[opensourcedex]

Open Mercato is a free, open source erp & operations project written in TypeScript and released under MIT. It has 1,748 GitHub stars, 413 forks and 1,119 open issues, and was last pushed 5 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #7 of 25 tracked projects in ERP & Operations, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 24 stars over the last 6 tracked days.

What is Open Mercato?

What it is

Open Mercato is open-source TypeScript foundation for CRM, ERP, commerce apps. It lives in Next.js ecosystem under MIT license. Project is AI-engineering framework, not finished business suite. It supplies architecture, conventions, specs, domain modules, agent-facing skills. Coding assistants can place and extend code consistently. It targets teams using Cursor, Claude Code, Codex.

Concrete problem: AI code generation lacks maintainable application structure. README says assistants generate code but do not decide where code belongs, how layers should be organized, how consistency should hold across team. Open Mercato aims to make AI output reproducible. It ships specs, ready-made modules, architecture-aware harness. Teams start from largely assembled business app instead of re-deciding foundation.

Key capabilities

  • Architecture-aware AI harness gives skills for data tables, design-system forms, features with unit and integration tests.
  • Spec-first conventions let AI-generated changes reproduce against committed specifications.
  • Ready-made CRM/ERP modules include CRM, Sales, OMS, Encryption for teams building remaining custom logic.
  • Modular architecture supports auto-discovery and overlay overrides for modules, pages, APIs, entities.
  • Custom entities and dynamic forms declare fields, validators, UI widgets managed from admin.
  • Multi-tenant scoping, multi-hierarchical organization trees, feature-based RBAC combine role, user, organization controls.
  • JSONB indexing, caching, event subscribers process domain events locally or through Redis.

Who uses it and how

  • CTOs deployed Cursor, Copilot, similar assistants use it as shared AI-assisted development foundation.
  • Developers build commerce backends, CPQ flows, B2B ordering portals, headless APIs for mobile and web clients.
  • Teams model customers, opportunities, bespoke workflows in CRM; manage orders, production, service delivery in ERP.
  • Operators create self-service customer or partner portals with configurable forms, guided flows, granular permissions.
  • Teams orchestrate custom data lifecycles and document workflows per tenant or team.

Getting started

README points to documentation and first-app guide. Video explains Start with 80% done model. Excerpt lists no Docker image, package manager command, hosted option.

When to use it — and when not to

Use when team wants open-source MIT-licensed foundation for custom CRM/ERP work and plans AI coding assistants inside defined architecture. Avoid when team needs mature product with long public history: repository described as zero years old, has 1,730 stars, 406 forks, zero contributors, 1,119 open issues. Self-hosters must operate application and any Redis-based event processing, while deciding how to run underlying data layer and admin workflows.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

Open Mercato

License: MIT Docs PRs Welcome Built with Next.js

Open Mercato - the AI-Engineering Foundation Framework.

AI code assistants generate code. They don't decide where it goes, how it should be layered, or whether it stays consistent across 30 or 50 engineers in the team.

Open Mercato is the open-source foundation framework that solves it:

  • Architecture-aware AI harness - agents know where in the project to place code, not just how to write it, they are provided with autonomous skills for everything from adding data table, Design-System coherent forms to implementing whole features with unit and integration tests,
  • Spec-first development - specs ship with the repo, AI output becomes reproducible
  • Including AI harness and skills for human cooperation - code review, ticketing flow and debugging
  • Ready-made CRM/ERP domain modules - start at 80% done
  • Open-source, no lock-in - full code ownership, no per-seat pricing trap
  • Teachable - the whole team enters AI-assisted dev, not just 1–2 seniors

End with „almost ready apps”. Ship it pro, ship it fast. We’ve got you!

Built for CTOs who have already deployed Cursor/Copilot and noticed it isn't enough. Built for developers who want to build professional business apps and backends without constantly checking their back.

Start with 80% done.

Buy vs. build? Now, you can have best of both. Use Open Mercato enterprise-ready business features like CRM, Sales, OMS, Encryption, and build the remaining 20% that really makes the difference for your business.

Watch: What “Start with 80% done” means

Quick Links

⚡ Getting Started · 🎬 Building your First Open Mercato App · 📚 Documentation

Core Use Cases

  • 🛒 Commerce – launch CPQ flows, B2B ordering portals, or full commerce backends with reusable modules.
  • 🌐 Headless/API platform/Custom Backend – expose rich, well-typed APIs for mobile and web apps using the same extensible data model.
  • 💼 CRM – model customers, opportunities, and bespoke workflows with infinitely flexible data definitions.
  • 🏭 ERP – manage orders, production, and service delivery while tailoring modules to match your operational reality.
  • 🤝 Self-service system – spin up customer or partner portals with configurable forms, guided flows, and granular permissions.
  • 🔄 Workflows – orchestrate custom data lifecycles and document workflows per tenant or team.
  • 🧵 Production – coordinate production management with modular entities, automation hooks, and reporting.

Highlights

  • 🧩 Modular architecture – drop in your own modules, pages, APIs, and entities with auto-discovery and overlay overrides.
  • 🧬 Custom entities & dynamic forms – declare fields, validators, and UI widgets per module and manage them live from the admin.
  • 🏢 Multi-tenant by default – SaaS-ready tenancy with strict organization/tenant scoping for every entity and API.
  • 🏛️ Multi-hierarchical organizations – built-in organization trees with role- and user-level visibility controls.
  • 🛡️ Feature-based RBAC – combine per-role and per-user feature flags with organization scoping to gate any page or API.
  • ⚡ Data indexing & caching – hybrid JSONB indexing and smart caching for blazing-fast queries across base and custom fields.
  • 🔔 Event subscribers & workflows – publish domain events and process them via persistent subscribers (local or Redis).
  • ✅ Growing test coverage – expanding unit and integration tests ensure modules stay reliable as you extend them.
  • 🧠 AI-supportive foundation – structured for assistive workflows, automation, and conversational interfaces.
  • ⚙️ Modern stack – Next.js App Router, TypeScript, zod, Awilix DI, MikroORM, and bcryptjs out of the box.

Live demo

Explore the Open Mercato live demo

Screenshots


Dashboard
Order Details
AI Assistant

Browse the full screenshot gallery.

Architecture Overview

  • 🧩 Modules: Each feature lives under src/modules/ with auto‑discovered frontend/backend pages, APIs, CLI, i18n, and DB entities.
  • 🗃️ Database: MikroORM with per‑module entities and migrations; no global schema. Migrations are generated and applied per module.
  • 🧰 Dependency Injection: Awilix container constructed per request. Modules can register and override services/components via di.ts.
  • 🏢 Multi‑tenant: Core directory module defines tenants and organizations. Most entities carry tenant_id + organization_id.
  • 🔐 Security: RBAC roles, zod validation, bcryptjs hashing, JWT sessions, role‑based access in routes and APIs.

Read more on the Open Mercato Architecture

Getting Started

⚡ Quick start

You need: Node.js 24 · Git · PostgreSQL + Redis (easiest via Docker Desktop)

🔧 Monorepo — core development / full demo
# macOS / Linux
brew install node@24   # or: nvm install 24 && nvm use 24
corepack enable && corepack prepare [email protected] --activate

git clone https://github.com/open-mercato/open-mercato.git
cd open-mercato && git checkout develop
docker compose up -d                  # starts PostgreSQL, Redis, Meilisearch
cp apps/mercato/.env.example apps/mercato/.env
# set DATABASE_URL / JWT_SECRET / REDIS_URL in apps/mercato/.env
yarn dev:greenfield                   # installs, builds, seeds, starts the app

# Windows (PowerShell as Administrator — or use Git Bash / cmd)
# 1. Install Node.js 24 MSI from https://nodejs.org/en/download, then open a new terminal
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
corepack enable; corepack prepare [email protected] --activate

git clone https://github.com/open-mercato/open-mercato.git
cd open-mercato; git checkout develop
docker compose up -d                  # or use native PostgreSQL + pgAdmin: https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/
Copy-Item apps\mercato\.env.example apps\mercato\.env
# set DATABASE_URL / JWT_SECRET / REDIS_URL in apps\mercato\.env
yarn dev:greenfield

Open http://localhost:3000/backend — credentials printed in the terminal.

📦 Standalone app — build on Open Mercato without touching the core
# macOS / Linux
brew install node@24   # or: nvm install 24 && nvm use 24
corepack enable && corepack prepare [email protected] --activate

npx create-mercato-app my-app
cd my-app
docker compose up -d                  # starts PostgreSQL, Redis, Meilisearch
# set DATABASE_URL / JWT_SECRET / REDIS_URL in .env
yarn setup                            # installs, seeds, starts the app

## Windows (PowerShell as Administrator — or use Git Bash / cmd)
## 1. Install Node.js 24 MSI from https://nodejs.org/en/download, then open a new terminal
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
corepack enable; corepack prepare [email protected] --activate

npx create-mercato-app my-app
cd my-app
docker compose up -d                  # or use native PostgreSQL + pgAdmin: https://www.postgre

readme truncated — read the full docs on github

Frequently asked questions

Is Open Mercato free to use?

Open Mercato is open source under the MIT licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does Open Mercato do?

AI-native CRM/ERP foundation with 80% already built

What is Open Mercato written in?

Open Mercato is primarily written in TypeScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/open-mercato/open-mercato, and it has 1,748 GitHub stars.