Files
Miranda Limonczenko a5688423d0 docs(cli): restructure and tighten the CLI getting started guide (#50736)
Closes DOCS-1320

Was the bottom of a two-PR stack. The commit from #50680 moved here, so
that PR is closed and this one carries both changes.

## Problem

The CLI getting started guide had accumulated structural and prose
problems, none of which change what the page claims:

- **Nine flat H2 headings**, with Beta channel and Updating the Supabase
CLI sitting between installing and running. A first-time reader crossed
about 150 lines of beta and upgrade tabs before reaching `supabase
init`.
- **The introduction opened with a two-step procedure under no
heading**, listing `init` and `start` before the CLI is installed. Its
first sentence named the tool and where it runs rather than what the
reader gets.
- **Running a local Supabase project ran concept, fact, procedure, and
process together** as one stretch of prose, so the two commands the
reader has to run sat in paragraphs between the Docker background and
the first-run note.
- **Task headings mixed gerunds with imperatives:** Installing, Running,
Stopping, and Updating next to Access and Manage.
- **No navigation.** A long guide that mixes information types opened
straight into commands, with no outline of its major groups. The sidebar
contents is not a substitute: it isn't part of the document, and the
generated markdown an agent reads has no sidebar at all.
- **Four more sequences were prose.** Installing via npm, installing a
Linux package, the pre-upgrade backup, and opting out of telemetry each
had to be followed in order with nothing marking the order.
- **Smaller things:** the Studio screenshot's alt text named the topic
its heading already states, two links used "note above" and "here" as
their text, and an admonition restated where `sb_publishable_...` comes
from.

## Solution

Twelve commits, one change type each, plus a master merge and its fixup.

- **Style.** The install-method callout drops from four blocks to two
paragraphs and uses the documented `title` prop. Active voice on the
Postgres, analytics, and telemetry instructions. Descriptive link text.
Alt text that describes the Studio screenshot rather than naming it. Cut
the admonition restating `sb_publishable_...`.
- **Structure.** Beta channel and Updating the Supabase CLI move out of
the getting started path.
- **Grouping.** Local setup goes under Set up a local project, updating
and beta builds under Change your CLI version. The intro's `init` and
`start` list gets a Quickstart heading.
- **Value statement.** The opening sentence now says what the reader
gets.
- **Procedure format.** Running a local Supabase project leads with the
container runtime prerequisite, then four numbered actions, then the
first-run download as an outcome. Starting the container runtime is its
own step, since the old prose only assumed it with "with a container
runtime running".
- **Imperative headings.** Install, Run, Access, Stop, Update, Use the
beta channel.
- **Four more procedures.** npm install, Linux packages, the pre-upgrade
backup, and telemetry opt-out. The three pre-upgrade commands were one
unexplained block inside an admonition, so each step now says what its
command does. Re-enabling telemetry moves to a sentence, since it's the
reverse action rather than a step.
- **Intro navigation** listing the major groups, each line saying what
the reader gets from it.
- **Connect to a hosted project** (from #50680). A new section between
Stop local services and Change your CLI version, saying the stack runs
only on the reader's machine and nothing reaches a hosted project until
they sign in and link one, then pointing at the page that owns the
procedure. No commands. The `init` step gains a sentence saying it
creates local files only, and the value statement and intro navigation
cover the added goal.
- **Style guide and word list fixes** from an audit of the page against
`CONTRIBUTING.md` and `WORD_LIST.md`. `directory` over `folder` in
command-line contexts, `might` over `may`, present tense over `will`, a
noun after `this`, no `above` as a pointer, concrete verbs over
`manage`, no time-relative `latest`, no parentheses for supplementary
information, and an impact-first `caution` on the pre-upgrade callout.
The container runtime list becomes a table of tool and platforms, and
the group heading becomes Change your CLI version.


## Preview links

| Site | Live | Preview | Search for |
| ---- | ---- | ------- | ---------- |
| Docs |
[/docs/guides/local-development/cli/getting-started](https://supabase.com/docs/guides/local-development/cli/getting-started)
|
[/docs/guides/local-development/cli/getting-started](https://docs-git-docs-cli-getting-started-edits-supabase.vercel.app/docs/guides/local-development/cli/getting-started)
| Change your CLI version, Connect to a hosted project |

## Manual testing

1. Open the docs preview link above.
2. Read the introduction. It opens with a value statement, then links
the four major groups. Under Quickstart, the install-method callout
explains how the install method changes the command you run.
3. Read the On this page list. It nests: Quickstart, Set up a local
project with four sections under it, Change your CLI version with two
sections under it, Telemetry, Learn more.
4. Check Run a local Supabase project renders four numbered steps, with
code blocks inside steps 3 and 4. Check the npm tab of Install the
Supabase CLI renders three, and How to opt out renders two.
5. Load the page at `#installing-the-supabase-cli`, `#beta-channel`, and
`#updating-the-supabase-cli`. All three land on their sections despite
the renamed headings.
6. Load the legacy path
`/docs/guides/cli/getting-started#updating-the-supabase-cli`. It
redirects to the current path and keeps the fragment.
7. Check the introduction's group list includes Connect to a hosted
project, and that the section appears in the On this page list between
Stop local services and Change your CLI version.
8. Check that section is two sentences and a pointer, with no commands.
9. In Run a local Supabase project, select the "Connect to a hosted
project" link in step 3. The page scrolls to that section.
10. Follow both outbound links from the new section and confirm they
resolve, including the `#configure-github-actions` fragment.


<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit

* **Documentation**
* Reorganized the local development guide with a clearer quickstart,
setup steps, service access instructions, and CLI version guidance.
* Expanded installation examples to include bun and clarified
package-runner commands.
* Clarified upgrade, backup, container cleanup, and telemetry
instructions.
  * Added a reference to the Microsoft Writing Style Guide.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
2026-10-05 11:22:13 -07:00
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