Developer guide
Build, extend and integrate NextCRM. Local setup, architecture, data model, permissions, jobs, AI, MCP and plugins.
This section is for developers who contribute to NextCRM, write plugins, or connect other systems and AI agents to it.
NextCRM is a single Next.js 16 App Router app with React 19, Prisma 7 on PostgreSQL with pgvector, Better Auth, Inngest for background jobs and next-intl for four UI languages. Server Components read data, server actions write it, and every entry point checks permissions through one shared library.
Get started
Local setup
Prerequisites, env files, Docker Postgres and Inngest, migrations, seed, dev login.
Architecture
Project structure and how a request flows through middleware, Server Components, actions and routes.
Contributing
Branches, pull requests, conventional commits, releases and code conventions.
Core concepts
Data model
Key Prisma models, IDs, soft delete, the audit log, and adding a migration.
Auth and permissions
Better Auth, the user, manager and admin roles, scope helpers and API tokens.
Internationalization
Adding strings and locales with next-intl.
Background jobs
Inngest events, scheduled functions and how to add one.
AI features
Embeddings, vector search, E2B enrichment and API key resolution.
Extend and integrate
MCP server
Connect Claude Code and other MCP clients with a bearer token. Tool catalogue and limits.
Plugin system
SDK reference: manifest, permissions, extension points, store and lifecycle.
Build a plugin
Create, test and install a plugin step by step.
Testing and CI
Jest, Playwright, linting, type checks and the CI pipeline.
For running NextCRM in production and the full list of environment variables, see the admin guide.