Getting Started

This guide will help you set up your development environment and get True Life running locally.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js 22+ - Download
• pnpm 10+ - Install with npm install -g pnpm
• Docker - For MongoDB and observability stack
• FiveM Server - For running the game server

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/true-life/true_life.git
cd true_life

2. Install Dependencies

pnpm install

3. Start Infrastructure

Start MongoDB (required):

docker compose up -d mongo

Optionally, start the full observability stack:

docker compose up -d otel-collector tempo loki grafana

4. Generate Assets

pnpm gen

5. Start Development

Start all development servers:

pnpm dev

This runs three processes in parallel:

• Client build - Rollup watching src/ for client changes
• Server build - Rollup watching src/ for server changes
• UI dev server - Vite dev server at http://127.0.0.1:41524

Development Commands

Command	Description
pnpm dev	Full dev environment (client + server + UI)
pnpm dev:client	Client build only with watch
pnpm dev:server	Server build only with watch
pnpm dev:ui	UI dev server only
pnpm build	Production build (all targets)
pnpm typecheck	Type check runtime code
pnpm lint	ESLint + typecheck
pnpm format	Format with Prettier
pnpm test	Run UI tests

Project Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the project root:

# MongoDB
MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME=admin
MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD=changeme
 
# Grafana (optional)
GRAFANA_ADMIN_USER=admin
GRAFANA_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin

FiveM Server Configuration

Add to your server.cfg:

# Development mode
set dev_mode "true"
set dev_features ""  # Empty = load all modules
 
# MongoDB connection
set mongodb_uri "mongodb://admin:changeme@localhost:27017"
set mongodb_database "true_life"
 
# OpenTelemetry (optional)
set otel_enabled "true"
set otel_endpoint "http://localhost:4318"

Accessing Services

Service	URL	Description
UI Dev Server	http://127.0.0.1:41524	Vite HMR dev server
Grafana	http://localhost:3001	Dashboards and traces
Prometheus	http://localhost:9090	Metrics
Live Map	http://localhost:3002	Interactive player map
Documentation	http://localhost:3003	This documentation

Next Steps

• Read the Architecture Overview to understand the framework
• Follow the Creating Modules guide to build your first module
• Explore the API Reference for detailed documentation