Overview
Go from nothing installed to a theme running against your own store and published.
Read this section in order when you are starting a theme on your own machine. The Salla CLI creates the project, runs it, connects it to a store and publishes it.
You do not need a Salla account to start. A new theme renders a ready-made demo store until you link your own.
The short version
npm install -g @salla.sa/cli
salla theme create --type react --name "My Store" --yesThis creates ./my-store, installs dependencies and opens the storefront. On every later day:
cd my-store
salla theme devThe path
Get set up
Prerequisites lists the tools you need and salla theme doctor checks them. Then create a theme and run it locally.
Use your own data
Link a store so the theme renders your products instead of the demo ones. Open the theme editor to see how a merchant will edit it.
Working with an AI assistant? Build with AI connects it to the Partners MCP and these docs.
Keep CLI commands, the Vite plugin and Troubleshooting at hand as reference.
How the pieces fit
| Piece | Where it lives | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Salla CLI | Your machine, global | Creates, runs, previews and publishes themes. |
| Your theme | A folder with twilight.json | Your code. A normal Vite project. |
| Dev server | localhost:5173 | Renders the storefront from your code. |
| Store | Salla's API | The products, categories and settings the page shows. |
The CLI is a convenience layer. The dev server is plain pnpm dev underneath, and the store is chosen by one line in .env.
Next: Prerequisites