How do you start a new Vue 3 project with create-vue, and why must the command be npm create vue@latest rather than npm create vue?

## What create-vue is **create-vue** is the official tool for starting a Vue 3 application. It is a **scaffolder**: it asks a few questions, writes a project into a folder, and exits. The project it writes is a normal **Vite** project with the Vue plugin, so everything after scaffolding, from the dev server to the production build, is Vite's job. That is the main difference from Vue CLI, which was webpack-based and stayed in the loop as a build tool. ## Running it 1. Check Node: create-vue 3.24 and the projects it writes declare `node ^22.18.0 || >=24.12.0`. 2. Run `npm create vue@latest`. `npm create vue` maps to the `create-vue` package; the `@latest` tag makes npm fetch the current release instead of a cached one, which the README marks as mandatory. 3. Answer the prompts, or pass flags to skip them. 4. Follow the printed steps: `cd` into the folder, install dependencies, and start the dev server. If formatting was chosen, it also suggests running the format script once. 5. If the folder is not already a git repository, it suggests a `git init` and a first commit. ## The prompts, in order | Prompt | Default | Notes | |---|---|---| | Project name | `vue-project` | skipped when you pass a directory | | Overwrite a non-empty folder? | no | skipped with `--force` | | Use TypeScript? | yes | | | Features | none | JSX, Router, Pinia, Vitest, End-to-End Testing, ESLint, Prettier | | E2E framework | none | only if E2E was picked: Playwright or Cypress | | Experimental features | none | Oxfmt, Vue 3.6 release candidate, tsgo | | Skip example code? | no | the 'barebone' option | ## What you get With TypeScript, Router and Pinia, the project contains: - `index.html`, `vite.config.ts` with the Vue plugin, the Vue DevTools plugin and an `@` alias for `src`; - `src/main.ts`, which creates the app and installs Pinia and the router; - `src/App.vue`, example components and views, `src/router/index.ts` and `src/stores/counter.ts`; - a set of `tsconfig` files and an `env.d.ts`; - `package.json` scripts `dev`, `build` and `preview`, plus scripts for each tool you picked. The generated `package.json` pins current majors: Vue 3.5, Vite 8, and, when chosen, Vue Router 5.3 and Pinia 4. ## The last two prompts - **Experimental features** is a second multiselect. **Oxfmt** replaces Prettier as the formatter, **Vue 3.6 release candidate** opts into the next minor before it is stable, and **tsgo** swaps the `typescript` package for the native TypeScript bridge; tsgo is only offered when TypeScript is on. Choosing the release candidate or tsgo adds a package-manager question, because the scaffolder writes version overrides in that manager's format. - **Skip example code?** is the barebone option, default no. Yes keeps all the tooling but removes the welcome components, empties the routes array and leaves a minimal `App.vue`. For a team's first internal tool, the usual answers are TypeScript, Router, Pinia, Vitest and ESLint, no experimental features, and barebone once the team no longer needs the example code as a reference. ## A snapshot, not a dependency create-vue is not added to the project's dependencies. The files it writes are yours from the first commit, and later upgrades of Vue, Vite or the router happen through your package manager, not by running the scaffolder again. Re-running it into an existing folder asks to overwrite that folder, which is a way to lose work, not to upgrade. ## Mistakes worth catching - **Omitting `@latest`.** The README warns npm may resolve a cached, outdated create-vue. - **Reaching for Vue CLI.** New projects start from create-vue; Vue CLI is the webpack-era tool it replaced. - **Expecting installed dependencies.** Nothing is installed until you run your package manager. - **Using `@legacy` for a new app.** It scaffolds Vue 2, which is past end of life, and exists only for projects that must support old browsers.