Installation

Requirements

Bun ≥ 1.0 — a required runtime dependency, not just a build tool. The pylon server binary spawns Bun as a child process to run your TypeScript functions and render React SSR. Every install path below (except Pylon Cloud) needs Bun on the host.
Rust — a recent stable toolchain (edition 2021). Only needed if you build the CLI from source; the prebuilt binary and Docker image need no Rust.
Node.js ≥ 18 (optional, for client tooling)

Fastest start — scaffold an app

The quickest path to a running full-stack app is the project scaffolder — no global install required, because it wires @pylonsync/cli in as a dev dependency:

npm create @pylonsync/pylon@latest my-app
cd my-app
npm run dev

That scaffolds a full-stack SSR app (schema, policies, functions, and file-based React routes under app/) and npm run dev runs the bundled CLI. Install the standalone CLI below if you want pylon on your PATH for other projects or CI.

Skip the install — use Pylon Cloud

If you don’t want to manage a binary or a server, Pylon Cloud hosts the same backend you’d run yourself. Sign up at www.pylonsync.com/dashboard, then:

pylon login
pylon deploy --target cloud

You’ll still want the CLI for local development and deploys; install it below.

Install the CLI

curl -fsSL https://www.pylonsync.com/install.sh | bash

docker pull ghcr.io/pylonsync/pylon:latest

cargo install --git https://github.com/pylonsync/pylon pylon-cli

The one-line installer downloads a prebuilt binary to ~/.local/bin. Linux and macOS, x86_64 and arm64. No Rust toolchain required. Verify:

pylon --version
pylon doctor

pylon doctor checks that bun, node, and the supporting tooling are available.

Install Bun

Pylon uses Bun to run TypeScript server functions and to bundle the client code generator. If you don’t have it:

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Client SDKs

Web (React, Next.js, Vite, vanilla JS)

bun add @pylonsync/sdk @pylonsync/react

npm install @pylonsync/sdk @pylonsync/react

pnpm add @pylonsync/sdk @pylonsync/react

For Next.js, also add @pylonsync/next. See Clients → React and Clients → Next.js.

React Native (iOS + Android)

bun add @pylonsync/sdk @pylonsync/react @pylonsync/react-native
bun add @react-native-async-storage/async-storage expo-sqlite

See Clients → React Native.

Swift (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Linux)

In your Package.swift:

.package(url: "https://github.com/pylonsync/pylon-swift.git", from: "0.3.0"),

Then per target:

.target(name: "MyApp", dependencies: [
    .product(name: "PylonClient",   package: "pylon-swift"),
    .product(name: "PylonSync",     package: "pylon-swift"),
    .product(name: "PylonSwiftUI",  package: "pylon-swift"),  // optional
])

Linux: apt-get install libsqlite3-dev for the SQLite-backed offline replica. See Clients → Swift.

Directory conventions

A Pylon app usually looks like this:

my-app/
  app.ts                 # schema + policies + manifest
  functions/             # server functions (*.ts)
  client/                # your React components
  web/                   # Vite app (or Next.js, etc.)
    package.json
    vite.config.ts
    src/main.tsx
  package.json
  pylon.manifest.json    # generated
  pylon.client.ts        # generated

pylon dev app.ts watches app.ts + functions/ and regenerates pylon.manifest.json + pylon.client.ts on every change.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
`PYLON_DB_PATH`	`.pylon/dev.db`	SQLite file location (ignored if `DATABASE_URL` is set)
`DATABASE_URL`	(unset)	`postgres://...` connection string. When set, Pylon uses the Postgres adapter instead of SQLite
`PYLON_FILES_DIR`	`.pylon/uploads`	File upload storage
`PYLON_CORS_ORIGIN`	from `manifest.auth.trustedOrigins`	CORS allowlist override (comma-separated). `*` only in dev. Loopback always auto-trusted.
`PYLON_DEV_MODE`	`true`	Dev-only behavior (generous rate limits, CORS `*` fallback when neither manifest nor env is set)
`PYLON_PORT`	`4321`	HTTP port
`PYLON_RATE_LIMIT_MAX`	`100`	Max anonymous requests per window (per IP). Kept tight — anon traffic is the brute-force surface.
`PYLON_RATE_LIMIT_MAX_AUTHED`	`1000`	Max authenticated requests per window (per user id). Higher than anon because polling dashboards routinely exceed 100/min for a single legit user.
`PYLON_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW`	`60`	Window in seconds (applies to both anon + authed limits).
`PYLON_FN_RATE_LIMIT_MAX`	`30`	Function calls per window

See Reference → CLI for the full list.

Get started

Core concepts

SSR

Auth

Plugins

Clients

Operations

Compare

Installation

Requirements

Fastest start — scaffold an app

Skip the install — use Pylon Cloud

Install the CLI

Install Bun

Client SDKs

Web (React, Next.js, Vite, vanilla JS)

React Native (iOS + Android)

Swift (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Linux)

Directory conventions

Environment variables

​Requirements

​Fastest start — scaffold an app

​Skip the install — use Pylon Cloud

​Install the CLI

​Install Bun

​Client SDKs

​Web (React, Next.js, Vite, vanilla JS)

​React Native (iOS + Android)

​Swift (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Linux)

​Directory conventions

​Environment variables

Requirements

Fastest start — scaffold an app

Skip the install — use Pylon Cloud

Install the CLI

Install Bun

Client SDKs

Web (React, Next.js, Vite, vanilla JS)

React Native (iOS + Android)

Swift (iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Linux)

Directory conventions

Environment variables