Install the AscendKit CLI and SDKs.

Installation

Prerequisites

Node.js 18 or later (for CLI and JavaScript SDK)
Python 3.10 or later (for Python SDK, if applicable)

CLI

The CLI authenticates you, initializes projects, and configures all AscendKit services. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

npm install -g @ascendkit/cli

Or run without installing:

npx @ascendkit/cli

Verify installation

ascendkit --version

Next.js SDK

For Next.js applications with full server-side auth, pre-built UI components, and analytics:

npm install @ascendkit/nextjs

Note: The package is @ascendkit/nextjs. It has next >= 14 and react >= 18 as peer dependencies. The React hooks and components also work in other React frameworks (Vite, Remix, Astro), but the server-side auth runtime requires Next.js.

Python SDK

For Python backends that need to verify access tokens or handle webhooks. Works with any framework (FastAPI, Flask, Django, etc.):

pip install ascendkit

Environment variables

After running ascendkit init and ascendkit set-env, the CLI writes these into your .env / .env.local files automatically. You can also set them manually:

Variable	Side	Required for	Description
`ASCENDKIT_API_URL`	Server	All	AscendKit backend URL
`NEXT_PUBLIC_ASCENDKIT_API_URL`	Client	Next.js	Same URL, exposed to browser
`ASCENDKIT_ENV_KEY`	Server	All	Project public key (`pk_dev_...`)
`NEXT_PUBLIC_ASCENDKIT_ENV_KEY`	Client	Next.js	Same key, exposed to browser
`APP_URL`	Server	Auth redirects	Public URL where your app is hosted
`ASCENDKIT_SECRET_KEY`	Server	Analytics, admin	Secret key (never expose to client)
`ASCENDKIT_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Server	Webhooks	Webhook signing secret (`whsec_...`)

APP_URL should be your app's origin — http://localhost:3000 for local development, or https://app.yourdomain.com for production. The SDK can infer the origin when blank, but setting it explicitly avoids "Invalid origin" errors with social login.

The NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefixed variables are only needed for Next.js applications. Python backends only need ASCENDKIT_ENV_KEY, ASCENDKIT_SECRET_KEY, and ASCENDKIT_WEBHOOK_SECRET.

Next steps

Initialize the CLI in your project
Integrate with your app (Next.js) or set up your Python backend