# Add a backend to a Vite React app with one command

> Give a Vite + React app Postgres, auth, storage and realtime with `npx scribase init`: VITE_ variables, supabase-js installed, src/lib/supabase.ts added.

Source: https://scribase.com/frameworks/vite-react

A single-page app needs a backend it can call straight from the browser, with the rules enforced on the server. One command sets that up: database, auth, storage and realtime, with the public keys in .env.local and a client in src/lib.

## `npx scribase init` output

```
$ npx scribase init
Backend ready: https://acme-my-app-production-c2b0ea0a.scribase.com
  framework   vite
  project     acme/my-app (production)
  env file    .env.local (VITE_SUPABASE_URL, VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY, SCRIBASE_API_URL, SCRIBASE_ORG, SCRIBASE_PROJECT, SCRIBASE_ENV)
  client      src/lib/supabase.ts

Next:
  - import { supabase } from './src/lib/supabase' and query: await supabase.from('todos').select()
  - create tables with SQL migrations (supabase/migrations/*.sql) and `scribase db push`, or the MCP server
```

## Environment file: .env.local

- VITE_SUPABASE_URL
- VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

## Run init

Run it in the project root. If you are not signed in, it prints a link and a code: approve it in the browser (sign up takes one click plus the $1 card check, credited back), and init carries on. No key is ever pasted. It creates the project, writes the env file, adds the env file to .gitignore, installs @supabase/supabase-js and writes a small client module.

```bash
npx scribase init
```

## What it wrote

Vite exposes VITE_ variables to browser code as import.meta.env. The service role key is never written for Vite projects, because everything a Vite app reads ends up in the bundle.

_.env.local_
```bash
# Scribase (written by `npx scribase init`)
VITE_SUPABASE_URL=https://acme-my-app-production-c2b0ea0a.scribase.com
VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=<publishable key>
SCRIBASE_API_URL=https://api.scribase.com
SCRIBASE_ORG=acme
SCRIBASE_PROJECT=my-app
SCRIBASE_ENV=production
```

## Create your first table

Open your project in the console, go to Editor, then SQL, and run this. Or ask your coding agent: with the Scribase MCP server connected it applies the same SQL as a migration. Row-level security is on, so the public key can only read what the policy allows.

```sql
create table public.todos (
  id bigint generated always as identity primary key,
  title text not null,
  done boolean not null default false,
  created_at timestamptz not null default now()
);

alter table public.todos enable row level security;

create policy "todos are readable" on public.todos
  for select to anon, authenticated using (true);

insert into public.todos (title) values ('Ship the backend'), ('Tell a friend');
```

## Use it in a component

Restart `npm run dev` once so Vite loads .env.local.

_src/App.tsx_
```tsx
import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { supabase } from './lib/supabase';

type Todo = { id: number; title: string };

export default function App() {
  const [todos, setTodos] = useState<Todo[]>([]);
  useEffect(() => {
    supabase.from('todos').select('id, title').then(({ data }) => setTodos(data ?? []));
  }, []);
  return <ul>{todos.map((t) => <li key={t.id}>{t.title}</li>)}</ul>;
}
```

## Agent prompt

```
Add a Scribase backend to this Vite + React app.
1. Run `npx scribase init --yes --json` in the project root. If it returns authorization_pending, show me the link and code, wait for me to approve, then run it again.
2. Create a `todos` table (id, title, done, created_at) with row-level security on and a policy that lets anyone read it; use the Scribase MCP server or a SQL migration, not the service-role key in app code.
3. Render the todos in src/App.tsx with the client in src/lib/supabase.ts.
4. Never print, log or commit the env file; it is already in .gitignore.
```

## FAQ

**Where do secrets go if everything is in the browser?**

Nowhere in the app. Anything privileged runs as a policy in the database or in an edge function; the browser only ever holds the publishable key.

**Does it work with Vite + Vue, Solid or Preact?**

Yes. Detection only looks for Vite, so the env file and client are the same; only the component code differs.