# Setting up your environment

Use git to clone [the Next.js starter template](https://github.com/geldata/quickstart-nextjs) into a new directory called `flashcards`. This will create a fully configured Next.js project and a local Gel instance with an empty schema. You will see the database instance being created and the project being initialized. You are now ready to start building the application.

```sh
$ git clone \
    git@github.com:geldata/quickstart-nextjs.git \
    flashcards
$ cd flashcards
$ npm install
$ npx gel project init
```

Explore the empty database by starting our REPL from the project root.

```sh
$ npx gel
```

Try the following queries which will work without any schema defined.

```edgeql-repl
db> select 42;
{42}
db> select sum({1, 2, 3});
{6}
db> with cards := {
...   (
...     front := "What is the highest mountain in the world?",
...     back := "Mount Everest",
...   ),
...   (
...     front := "Which ocean contains the deepest trench on Earth?",
...     back := "The Pacific Ocean",
...   ),
... }
... select cards order by random() limit 1;
{
  (
    front := "What is the highest mountain in the world?",
    back := "Mount Everest",
  )
}
```

Fun! You will create a proper data model for the application in the next step, but for now, take a look around the project you've just created. Most of the project files will be familiar if you've worked with Next.js before. Here are the files that integrate Gel:

- `gel.toml`: The configuration file for the Gel project instance. Notice that we have a `hooks.migration.apply.after` hook that will run `npx @gel/generate edgeql-js` after migrations are applied. This will generate the query builder code that you'll use to interact with the database. More details on that to come!

- `dbschema/`: This directory contains the schema for the database, and later supporting files like migrations, and generated code.
- `dbschema/default.gel`: The default schema file that you'll use to define your data model. It is empty for now, but you'll add your data model to this file in the next step.

- `lib/gel.ts`: A utility module that exports the Gel client, which you'll use to interact with the database.

- gel.toml:
  ```toml
  [instance]
  server-version = "6.11"
  
  [hooks]
  schema.update.after = "npx @gel/generate edgeql-js"
  ```
- dbschema/default.gel:
  ```sdl
  module default {
  
  }
  ```
- lib/gel.ts:
  ```typescript
  import { createClient } from "gel";
  
  export const client = createClient();
  ```