Setting Up Encore Go

Instructions

This guide is for Encore Go. For Encore.ts, use encore-getting-started. If the user hasn't said which language they want, ask.

Do the steps in order. Each step says how to tell it worked. If a step fails, load the skill it names.

1. Check the CLI

encore version

Prints encore version v...: go to step 2.
Command not found: install it (encore-install), then go to step 2.

2. Log in

Skip this step if the user only wants to run the app locally.

encore auth whoami

logged in as <email>: go to step 3.
not logged in.: start encore auth login in the background. Send the user the pairing code and URL it prints, and ask them to approve it in a browser on any device. Wait for Successfully logged in! (encore-login).
logged in as app <app-id>, or no person can approve a login (CI): an auth key can't create apps. Ask the user to create the app in the Cloud Dashboard, then run encore app clone <app-id>, cd into it, and go to step 4.

3. Create the app

encore app create my-app --example=hello-world
cd my-app

Ends with Successfully created app my-app!: go to step 4.
Empty app: for an app with no services, use --example=empty instead, and skip step 4.
Other templates and errors: see encore-create-app.

4. Check that it runs

encore check 'curl /hello/world'

Prints "Message": "Hello, world!" and exits 0: go to step 5.
Fails: see encore-run.

To keep the app running for the user, start encore run in the background, never in the foreground (encore-run). The API is at http://localhost:4000, and the local development dashboard, with a trace of every request, is at http://localhost:9400.

5. Connect Encore's MCP servers

The MCP servers let you inspect and call the app while you build it, and read its deploys once it's on Encore Cloud. If the user created the app with --llm-rules=<tool>, the local server may already be configured for that tool: check before adding it again.

Local server: from the app's root directory, run encore mcp start. It prints MCP stdio Command: encore mcp run --app=<app-id>. Add that command to the user's tool. In Claude Code:
```
claude mcp add --transport stdio encore-local -- encore mcp run --app=<app-id>
```

Encore Cloud server (only if you logged in at step 2):

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user encore-cloud https://api.encore.dev/mcp

Cursor, VS Code, other tools, or an API key instead of signing in: see encore-mcp.

6. Report back

Setup is done. Tell the user:

Where the app is: its directory, and, if it's on Encore Cloud, its Cloud Dashboard at https://app.encore.dev/<app-id>.
What's left for them: their tool loads the new MCP servers when it restarts. If you added encore-cloud, they also need to authenticate it once: in Claude Code, /mcp, select encore-cloud, and choose Authenticate.

To build on the app, load the skill for the task. The hello-world app has one service, hello, in hello/.

| To | Load | |----|------| | Add endpoints, validation, and errors | encore-go-api | | Add services or call one service from another | encore-go-service | | Add a SQL database | encore-go-database | | Require login on endpoints | encore-go-auth | | Add Pub/Sub, cron jobs, buckets, secrets, or caching | encore-go-pubsub, encore-go-cron, encore-go-bucket, encore-go-secret, encore-go-cache | | Write tests | encore-go-testing | | Deploy: commit, then git push encore | encore-deploy |