Getting Set Up
The shape of Skapp
Before you clone anything, get the mental model: Skapp is a system of repositories, not one app — and it ships in two editions.
- Community — the open-source edition. The core app, and nothing paid.
- Enterprise — the same core base with paid features layered on top through git submodules.
Everything beyond the core is its own service or library, with its own stack:
| Repo | Stack | What it is |
|---|---|---|
skapp | Next.js + Spring Boot (REST) | Skapp, community edition — the open-source core, on its own |
skapp + submodules | same, plus submodules | Skapp, enterprise edition — the same core plus enterprise code pulled in through submodules |
skapp-pm | Next.js + NestJS + GraphQL | Project-management module. Separate repo, different stack from core |
skapp-ai | Python + FastAPI + LangChain | Chatbot and insights service; talks to the PM module's GraphQL API |
skapp-ui | React + Storybook | Shared component library, published as @rootcodelabs/skapp-ui and used by the core and PM front ends |
skapp-migrations | Spring Boot | Database migration service (MySQL and Postgres) |
skapp-mobile | Expo / React Native | The mobile app |
Two things commonly trip people up:
- The stack is mixed — Java, Node, Python, and React Native all live here. "Run it locally" means something different in each repo.
- Enterprise pulls private code through submodules. A plain clone of
skappis a complete, runnable community edition on its own — that's a real offering, not a half-built tree. Enterprise is what you add on top by initializing the submodules, and that needs access.
Get your access
You'll need a GitHub account added to both orgs:
SkappHQ— the public community code.rootcodelabs— the private enterprise repos, including the submodulesskapppulls in. Without this, the enterprise build can't fetch its own code.
Once you've joined the organization, create a GitHub account and send your username to your team lead — they'll work on getting you the org access and then the repo access you need .
Run something locally
Coming soon — per-repo setup instructions. We're still settling on how to link these out so they can't drift out of date.
Find your way around
Two more reads in this section:
- Key Terms — the Skapp and handbook vocabulary. (coming next)
New to the handbook itself? Our Reading Guide shows you how to find anything.
Who to ask
Every doc names an owner_team at the top — that team is on the hook for it. Check the team name in top of the doc you are referring.
If you're not sure who that is, ask your mentor or onboarding pal — they can point you to the developers on each team.