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This page is part of an AI coding agent skill and is written for agents, not humans. For the human-readable Base44 docs, see the developer documentation.

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base44 scaffold

Scaffolds a local project for an existing Base44 app. Use this when you already have a Base44 app (you know its app ID) and want to set up the local project files to work with it. Runs fully non-interactively, so it is safe for agents and CI.
ScenarioCommand
Starting fresh, want a NEW Base44 app + project from a templatenpx base44 create
You already have a Base44 app (by ID) and want local files for itnpx base44 scaffold
Have a local base44/config.jsonc but no .app.jsoncnpx base44 link

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Syntax

npx base44 scaffold [name] [options]
Scaffolds into the current directory.

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Arguments & Options

Argument/OptionDescriptionRequired
nameProject name (positional). Defaults to the current directory name.No
--app-id <id>Existing Base44 app ID. Falls back to the BASE44_APP_ID environment variable.Yes*
--no-skillsSkip AI agent skills installation (skills are installed by default)No
*The app ID is required: provide it via --app-id or the BASE44_APP_ID environment variable. If neither is set, the command fails.

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Examples

# Scaffold the current directory for an existing app
npx base44 scaffold --app-id app_123

# Scaffold the current directory with an explicit project name
npx base44 scaffold my-app --app-id app_123

# Provide the app ID via environment variable instead of the flag
BASE44_APP_ID=app_123 npx base44 scaffold

# Scaffold without installing AI agent skills
npx base44 scaffold --app-id app_123 --no-skills

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What It Does

  1. Resolves the app ID from --app-id or the BASE44_APP_ID environment variable
  2. Applies the backend-only template to the current directory
  3. Registers the project files against the existing app and writes base44/.app.jsonc with the app ID
  4. Installs AI agent skills (unless --no-skills is passed)

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Provisioning Handoff (Stripe Projects / projects.dev)

scaffold is the command to run after a Base44 app is provisioned through a Stripe Projects / projects.dev flow. Use scaffold, not create — the app already exists, so create would create a duplicate. When Base44 is provisioned that way, the credentials are injected into the environment under a BASE44_PROJECTS_ prefix (e.g. BASE44_PROJECTS_BASE44_APP_ID, BASE44_PROJECTS_BASE44_ACCESS_TOKEN, BASE44_PROJECTS_BASE44_REFRESH_TOKEN). The CLI automatically normalizes these to the bare names it uses (BASE44_APP_ID, BASE44_ACCESS_TOKEN, …). As a result:
  • App ID is resolved from BASE44_APP_ID automatically — no --app-id flag needed.
  • Authentication is seeded from BASE44_ACCESS_TOKEN / BASE44_REFRESH_TOKEN — no interactive npx base44 login needed.
So the entire post-provisioning step is just: 
npx base44 scaffold
Run it from the directory where you want the project files. After scaffolding, push resources with npx base44 deploy.

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Notes

  • Template: Always uses the backend-only template (Base44 configuration only — no frontend is generated).
  • Non-interactive: Never prompts. It does not push entities or deploy the site. Use npx base44 deploy afterward to push resources.
  • Existing app only: Unlike create, this does not create a new Base44 app — it links local files to the app ID you supply.
  • Authentication: Requires you to be authenticated (run npx base44 login first).
  • The .app.jsonc file should be git-ignored (it contains your app ID).