> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/medusajs/medusa/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to Medusa

> Medusa is a composable commerce platform with a built-in framework for customization that allows you to build custom commerce applications without reinventing core commerce logic.

# Introduction to Medusa

Medusa is a commerce platform with a built-in framework for customization that allows you to build custom commerce applications without reinventing core commerce logic. The framework and modules can be used to support advanced B2B or DTC commerce stores, marketplaces, distributor platforms, PoS systems, service businesses, or similar solutions that need foundational commerce primitives.

## What Makes Medusa Different

Medusa provides **building blocks for digital commerce** through a modular architecture that lets you:

* **Customize without limits**: Built-in framework with workflows, modules, and API routes
* **Use what you need**: 30+ independent commerce modules you can compose
* **Scale confidently**: Production-ready architecture with TypeScript throughout
* **Own your data**: Open-source, MIT-licensed, and self-hostable

## Core Capabilities

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Commerce Modules" icon="cube" href="#commerce-modules">
    Pre-built modules for products, carts, orders, payments, fulfillment, customers, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workflows SDK" icon="diagram-project" href="#workflows">
    Composable workflows with built-in compensation logic for complex business processes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Admin Dashboard" icon="table-columns" href="#admin-dashboard">
    Customizable React-based admin panel for managing your commerce operations
  </Card>

  <Card title="API-First Design" icon="cloud" href="#api-routes">
    RESTful APIs with automatic OpenAPI documentation and type-safe clients
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Commerce Modules

Medusa includes 30+ commerce modules that handle specific domains:

* **Product Module** - Product catalog, variants, collections, categories
* **Cart Module** - Shopping cart management with promotions
* **Order Module** - Order lifecycle and fulfillment
* **Payment Module** - Payment processing with multiple providers
* **Customer Module** - Customer accounts and groups
* **Fulfillment Module** - Shipping and delivery management
* **Inventory Module** - Stock levels and reservations
* **Promotion Module** - Discounts, campaigns, and offers
* **Auth Module** - Authentication and authorization
* **Notification Module** - Multi-channel notifications

All modules are:

* Open-source and published to npm
* Independently versioned and deployable
* Fully typed with TypeScript
* Tested with comprehensive integration tests

## Workflows

Medusa's Workflow SDK (`@medusajs/workflows-sdk`) enables you to compose complex business logic from simple steps:

```typescript theme={null}
import {
  createWorkflow,
  WorkflowResponse
} from "@medusajs/framework/workflows-sdk"

const createProductWorkflow = createWorkflow(
  "create-product",
  (input: WorkflowInput) => {
    const product = createProductStep(input)
    const inventory = reserveInventoryStep(product.id)
    
    return new WorkflowResponse(product)
  }
)
```

Workflows provide:

* **Automatic compensation**: Rollback on errors
* **Retry logic**: Built-in resilience
* **Type safety**: End-to-end TypeScript support
* **Composability**: Reuse steps across workflows

## Admin Dashboard

The admin dashboard (`@medusajs/admin-dashboard`) is a customizable React application that provides:

* Product and inventory management
* Order processing and fulfillment
* Customer relationship management
* Analytics and reporting
* Extensible UI components
* Custom pages and widgets

## API Routes

Build custom API endpoints with full framework support:

```typescript theme={null}
import { MedusaRequest, MedusaResponse } from "@medusajs/framework/http"
import { createProductsWorkflow } from "@medusajs/core-flows"

export const POST = async (
  req: MedusaRequest,
  res: MedusaResponse
) => {
  const { result } = await createProductsWorkflow(req.scope)
    .run({
      input: { products: [req.body] }
    })

  res.json({ product: result[0] })
}
```

Every route has access to:

* Dependency injection container (`req.scope`)
* All registered modules and services
* Workflow execution engine
* Type-safe request/response objects

## Technology Stack

* **Runtime**: Node.js 20+
* **Language**: TypeScript 5.6+
* **Database**: PostgreSQL 13+ (via MikroORM)
* **Package Manager**: Yarn 3.2.1 (monorepo with workspaces)
* **Testing**: Jest 29 (backend), Vitest 3 (frontend)
* **Admin UI**: React 18 + Vite 5

## Get Started

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="./quickstart">
    Get a Medusa application running in under 5 minutes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="./installation">
    Detailed installation guide for all package managers
  </Card>

  <Card title="Architecture" icon="sitemap" href="./architecture">
    Learn about Medusa's modular architecture and design patterns
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="book" href="/api/overview">
    Explore the complete API documentation
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Community & Support

* **Discord**: Join 14,000+ developers at [discord.gg/medusajs](https://discord.gg/medusajs)
* **GitHub**: Star and contribute at [github.com/medusajs/medusa](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa)
* **Discussions**: Ask questions and share ideas on [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/discussions)
* **Twitter**: Follow [@medusajs](https://twitter.com/medusajs) for updates

## License

Medusa is [MIT licensed](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/blob/develop/LICENSE) and free to use for commercial projects.