---
description: 'This quickstart guide will help you set up a Medusa backend in three steps.'
addHowToData: true
---

import Feedback from '@site/src/components/Feedback';
import DocCardList from '@theme/DocCardList';
import Icons from '@theme/Icon';
import Troubleshooting from '@site/src/components/Troubleshooting'
import SaslSection from '../../troubleshooting/database-errors/_sasl.md'
import ConnectionErrorSection from '../../troubleshooting/database-errors/_connection-error.md'
import FreshInstallationSection from '../../troubleshooting/awilix-resolution-error/_fresh-installation.md'

# Install Medusa Backend

This document will guide you through setting up your Medusa backend in a three steps.

## Prerequisites

Before you can install and use Medusa, you need the following tools installed on your machine:

- [Node.js v16+](./prepare-environment.mdx#nodejs)
- [Git](./prepare-environment.mdx#git)
- [PostgreSQL](./prepare-environment.mdx#postgresql)

---

## Create a Medusa Backend

:::tip

It is recommended to use [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/getting-started/install) for the installation process as it's much faster than using NPM.

:::

### 1. Install Medusa CLI

   ```bash npm2yarn
   npm install @medusajs/medusa-cli -g
   ```

:::note

If you run into any errors while installing the CLI tool, check out the [troubleshooting guide](../../troubleshooting/cli-installation-errors.mdx).

:::

### 2. Create a new Medusa project

   ```bash noReport
   medusa new my-medusa-store
   ```
   
   You'll then be asked to specify your PostgreSQL database credentials. You can choose "Continue" to use the default credentials shown in the terminal, choose "Change credentials" to specify your PostgreSQL credentails, or choose "Skip database setup" to create the database later.
   
:::warning

If you choose "Skip database setup" you will need to [set the database configurations](./configurations.md#database-configuration) and [run migrations](../entities/migrations/overview.mdx#migrate-command) later.

:::

### 3. Start your Medusa backend

:::note

Make sure your PostgreSQL server is running before you run the Medusa backend.

:::

   ```bash noReport
   cd my-medusa-store
   medusa develop
   ```

After these three steps and in only a couple of minutes, you now have a complete commerce engine running locally. You can test it out by sending a request using a tool like Postman or through the command line:

```bash noReport
curl localhost:9000/store/products
```

<Feedback 
   event="survey_server_quickstart"
   question="Did you set up the backend successfully?"
   positiveQuestion="Is there anything that should improved?"
   negativeQuestion="Please describe the issue you faced."
/>

---

## Troubleshooting Installation

<Troubleshooting
  sections={[
    {
      title: 'Error: SASL: SCRAM-SERVER-FIRST-MESSAGE: Client password must be a string',
      content: <SaslSection />
    },
    {
      title: 'Error: connect ECONNREFUSED ::1:5432',
      content: <ConnectionErrorSection />
    },
    {
      title: 'AwilixResolutionError: Could Not Resolve X',
      content: <FreshInstallationSection />
    },
  ]}
/>

---

## Seed Data 

For better testing, you can add demo data to your Medusa backend by running the seed command in your Medusa backend directory:

```bash
medusa seed --seed-file=data/seed.json
```

---

## Health Route

You can access `/health` to get health status of your backend.

---

## Next Steps

<DocCardList colSize={6} items={[
  {
    type: 'link',
    href: '/development/fundamentals/architecture-overview',
    label: 'Backend Architecture',
    customProps: {
      icon: Icons['circle-stack-solid'],
      description: 'Learn about the different resources that your Medusa backend is made of.'
    }
  },
  {
    type: 'link',
    href: '/development/backend/install',
    label: 'Backend Configurations',
    customProps: {
      icon: Icons['tools-solid'],
      description: 'Learn about configuring your backend and loading environment variables.'
    }
  }
]} />