Fork Your Instance
Run your own copy of the BARs Engine. This guide walks you through forking the repo, configuring your environment, and deploying to Vercel in under 30 minutes.
1. Fork the repository
Go to the BARs Engine GitHub repository and click Fork. This creates your own copy of the codebase under your GitHub account.
github.com/johnair01/bars-engine →2. Set up your database
Create a free PostgreSQL database on Railway, Supabase, or Neon. Copy the connection string — you'll need it as DATABASE_URL.
3. Configure environment variables
You'll need: DATABASE_URL (PostgreSQL), OPENAI_API_KEY (for AI generation), NEXTAUTH_SECRET (any random string), and ENABLE_LOBBY=true (to access your Game Lobby).
4. Deploy to Vercel
Connect your forked repo to Vercel. Add your environment variables in the Vercel dashboard. Vercel will build and deploy automatically.
5. Import your config bundle
If you were given a config bundle by the host, go to /admin and use the import tool to seed your instance with the same configuration.
6. Create your first instance
Go to /lobby (as an admin) and click "Create new instance" to run the Instance Creation Wizard. Your game is live.