Satūs

Satūs is a Next.js 16 + React 19 starter template from darkroom.engineering that gives content-driven marketing and creative sites a production-ready foundation with Tailwind CSS v4, Storybook, and optional Sanity, Shopify, and WebGL integrations.

What is Satūs?

Satūs is a starter template (source available on GitHub) for building content-driven marketing and creative sites. It takes a fresh clone as input and produces a deployable Next.js application whose landing page doubles as a step-by-step manual. The stack is Next.js 16 with the App Router, React 19 with the React Compiler, Tailwind CSS v4 alongside CSS Modules, and a Bun + oxc toolchain. It is built by darkroom.engineering and released under the MIT license.

Key Features

• Next.js 16 + React 19 — App Router with cacheComponents and instant navigations enabled by default, strict TypeScript, and the React Compiler.
• Tailwind v4 + CSS Modules — Both styling systems work under a single cascade contract, so utility classes and module styles cannot silently override each other.
• Storybook catalogue — Every UI component is documented in isolation with controls, run with bun storybook.
• Opt-in integrations — Sanity CMS, Shopify storefront, HubSpot, and WebGL (React Three Fiber) live under lib/integrations; bun run setup:project strips unused ones and their dependencies.
• Bun + oxc toolchain — Bun serves as runtime and test runner (bun test); oxlint and oxfmt lint and format TypeScript, CSS, Markdown, YAML, and TOML, sorting imports and Tailwind classes.
• Animation stack — Lenis smooth scrolling, GSAP, and Tempus are preconfigured for scroll-driven motion.
• CI quality gates — GitHub Actions workflows include Lighthouse performance budgets, asset-weight budgets, Playwright e2e tests with accessibility and instant-navigation assertions, and security headers with enforced CSP.
• Agent-ready docs — AGENTS.md, llms.txt, and a project manifest give AI coding tools canonical rules and repo context.

Who should use Satūs?

• Creative agencies building marketing sites for clients that need scroll animations and a CMS; the bun run handoff script strips agency branding and generates a client-facing PROD-README.md.
• Marketing teams wanting a content-driven site with Sanity as the CMS and previews in a /studio route.
• E-commerce brands that want to add a Shopify storefront without building the surrounding site from scratch.
• Developers who prefer a no-auth, no-database stack and want a fast, typed starting point for a content site.

What can you do with Satūs?

• Launch a marketing site: set NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL, wire Sanity content, and deploy to Vercel with the one-click Deploy button.
• Build a portfolio with WebGL: enable the React Three Fiber module to add 3D scenes to a creative site.
• Add a storefront: enable Shopify integration to sell products while keeping the content site separate.
• Deliver client handoffs: run bun run handoff --force to remove branding, swap in the production README, and refresh the component inventory.

How does Satūs work?

Clone the repository, run bun install, copy .env.example to .env.local and set NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL, then bun dev opens a landing page that is itself a manual. bun run setup:project interactively removes integrations you don't need; bun run check runs lint, format, types, tests, and asset budgets before pushing.

Alternatives

• create-next-app — the official bare scaffold, which leaves animation, CMS, and tooling decisions to you.
• next-forge — aimed at SaaS products, includes Clerk auth, Stripe payments, Prisma, and a Turborepo monorepo.
• create-t3-app — for typesafe full-stack apps with tRPC and a database, but no motion or CMS wiring.
• next-enterprise — for large organizations needing Kubernetes, OpenTelemetry observability, and extensive CI.

FAQ

What are the system requirements for Satūs?

Satūs requires Node.js version 22 or higher and Bun version 1.3.5 or higher, as stated in the README quick start.

How do I remove integrations I don't need?

Run bun run setup:project and answer the interactive prompts; it strips unused integration code, dependencies, and environment variables. Non-interactive flags are documented in lib/integrations/README.md.

Does Satūs include auth, payments, or a database?

No. The comparison table shows Satūs deliberately omits Clerk, Stripe, Prisma, and any database/ORM, keeping the starter focused on content sites and storefronts rather than SaaS infrastructure.

Can I deploy Satūs to Vercel?

Yes, the README provides a Deploy button and the vercel CLI command. After linking, push to the tracked branch and Vercel auto-deploys; set NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL in environment variables for SEO, canonical URLs, sitemaps, and social cards.

Is Satūs free to use?

Yes, Satūs is released under the MIT license, as stated at the end of the README.