Get unstuck

The setup snags people hit most, and how to fix each one. Still stuck? Ask your own AI helper, with the prompt at the bottom.

The Terminal says “command not found” for npm or node

Node.js isn’t installed yet, or the Terminal was already open when you installed it. Install the LTS version from nodejs.org, close the Terminal, open a new one in the book’s folder, and type npm run setup again.

If the setup says it needs Node.js 20 or newer, install the LTS version the same way.

In step 2 the setup asks you to press Return, then opens a Cloudflare page in your browser. Click Allow there, then come back to the Terminal.

If no page appears, look in the Terminal for a link that starts with https://dash.cloudflare.com and open it yourself. If the setup says “Cloudflare didn’t confirm the sign-in”, run npm run setup again and click Allow.

Cloudflare asks for a card

That’s the photo storage (Cloudflare calls it R2). In step 5 the setup opens the page where you turn it on. Choose to turn on R2 and add a card, then press Return in the Terminal.

The first 10 GB are free. You’re only charged if you go over, at about 1.5¢ per GB a month. Every cost

The setup stopped halfway. Is it safe to run it again?

Yes. Read the message just above “Setup stopped”, fix that, and type npm run setup again. Every step checks whether it’s already done and skips it. Stopping it yourself with Ctrl+C is fine too.

If it says you already have a database called storybook, that’s usually from your earlier run: answer yes to use it. If your book says “No setup code is configured”, the setup didn’t reach its last step, so run it again.

The family code doesn’t work

Capital letters and extra spaces don’t matter, so check the letters themselves. You choose the code in the studio’s Settings, and it needs at least 6 characters. If you changed it, everyone needs the new one.

After too many wrong tries the book says “Too many tries”. Wait 15 minutes and try again.

Face ID or passkey sign-in on a new phone

iPhone sign-ins sync through iCloud Keychain, and Android ones through Google Password Manager, so a new phone on the same account usually just works.

If not, open /studio on the new phone, tap New phone? Set it up, and enter your setup code. Remove the old phone in Settings. Lost the setup code? Run npm run setup again and answer n when it asks to keep the old one. Your book stays as it is.

Your own web address isn’t showing the book yet

Check it’s added to your book: in Cloudflare, open your Worker under Workers & Pages, then Settings → Domains & Routes. A new address can take a little while to start working, and your workers.dev address keeps working meanwhile.

Sign-ins belong to one web address, so once it works, open /studio on the new address and use Set up this phone with your setup code once more.

How do I back it up?

In the Terminal, in the book’s folder, type npm run backup. It saves the whole database and downloads every photo and video into the backups folder. The first run takes a while; later runs only fetch new files.

Copy that folder somewhere safe, like an external drive or iCloud Drive. Every few months is plenty.

Ask an AI to walk you through it

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI chat you already use, and replace the last line with your problem. It goes one step at a time and asks for the exact error. We don’t run a chatbot, and this costs nothing.

Never paste passwords, API tokens or anything from your .dev.vars file. An error message is enough.

The prompt (click inside, then select all)

I’m setting up Little Storybook, a private website for my child’s photos and stories. I bought it as a template, and it runs on my own free Cloudflare account. I’m not technical, so please use plain words and no jargon.

How the setup works:
1. Install Node.js (the LTS version from nodejs.org).
2. Open the Terminal app in the book’s folder and type: npm run setup
3. The setup has 6 steps: getting the tools ready; signing in to Cloudflare (a browser page opens and I click Allow); naming the book and choosing a time zone, color and fonts; making the database; making the photo storage (Cloudflare may ask me to turn on R2 and add a card); and publishing the book and saving a setup code.
4. If the setup stops, it’s safe to run npm run setup again. It skips what’s already done.
5. On my phone I open my book’s address with /studio at the end, tap “Set up this phone”, enter the setup code and use Face ID or my fingerprint.
6. In Settings I add my child’s name, birthday and a family code, then send family the link and the code.

Please help me one step at a time:
- First ask which step I’m on and what I see on screen.
- Ask me to paste the exact error text, word for word.
- Give me one thing to do at a time, then wait for me to say how it went.
- Never ask for my passwords, API tokens or anything from my .dev.vars file, and remind me not to paste them.
- If it looks like something only the seller can fix, tell me what to write in a problem report.

My problem: [describe it here]

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