Quickstart

Get a client portal running locally in under two minutes. No accounts, no config files — just one command.

1. Install Showpane

Run the installer. It scaffolds a local Showpane instance with SQLite and starts a dev server on localhost:3000.

npx showpane

This creates a showpane/ directory in your project with a local database, default templates, and a ready-to-use dev server. No external dependencies required.

2. Create a portal

Use the Claude skill to scaffold a new portal for a client. This generates pages, sets branding defaults, and wires up the data model.

claude /portal create acme-health

3. Preview it

Open a live preview in your browser. Hot-reloads as you make changes.

claude /portal preview acme-health

4. Share it

Generate a shareable link your client can open immediately — no login required on their end.

claude /portal share acme-health

The share command creates a temporary public URL. For permanent hosting, see the Cloud Setup or Self-Hosted Deploy guides.