diff --git a/addons/docs/package.json b/addons/docs/package.json
index 238f6682bd70..01434f99be07 100644
--- a/addons/docs/package.json
+++ b/addons/docs/package.json
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     "angular/**/*",
     "common/**/*",
     "html/**/*",
+    "postinstall/**/*",
     "react/**/*",
     "vue/**/*",
     "web-components/**/*",
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@
     "@storybook/addons": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
     "@storybook/api": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
     "@storybook/components": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
+    "@storybook/postinstall": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
     "@storybook/router": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
     "@storybook/source-loader": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
     "@storybook/theming": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
diff --git a/addons/docs/postinstall/presets.js b/addons/docs/postinstall/presets.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a8feae9101e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/addons/docs/postinstall/presets.js
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import fs from 'fs';
+import { presetsAddPreset, getFrameworks } from '@storybook/postinstall';
+// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-extraneous-dependencies
+import { logger } from '@storybook/node-logger';
+
+export default function transformer(file, api) {
+  const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./package.json'));
+  const frameworks = getFrameworks(packageJson);
+
+  let err = null;
+  let framework = null;
+  let presetOptions = null;
+  if (frameworks.length !== 1) {
+    err = `${frameworks.length === 0 ? 'No' : 'Multiple'} frameworks found: ${frameworks}`;
+    logger.error(`${err}, please configure '@storybook/addon-docs' manually.`);
+    return file.source;
+  }
+
+  // eslint-disable-next-line prefer-destructuring
+  framework = frameworks[0];
+
+  const { dependencies, devDependencies } = packageJson;
+  if (
+    framework === 'react' &&
+    ((dependencies && dependencies['react-scripts']) ||
+      (devDependencies && devDependencies['react-scripts']))
+  ) {
+    presetOptions = {
+      configureJSX: true,
+    };
+  }
+
+  const j = api.jscodeshift;
+  const root = j(file.source);
+
+  presetsAddPreset(`@storybook/addon-docs/preset`, presetOptions, { root, api });
+
+  return root.toSource({ quote: 'single' });
+}
diff --git a/lib/addons/src/typings.d.ts b/lib/addons/src/typings.d.ts
index 2f4eb9cf4fd9..afbc638db2fa 100644
--- a/lib/addons/src/typings.d.ts
+++ b/lib/addons/src/typings.d.ts
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 declare module 'global';
+declare module '@hypnosphi/jscodeshift/dist/testUtils';
diff --git a/lib/cli/bin/generate.js b/lib/cli/bin/generate.js
index 7df5c4e4b605..792f639688a0 100644
--- a/lib/cli/bin/generate.js
+++ b/lib/cli/bin/generate.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ if (process.argv[1].includes('getstorybook')) {
     .command('add <addon>')
     .description('Add an addon to your Storybook')
     .option('-N --use-npm', 'Use NPM to build the Storybook server')
+    .option('-s --skip-postinstall', 'Skip package specific postinstall config modifications')
     .action((addonName, options) => add(addonName, options));
 
   program
diff --git a/lib/cli/lib/add.js b/lib/cli/lib/add.js
index ffb11e8b4343..17713c1bcc0c 100644
--- a/lib/cli/lib/add.js
+++ b/lib/cli/lib/add.js
@@ -90,18 +90,42 @@ export const addStorybookAddonToFile = (addonName, addonsFile, isOfficialAddon)
   ];
 };
 
-const registerAddon = (addonName, isOfficialAddon) => {
-  const registerDone = commandLog(`Registering the ${addonName} Storybook addon`);
-  const addonsFilePath = path.resolve('.storybook/addons.js');
-  const addonsFile = fs
-    .readFileSync(addonsFilePath)
-    .toString()
-    .split('\n');
-  fs.writeFileSync(
-    addonsFilePath,
-    addStorybookAddonToFile(addonName, addonsFile, isOfficialAddon).join('\n')
-  );
-  registerDone();
+const LEGACY_CONFIGS = ['addons', 'config', 'presets'];
+
+const postinstallAddon = async (addonName, isOfficialAddon) => {
+  let skipMsg = null;
+  if (!isOfficialAddon) {
+    skipMsg = 'unofficial addon';
+  } else if (!fs.existsSync('.storybook')) {
+    skipMsg = 'no .storybook config';
+  } else {
+    skipMsg = 'no codmods found';
+    LEGACY_CONFIGS.forEach(config => {
+      try {
+        const codemod = require.resolve(
+          `${getPackageName(addonName, isOfficialAddon)}/postinstall/${config}.js`
+        );
+        commandLog(`Running postinstall script for ${addonName}`)();
+        let configFile = path.join('.storybook', `${config}.ts`);
+        if (!fs.existsSync(configFile)) {
+          configFile = path.join('.storybook', `${config}.js`);
+          if (!fs.existsSync(configFile)) {
+            fs.writeFileSync(configFile, '', 'utf8');
+          }
+        }
+        spawnSync('npx', ['jscodeshift', '-t', codemod, configFile], {
+          stdio: 'inherit',
+        });
+        skipMsg = null;
+      } catch (err) {
+        // resolve failed, skip
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (skipMsg) {
+    commandLog(`Skipping postinstall for ${addonName}, ${skipMsg}`)();
+  }
 };
 
 export default async function add(addonName, options) {
@@ -119,5 +143,7 @@ export default async function add(addonName, options) {
   }
   addonCheckDone();
   installAddon(addonName, npmOptions, isOfficialAddon);
-  registerAddon(addonName, isOfficialAddon);
+  if (!options.skipPostinstall) {
+    await postinstallAddon(addonName, isOfficialAddon);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/README.md b/lib/postinstall/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..92be110856e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Storybook Postinstall Utilties
+
+A minimal utility library for addons to update project configurations after the addon is installed via the [Storybook CLI](https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/tree/master/lib/cli), e.g. `sb add docs`.
+
+Each postinstall is written as a [jscodeshift](https://github.com/facebook/jscodeshift) codemod, with the naming convention `addon-name/postinstall/<file>.js` where `file` is one of { `config`, `addons`, `presets` }.
+
+If these files are present in the addon, the CLI will run them on the existing file in the user's project (or create a new empty file if one doesn't exist). This library exists to make it really easy to make common modifications without having to muck with jscodeshift internals.
+
+## Adding a preset
+
+To add a preset to `presets.js`, simply create a file `postinstall/presets.js` in your addon:
+
+```js
+improt { presetsAddPreset } = require('@storybook/postinstall');
+export default function transformer(file, api) {
+  const root = api.jscodeshift(file.source);
+  presetsAddPreset(`@storybook/addon-docs/preset`, { some: 'options' }, { root, api });
+  return root.toSource();
+};
+```
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/package.json b/lib/postinstall/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b7ba91a64c4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+{
+  "name": "@storybook/postinstall",
+  "version": "5.3.0-alpha.44",
+  "description": "",
+  "keywords": [
+    "storybook"
+  ],
+  "homepage": "https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/tree/master/lib/postinstall",
+  "bugs": {
+    "url": "https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook/issues"
+  },
+  "repository": {
+    "type": "git",
+    "url": "https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook.git",
+    "directory": "lib/postinstall"
+  },
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "files": [
+    "dist/**/*",
+    "README.md",
+    "*.js",
+    "*.d.ts"
+  ],
+  "main": "dist/index.js",
+  "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
+  "scripts": {
+    "prepare": "node ../../scripts/prepare.js"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "core-js": "^3.0.1"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@hypnosphi/jscodeshift": "^0.6.4",
+    "jest-specific-snapshot": "^2.0.0"
+  },
+  "publishConfig": {
+    "access": "public"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.input.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.input.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..40a844e905a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.input.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+module.exports = ['foo'];
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.output.snapshot b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.output.snapshot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4a3d8bd7e284
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/basic.output.snapshot
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`presets-add-preset-options transforms correctly using "basic.input.js" data 1`] = `
+"module.exports = ['foo', {
+  name: 'test',
+  options: {\\"a\\":[1,2,3],\\"b\\":{\\"foo\\":\\"bar\\"},\\"c\\":\\"baz\\"}
+}];"
+`;
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/empty.input.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/empty.input.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/empty.output.snapshot b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/empty.output.snapshot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a28c9e8e6419
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset-options/empty.output.snapshot
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`presets-add-preset-options transforms correctly using "empty.input.js" data 1`] = `
+"module.exports = [{
+  name: 'test',
+  options: {\\"a\\":[1,2,3],\\"b\\":{\\"foo\\":\\"bar\\"},\\"c\\":\\"baz\\"}
+}];"
+`;
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.input.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.input.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..40a844e905a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.input.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+module.exports = ['foo'];
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.output.snapshot b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.output.snapshot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aaf16d58b3d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/basic.output.snapshot
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`presets-add-preset transforms correctly using "basic.input.js" data 1`] = `"module.exports = ['foo', 'test'];"`;
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/empty.input.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/empty.input.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/empty.output.snapshot b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/empty.output.snapshot
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9acaaca175c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testfixtures__/presets-add-preset/empty.output.snapshot
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
+
+exports[`presets-add-preset transforms correctly using "empty.input.js" data 1`] = `"module.exports = ['test'];"`;
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset-options.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset-options.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aacd83f2f86e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset-options.js
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { addPreset } from '../presets';
+
+export default function transformer(file, api) {
+  const j = api.jscodeshift;
+  const root = j(file.source);
+
+  const options = {
+    a: [1, 2, 3],
+    b: { foo: 'bar' },
+    c: 'baz',
+  };
+
+  addPreset('test', options, { root, api });
+
+  return root.toSource({ quote: 'single' });
+}
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset.js b/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..76b5fa60fb21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/__testtransforms__/presets-add-preset.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { addPreset } from '../presets';
+
+export default function transformer(file, api) {
+  const j = api.jscodeshift;
+  const root = j(file.source);
+
+  addPreset('test', null, { root, api });
+
+  return root.toSource({ quote: 'single' });
+}
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/codemods.test.ts b/lib/postinstall/src/codemods.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d29fd9dc0d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/codemods.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import 'jest-specific-snapshot';
+// TODO move back to original 'jscodeshift' package as soon as https://github.com/facebook/jscodeshift/pull/297 is released
+import { applyTransform } from '@hypnosphi/jscodeshift/dist/testUtils';
+
+jest.mock('@storybook/node-logger');
+
+const inputRegExp = /\.input\.js$/;
+
+const fixturesDir = path.resolve(__dirname, './__testfixtures__');
+fs.readdirSync(fixturesDir).forEach(transformName => {
+  const transformFixturesDir = path.join(fixturesDir, transformName);
+  // eslint-disable-next-line jest/valid-describe
+  describe(transformName, () =>
+    fs
+      .readdirSync(transformFixturesDir)
+      .filter(fileName => inputRegExp.test(fileName))
+      .forEach(fileName => {
+        const inputPath = path.join(transformFixturesDir, fileName);
+        it(`transforms correctly using "${fileName}" data`, () =>
+          expect(
+            applyTransform(
+              // eslint-disable-next-line global-require,import/no-dynamic-require
+              require(path.join(__dirname, '__testtransforms__', transformName)),
+              null,
+              { path: inputPath, source: fs.readFileSync(inputPath, 'utf8') }
+            )
+          ).toMatchSpecificSnapshot(inputPath.replace(inputRegExp, '.output.snapshot')));
+      })
+  );
+});
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.test.ts b/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..32192dacfca1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { getFrameworks } from './frameworks';
+
+const REACT = {
+  '@storybook/react': '5.2.5',
+};
+
+const VUE = {
+  '@storybook/vue': '5.2.5',
+};
+
+const NONE = {
+  '@storybook/addons': '5.2.5',
+  lodash: '^4.17.15',
+};
+
+describe('getFrameworks', () => {
+  it('single framework', () => {
+    const frameworks = getFrameworks({
+      dependencies: NONE,
+      devDependencies: REACT,
+    });
+    expect(frameworks).toEqual(['react']);
+  });
+  it('multi-framework', () => {
+    const frameworks = getFrameworks({
+      dependencies: VUE,
+      devDependencies: REACT,
+    });
+    expect(frameworks.sort()).toEqual(['react', 'vue']);
+  });
+  it('no deps', () => {
+    const frameworks = getFrameworks({});
+    expect(frameworks).toEqual([]);
+  });
+  it('no framework', () => {
+    const frameworks = getFrameworks({
+      dependencies: NONE,
+    });
+    expect(frameworks).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.ts b/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dd0710d612e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/frameworks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+type Deps = Record<string, string>;
+interface PackageJson {
+  dependencies?: Deps;
+  devDependencies?: Deps;
+}
+
+const FRAMEWORKS = [
+  'angular',
+  'ember',
+  'html',
+  'marko',
+  'mithril',
+  'polymer',
+  'preact',
+  'rax',
+  'react',
+  'react-native',
+  'riot',
+  'svelte',
+  'vue',
+  'web-components',
+];
+
+export const getFrameworks = ({ dependencies, devDependencies }: PackageJson): string[] => {
+  const allDeps: Deps = {};
+  Object.assign(allDeps, dependencies || {});
+  Object.assign(allDeps, devDependencies || {});
+
+  return FRAMEWORKS.filter(f => !!allDeps[`@storybook/${f}`]);
+};
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/index.ts b/lib/postinstall/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e9b7c48ca047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+export { addPreset as presetsAddPreset } from './presets';
+export * from './frameworks';
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/src/presets.ts b/lib/postinstall/src/presets.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fe6c61f75b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/src/presets.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+interface PostinstallContext {
+  root: any;
+  api: any;
+}
+
+export function addPreset(preset: string, presetOptions: any, { api, root }: PostinstallContext) {
+  const j = api.jscodeshift;
+  const moduleExports: any[] = [];
+  root
+    .find(j.AssignmentExpression)
+    .filter(
+      (assignment: any) =>
+        assignment.node.left.type === 'MemberExpression' &&
+        assignment.node.left.object.name === 'module' &&
+        assignment.node.left.property.name === 'exports'
+    )
+    .forEach((exp: any) => moduleExports.push(exp));
+
+  let exportArray = null;
+  switch (moduleExports.length) {
+    case 0: {
+      exportArray = j.arrayExpression([]);
+      const exportStatement = j.assignmentStatement(
+        '=',
+        j.memberExpression(j.identifier('module'), j.identifier('exports')),
+        exportArray
+      );
+      root.get().node.program.body.push(exportStatement);
+      break;
+    }
+    case 1:
+      exportArray = moduleExports[0].node.right;
+      break;
+    default:
+      throw new Error('Multiple module export statements');
+  }
+
+  let presetConfig = j.literal(preset);
+  if (presetOptions) {
+    const optionsJson = `const x = ${JSON.stringify(presetOptions)}`;
+    const optionsRoot = j(optionsJson);
+    const optionsNode = optionsRoot.find(j.VariableDeclarator).get().node.init;
+
+    presetConfig = j.objectExpression([
+      j.property('init', j.identifier('name'), j.literal(preset)),
+      j.property('init', j.identifier('options'), optionsNode),
+    ]);
+  }
+  exportArray.elements.push(presetConfig);
+}
diff --git a/lib/postinstall/tsconfig.json b/lib/postinstall/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a24ec6393862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/postinstall/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "rootDir": "./src"
+  },
+  "include": ["src/**/*"],
+  "exclude": ["src/**.test.ts"]
+}