Step 4 — Node.js + pnpm + first React

Node.js runs JavaScript on your computer. pnpm is the recommended package manager.

Install Node.js

# Windows
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

# macOS
brew install node

Confirm with node --version (v20+).

Activate pnpm

Use corepack built into Node 16.13+:

corepack enable
corepack prepare pnpm@10.33.0 --activate
pnpm --version

Your first Next.js project

pnpm create next-app@latest my-first-app
cd my-first-app
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000 to see your first page.

Next

Step 5: Connect an AI coding tool →