How to install v6 in 2026

[tsalesproductions]

I'm trying to install version v6 but I can't seem to get it to work at all. Is there any way to do this?

I have other projects running with version v6, but I need to do a clean install with different configurations.

When I try to install using the v6 documentation: https://v6-docs.adonisjs.com/guides/preface/introduction

the parameters don't work and it always installs v7.

[thetutlage]

Is there any reason you want to create a v6 project over v7?

[CodingMoeButa]

Is there any reason you want to create a v6 project over v7?

Perhaps the cost of migrating his existing V6 projects to V7 is too high. He needs to debug the existing V6 projects, but that would require him to recreate them in V7. To be honest, I’d also like to be able to create AdonisJS projects in older versions freely. If the official documentation doesn’t provide guidance, I’ll have no choice but to study the source code of create-adonisjs myself. I just don’t need to start a new project for the V6 version for now.

[thetutlage]

Can you share in which part the cost is too high? Would love to improve that

And how come creating a new project in the older version has anything to do with migration in first place?

[CodingMoeButa]

Can you share in which part the cost is too high? Would love to improve that

And how come creating a new project in the older version has anything to do with migration in first place?

Migrating and creating new projects are certainly two separate things. What I mean is that I’d like to be able to easily create new projects using the older framework, rather than being forced to use the latest version of the framework for new projects. As for your first question, there are many reasons for this, and they can’t be resolved through technical means alone. For example, sensitive projects that are already in operation cannot afford any downtime for updates, not even a few seconds. Additionally, office bureaucracy and corporate business decisions can also hinder the migration of existing projects to the newer framework. Moreover, the features of the newer framework differ slightly from those of the older one, so it’s not guaranteed that team members will be able to learn how to use it quickly.

Frameworks like Laravel and ThinkPHP, which are similar to AdonisJS, both allow users to easily create new projects using older versions of their frameworks. I hope AdonisJS will also retain this feature. If AdonisJS prevents the creation of new projects using older frameworks, it will be difficult for non-English-speaking communities to establish a user base for AdonisJS, given the lag in language adoption. For example, many Chinese people don’t have a very good command of English. If I translated the V6 documentation into Chinese, soon after, it would no longer be possible to create new projects using V6. As a result, potential users in China would be lost, and you would miss out on potential sponsorship opportunities.

You simply need to modify the create-adonisjs toolkit so that it can create new projects using versions V7, V6, or even V5. Alternatively, it should provide clear instructions for creating projects using older versions. This would not only solve @tsalesproductions ’ problem but also give users more control over the process. As a result, companies would be more inclined to choose AdonisJS when making technical decisions, thereby expanding AdonisJS's market and ecosystem. If you refuse to make this improvement, someone might eventually fork and improve AdonisJS on their own. That could lead to a split in the existing community, and you’d gain nothing from that situation.

[tsalesproductions]

@thetutlage Initially, I had some difficulty using some features and understanding why migrations weren't working, and I had some dependency issues, Lucid.

I spent a few hours trying to figure it out, but I couldn't.

A week later, I was getting used to it.

But what made me want to use v6 was that in the first few days I lost several hours stuck on these and other points I mentioned above, so those lost hours would already be the basis for the completed project.

Just as I had some problems, other people certainly did too, or were caught by surprise, when installing to start a new project, only to find that version v7 had already been released.

Today I use Adonisjs in 90% of the projects that come to me, because of the ease and simplicity of having everything I normally use in the same project, without needing to install and configure many things.

[CodingMoeButa]

I just tried it, and it seems that I can create a new project in V6 version. Please check if the newly created project meets your requirements.

npm init adonisjs@2 bye-world

Need to install the following packages:
create-adonisjs@2.4.1
Ok to proceed? (y) y


> npx
> create-adonisjs hello-world


     _       _             _         _ ____
    / \   __| | ___  _ __ (_)___    | / ___|
   / _ \ / _` |/ _ \| '_ \| / __|_  | \___ \
  / ___ \ (_| | (_) | | | | \__ \ |_| |___) |
 /_/   \_\__,_|\___/|_| |_|_|___/\___/|____/


❯ Which starter kit would you like to use · Slim Starter Kit
❯ Download starter kit (2.15 s)
  Downloaded "github:adonisjs/slim-starter-kit"
❯ Install packages (54 s)
  Packages installed using "npm"
❯ Prepare application (4.04 s)
  Application ready

╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│    Your AdonisJS project has been created successfully!          │
│──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                  │
│    ❯ cd hello-world                                              │
│    ❯ npm run dev                                                 │
│    ❯ Open http://localhost:3333                                  │
│    ❯                                                             │
│    ❯ Have any questions?                                         │
│    ❯ Join our Discord server - https://discord.gg/vDcEjq6        │
│                                                                  │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

[CodingMoeButa]

@thetutlage Perhaps this isn’t a complicated issue. You just need to let everyone know which versions of create-adonisjs correspond to which versions of the AdonisJS framework.