing skill rounds out your agent's Clerk context. One prompt:

Or:

Seconds later, your app has plans configured, a pricing table on the page, and a working checkout your customers can use.

If you're using shadcn/ui, you can now prompt the agent to build out your dashboard:

It scaffolds the layout, then drops in the right Clerk components for account management and organization switching. You follow up:

Done. Want to add a new login provider? No problem:

The agent calls the CLI, runs clerk config patch and enables the GitHub provider on your instance.

This is the moment the rhythm starts to emerge. When the agent has the right tools and reference, the friction between what you ask for and what comes back keeps shrinking. There's still tuning - there always will be - but the corrections get smaller, and the loop starts moving with you instead of against you.

Adopting Clerk mid-project

Not every project starts with Clerk; init is built for those too. Run it inside an existing codebase and Clerk adapts. It detects your setup, installs the SDK, and scaffolds only what's missing. If you're migrating from NextAuth, Auth0, or Supabase Auth, the CLI detects that and links you to the relevant migration guide.

If you already have middleware, Clerk composes with it rather than overwriting it. After scaffolding, it scans for hardcoded keys and leftover imports from previous auth libraries, so you know exactly what to clean up.

That flexibility is the real benefit of the init workflow. It meets a project at whatever stage it's in.

The sky's the limit

clerk init. clerk link. clerk enable. Three commands lay the foundation. Agent skills take you further so you can ship faster. Some of the most tedious parts of setting up a SaaS application? Gone. Now you can focus on the parts that matter.

This is how getting started should feel.

Get started with Clerk CLI