Complete Setup Guide: From Zero to Production

This guide walks you through building a complete blog from scratch with astro-minimax.

Overview

flowchart LR
    A[Create Blog] --> B[Configure Site]
    B --> C[Deploy to Cloudflare]
    C --> D[Setup Comments]
    D --> E[Setup Analytics]
    E --> F[Setup Notifications]
    F --> G[Setup AI Chat]
    G --> H[Complete]

    style A fill:#22c55e,color:#fff
    style H fill:#3b82f6,color:#fff

Estimated time: 45-60 minutes

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have these accounts:

Database uses Vercel’s built-in Neon PostgreSQL, no additional registration needed.

Part 1: Create Blog

Step 1.1: Use CLI to Create Project

Open terminal and run:

npx @astro-minimax/cli init my-blog
cd my-blog
pnpm install

Step 1.2: Local Preview

pnpm run dev

Visit http://localhost:4321 to preview.

Step 1.3: Push to GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
gh repo create my-blog --private --source=. --push

Part 2: Configure Site

Step 2.1: Edit src/config.ts

export const SITE = {
  website: "https://your-domain.com/",  // Your domain
  author: "Your Name",                   // Your name
  title: "My Blog",                      // Blog title
  desc: "A personal tech blog",          // Blog description
  lang: "en",
  timezone: "America/New_York",
  features: {
    tags: true,
    categories: true,
    search: true,
    darkMode: true,
    ai: true,        // Enable AI chat
    waline: true,    // Enable comments
    sponsor: true,   // Enable sponsor
  },
  // Other config...
};

Step 2.2: Add First Post

Create src/data/blog/en/my-first-post.md:

---
title: My First Post
pubDatetime: 2026-03-18T10:00:00Z
author: Your Name
description: This is my first blog post.
tags:
  - getting-started
category: General
---
Post content goes here...

Part 3: Deploy to Cloudflare Pages

Step 3.1: Create Project

1. Login to Cloudflare Dashboard
2. Click Workers & Pages → Create → Pages → Connect to Git
3. Select your GitHub repository

Step 3.2: Configure Build Settings

Step 3.3: Set Environment Variables

In Settings → Environment variables, add:

Step 3.4: Wait for Deployment

Click Save and Deploy and wait for build to complete. You’ll get a .pages.dev domain.

Part 4: Setup Comments

Waline is a lightweight comment system deployed on Vercel with Neon PostgreSQL database.

Step 4.1: Deploy Waline to Vercel

1. Click one-click deploy: Waline Vercel Deploy
2. Enter project name and click Create
3. Wait for deployment (may fail initially due to missing database, this is normal)

Step 4.2: Create Neon PostgreSQL Database

1. Go to Waline project in Vercel Dashboard
2. Click Storage → Create Database
3. Select Neon PostgreSQL
4. Configure database (defaults work fine) and click Create
5. DATABASE_URL environment variable is auto-injected

Step 4.3: Initialize Database

1. Click the created database in Vercel Storage
2. Click Query tab
3. Copy content from waline.pgsql
4. Paste and click Run Query

Step 4.4: Configure Environment Variables and Redeploy

1. Go to Settings → Environment Variables
2. Confirm DATABASE_URL exists (auto-injected)
3. Add these variables:

4. Go to Deployments → Redeploy

Step 4.5: Update Blog Config

// src/config.ts
waline: {
  enabled: true,
  serverURL: "https://your-waline.vercel.app/",
  lang: "en-US",
  pageview: true,
  reaction: true,
  requiredMeta: ["nick", "mail"],
},

Part 5: Setup Analytics

Umami is a privacy-friendly web analytics tool, deployed for free on Vercel + Neon.

Step 5.1: Fork and Deploy Umami

1. Fork Umami repository
2. Import the forked repo in Vercel
3. Select Next.js framework and click Deploy (may fail initially, normal)

Step 5.2: Create Neon Database

1. Go to Umami project → Storage → Create Database
2. Select Neon PostgreSQL, configure and create
3. DATABASE_URL is auto-injected to environment variables

Step 5.3: Redeploy

1. Go to Deployments → Redeploy
2. Wait for deployment to complete

Step 5.4: Get Website ID

1. Visit your Umami instance
2. First login (default: admin/umami), change password immediately
3. Add website → Enter domain
4. Copy Website ID

Step 5.5: Update Blog Config

// src/config.ts
umami: {
  enabled: true,
  websiteId: "your-website-id",
  src: "https://your-umami-domain/script.js",
},

Part 6: Setup Notifications

Receive Telegram notifications when comments are posted or AI chats occur.

Step 6.1: Create Telegram Bot

1. Search @BotFather in Telegram
2. Send /newbot
3. Follow prompts to set bot name
4. Get Bot Token (format: 123456789:ABCdef...)

Step 6.2: Get Chat ID

1. Search @userinfobot in Telegram
2. Send /start
3. Get your Chat ID (numeric)

Step 6.3: Configure Cloudflare Environment Variables

Add in Cloudflare Dashboard:

Part 7: Setup AI Chat

astro-minimax has built-in AI chat assistant powered by Cloudflare Workers AI.

Step 7.1: Enable AI Feature

// src/config.ts
features: {
  ai: true,
},
ai: {
  enabled: true,
  mockMode: false,
  apiEndpoint: "/api/chat",
},

Step 7.2: Build AI Data

pnpm run ai:process      # Generate post summaries
pnpm run profile:build   # Build author profile

Step 7.3: Verify AI Binding

The project already includes wrangler.toml:

[ai]
binding = "minimaxAI"

Cloudflare Pages automatically detects and enables Workers AI.

Part 8: Environment Variables Summary

Add all required environment variables in Cloudflare Dashboard:

Path: Workers & Pages → [your-project] → Settings → Environment variables

Redeploy after adding variables.

Part 9: Verification Checklist

After deployment, verify these features:

• Blog accessible
• Custom domain configured (optional)
• Search working
• Comments working
• Analytics collecting data
• Telegram notifications received
• AI chat responding
• RSS feed valid
• OG images displaying

Troubleshooting

Deployment Failed

1. Check build logs for errors
2. Confirm NODE_VERSION=22 is set
3. Check pnpm-lock.yaml is up to date

Comments Not Showing

1. Check Waline serverURL configuration
2. Check PG_SSL environment variable is set to true
3. Confirm database schema is initialized
4. Check browser console for errors

AI Not Responding

1. Check AI feature is enabled (ai.enabled: true)
2. Check AI binding in wrangler.toml
3. Run pnpm run ai:process to generate data

Notifications Not Sending

1. Check Telegram Bot Token and Chat ID
2. Try sending a message to the bot first
3. Check Cloudflare environment variables

Next Steps

• Add Posts — Learn post format and frontmatter
• Theme Configuration — Customize theme styles
• CLI Commands — Master common commands
• Feature Overview — Explore more features