Installing & Bootstrapping Nest

Install the Nest CLI, scaffold your first app, and run the dev server in under a minute.

4 min read Level 1/5 #nestjs#install#cli

What you'll learn

Install the Nest CLI globally
Scaffold a new project with `nest new`
Run the dev server

The fastest way into Nest is the official CLI. It installs a scaffold with TypeScript, Jest, ESLint, and a working “hello world” endpoint already wired up.

Install the CLI

npm i -g @nestjs/cli
nest --version

You can also run it without a global install via npx @nestjs/cli, but for day-to-day work the global binary is more pleasant.

Scaffold a Project

nest new my-app

The CLI asks which package manager you want (npm, yarn, or pnpm) and then installs dependencies. When it finishes you have:

my-app/
  src/
    app.controller.ts
    app.controller.spec.ts
    app.module.ts
    app.service.ts
    main.ts
  test/
  package.json
  tsconfig.json
  nest-cli.json

Run It

cd my-app
npm run start:dev

That starts Nest in watch mode on port 3000. Hit http://localhost:3000 in a browser and you’ll see Hello World! — served by AppController calling AppService. The dev server reloads on every file change.

What Each Generated File Does

main.ts — the entry file; creates the app and calls listen().
app.module.ts — the root module; registers controllers and services.
app.controller.ts — a sample HTTP controller with one @Get handler.
app.service.ts — the service the controller depends on.
*.spec.ts — unit tests, colocated next to their subject.

Don’t worry about the details yet; the next lessons unpack each piece.

The Nest CLI →