Prerequisites

Before installing GCMS, make sure you have the following installed and configured:

Required

Node.js

Required to run the Express.js server. Download from https://nodejs.org

Git

Required to clone the repository. Download from https://git-scm.com

Microsoft Account

GCMS uses Microsoft OAuth for authentication. You will need access to a valid Azure App Registration to run the app locally. The existing app registration credentials will be provided to team members — see Environment Configuration.

Database

GCMS uses Supabase as its primary database. Team members are provided with shared Supabase credentials and do not need to install PostgreSQL locally.

If you want to develop offline or run GCMS against your own database, you can install PostgreSQL locally and use it instead:

PostgreSQL 18 (optional, for local development)

Download from https://www.postgresql.org/download/

After installation, verify PostgreSQL is running:

sc query postgresql-x64-18

If it is not running, start it with:

net start postgresql-x64-18

You will need to manually configure the DB_URL in your .env.development to point at your local instance instead of the shared Supabase database, and apply the schema yourself (see Database Setup).

External services

You will need credentials for the following external services. Team members are provided these — see Environment Configuration for details:

  • Microsoft Azure App Registration (OAuth + Graph API)

  • Supabase project (database + storage)

  • Google Gemini (AI assistant)

  • Mailtrap or another SMTP provider (email notifications)