Quickstart

Prerequisites

Install these first:

Component	Why you need it	Easiest install link
Node.js 20 or newer	Runs the local Supercharger app.	Download Node.js LTS
Git	Downloads the Supercharger project.	Download Git or use GitHub Desktop
Docker Desktop or OrbStack	Runs hands-on terminal lessons. Theory lessons work without it.	Docker Desktop or OrbStack for Mac
AI coding assistant CLI	Generates tracks and job-prep files.	Use the assistant you already have, such as Codex, Claude Code, or Gemini CLI.

If you are new to this, install Node.js LTS, GitHub Desktop, and Docker Desktop. Open Docker Desktop once before starting any lesson with a terminal.

What counts as an “AI coding assistant”?

The assistant must be agentic: able to read and write files on your machine. Tracks and preps are folders of markdown/YAML that the assistant creates directly in the cloned project - so a chat website (chatgpt.com, claude.ai, gemini.google.com) will not work by itself, because it can’t see or edit your files. The prompts Supercharger shows you are meant to be pasted into an agent, not a chat box.

What works:

Agent CLIs - Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, and similar. Open a terminal in the cloned Supercharger folder, launch the agent, and paste the prompt. The agent finds AGENTS.md and SPEC.md on its own.
IDE agents (Cursor, VS Code with an agent mode, etc.) - open the Supercharger folder as the workspace first.
Desktop apps with file access (e.g. Claude Desktop pointed at the folder) - only if the app can actually create and edit files there.

Whatever you use, the rule is the same: the assistant must be running in or pointed at the Supercharger project folder before you paste the prompt. If your assistant can’t access the folder, the generated content has nowhere to land.

Check that Node is installed:

node --version
npm --version

If those commands print version numbers, you are ready to continue.

Install and run

Download the project:

git clone https://github.com/mrpolanco/Supercharger
cd Supercharger

If you used GitHub Desktop instead, clone mrpolanco/Supercharger, then open the cloned folder in Terminal.

Install dependencies and start Supercharger:

npm install
npm run dev

Leave that terminal open while using Supercharger. Closing it stops the app.

Open:

http://localhost:4401

The bundled reference track - SQL Fundamentals for Support Engineers - is ready to use: start with lesson 1 (theory) or jump to lesson 2 and hit Start environment for a live Postgres sandbox.

If the app will not start

Supercharger uses two local ports:

Port	Used by
`4401`	The page you open in the browser.
`4400`	The local API the page talks to.

If you see port already in use, an old copy of Supercharger is probably still running.

Try this first:

Look for the old Terminal window running npm run dev.
Press Ctrl+C in that terminal.
Start again:
Terminal window
```
npm run dev
```

If you cannot find the old terminal, ask your assistant:

Find and stop the stale Supercharger processes on ports 4400 and 4401, then restart npm run dev.

For more symptoms, use the Troubleshooting guide.

Generate your first track

From the repo root, in your assistant:

Generate a track on SSL certificate implementation and troubleshooting.

The assistant reads AGENTS.md (quality bar) and SPEC.md (format), writes tracks/ssl-certificates/…, and the track appears in the app on refresh.

Prep for a job

In the app: New job prep → paste the posting → optionally attach a resume (saved or pasted) to enable the gap analysis → save.
In your assistant:

Generate the prep for preps/<name>/.

You’ll get the requirements analysis, study plan, and role-specific interview prep as tabs in the app - plus new tracks for any skills nothing covers yet.

Day-to-day

Check my work validates sandbox exercises checkpoint-by-checkpoint and marks the lesson complete when everything passes.
Reset recreates the sandbox from scratch - experiments are free.
The Files tab next to the terminal lets you browse and edit the sandbox’s /work files in the browser - no vim required unless the lesson is teaching it.
The top bar has a light/dark mode toggle and a Stop server button that shuts everything down and removes all sandbox containers.
Progress lives in progress.json; content updates never touch it.

If something does not appear, a button waits forever, or a sandbox fails to start, use the Troubleshooting guide.