Install

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Installation

Install Pax from source, verify your toolchain, and confirm the CLI and docs site run locally.

2 min readUpdated GitHub

Pax runs from a pnpm monorepo. Clone the repository, install dependencies, build the packages, and run paxfx from the workspace root.

What you will learn

  • Which Node and pnpm versions Pax requires
  • How to install the workspace and build every package
  • How to confirm paxfx and the docs site work
  • What each quality gate checks before you commit

Requirements

RequirementVersionNotes
Node.js22 or newerActive LTS recommended
pnpm10.xEnabled via corepack
Gitany recentRequired for clone and CI
FFmpegoptionalRequired for video export workflows
Playwright browsersoptionalpnpm exec playwright install chromium for e2e and rendered checks

Install from source

  1. Clone, install, and build

    Corepack reads the pnpm version pinned in the root package.json, so every contributor runs the same package manager. The CLI and the web app consume built output from packages/*/dist, which is why the build runs here rather than later.

    pnpm
    git clone https://github.com/pax-design/pax.git
cd pax
corepack enable
pnpm install
pnpm build

  2. Verify the CLI

    paxfx doctor reports optional capabilities such as FFmpeg and Chromium, and prints the exact fix for anything missing.

    pnpm
    pnpm paxfx --help
pnpm paxfx doctor

  3. Open the documentation site

    These docs run locally from the same repository. The docs site uses a Tailwind and shadcn subsystem scoped to /docs/*, so its tokens never leak into the marketing pages.

    pnpm --filter @pax-sh/web dev

Expected result

pnpm paxfx --help lists the commands, pnpm paxfx doctor reports your toolchain with no fatal errors, and http://localhost:3000/docs serves this page. Optional capabilities may be listed as unavailable.

Verify quality gates

These are the same four gates CI runs. Run them before you commit.

pnpm lint
pnpm typecheck
pnpm test
pnpm build

Common issues

corepack or pnpm not found

Run corepack enable once per machine, then reopen your shell so the shims land on your PATH.

Cannot find module errors in the web app

The web app imports built package output. Run pnpm build from the repository root, or pnpm --filter @pax-sh/web^... run build to build only its dependencies.

Video export fails with a missing FFmpeg message

Install FFmpeg with brew install ffmpeg on macOS or your platform package manager, then rerun pnpm paxfx doctor. Video rendering also needs a Playwright Chromium build: pnpm exec playwright install chromium.

You want paxfx on your PATH outside pnpm scripts

Link the CLI package globally after building:

pnpm --filter @pax-sh/cli link --global
paxfx --version

Next steps

QuickstartRun paxfx, create your first Lottie example, open the docs site.ConceptsScenes, recipes, compilers, and local-first agent workflows.MCPConnect Pax to Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode.LiquidInstall your first canvas component.

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