Thanks for the clarification, DC. That all makes perfect sense, especially the reasoning behind the BASE_URL step and the idea of offering both an automated and manual path. I agree that the hardest part is probably not the code itself, but presenting the process in a way that feels intuitive and safe for users of all experience levels.

The new setup wizard is already a huge step forward, particularly now that the old desktop app is offline. It lowers the barrier to entry significantly and gives new users a much smoother first experience with Trongate.

I also think the "fork in the road" approach is the right direction. Advanced users will appreciate the flexibility, while beginners can follow the guided flow with confidence. The challenge, as you said, is making the automation feel deliberate rather than "magic".

A few thoughts on the automation side:

BASE_URL = PROTOCOL/HOST/ URI/

I think this part is actually the easy win. We already have the BASE_URL from the current request URL and can reasonably assume APPPATH from there. That should remove a lot of the manual setup friction straight away. Even an exotic web stack setup that uses custom host names/ virtual host domains, like tg.local or test.myapp.


Database setup

The DB connection testing logic is already there, so perhaps the wizard could:
• Suggest a database name matching the project/folder name by default.
• Check whether that DB already exists.
• If it does exist, warn the user and list any tables that will be overwritten.
• Also provide a dropdown/list of all available databases so the user can choose an existing one instead.

From there, the wizard could check for required Trongate tables and either:
• Overwrite incompatible tables where necessary, or
• Preserve what it can with some migration logic.

Even just clearly showing the user what will change before proceeding would go a long way toward avoiding confusion like the looping red cross issue I hit earlier.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now to jump into the UI/UX side of things properly, but I'm happy to keep testing edge cases and feeding back anything I find along the way. We're definitely heading in the right direction with this.

Cheers,
Si