> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shipthing.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prerequisites

> How to configure your development environment for ShipThing.

Before you can get started, you will need to have the following installed on your machine.

* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download/) (v20 or higher)
* [Git](https://git-scm.com/)
* [VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com/) (recommended, or any other code editor)
* [pnpm](https://pnpm.io/)

ShipThing defaults to using [pnpm](https://pnpm.io/installation) as a package manager, but you can use [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/), [yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/) or [bun](https://bun.sh/) instead by passing a flag during the [installation](/setup/installation/clone#use-the-cli) step.

## Stripe CLI

We use the [Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-cli) to forward [payments webhooks](/packages/payments#webhooks) to your local machine.

<Note>The Stripe CLI is optional, but it is recommended to use it to test your payments integration if you use Stripe as your payment processor.</Note>

Once installed, you can login to authenticate with your Stripe account.

```sh Terminal theme={"system"}
stripe login
```

## Accounts

ShipThing relies on various SaaS products. You will need to create accounts with the following services then set the API keys in your [environment variables](/setup/configuration/environment):

<Note>Don't worry, you don't need to use all the services. We will guide you on how to configure it on demand during the [installation](/setup/installation/development) step.</Note>

* [Arcjet](https://arcjet.com), for [application security](/packages/security/application).
* [BetterStack](https://betterstack.com), for [logging](/packages/observability/logging) and [uptime monitoring](/packages/observability/uptime).
* [Clerk](https://clerk.com), for [authentication](/packages/authentication).
* [Google Analytics](https://developers.google.com/analytics), for [web analytics](/packages/analytics/web).
* [Posthog](https://posthog.com), for [product analytics](/packages/analytics/product).
* [Resend](https://resend.com), for [transactional emails](/packages/email).
* [Sentry](https://sentry.io), for [error tracking](/packages/observability/error-capture).
* [Stripe](https://stripe.com), for [payments](/packages/payments).