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Lerd

Open-source Herd-like local PHP development environment for Linux and macOS. Podman-native, rootless, with a built-in Web UI.

Lerd runs Nginx, PHP-FPM, and your services as rootless Podman containers, designed for PHP and Laravel developers on Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian) and macOS. No Docker. No sudo. No system pollution. Just lerd link and your project is live at project.test with HTTPS.

Built for PHP developers on Linux and macOS

If you're a PHP or Laravel developer on Linux or macOS and want frictionless local development — automatic .test domains, per-project PHP versions, one-click HTTPS, zero Docker — Lerd is built for you.

Features

• 🌐 Automatic .test domains with one-command TLS
• 🐘 Per-project PHP version (8.1–8.5), switch with one click
• 📦 Node.js isolation per project (Node 22, 24)
• 🖥️ Built-in Web UI - 3-pane dashboard to manage sites, services, and logs from a browser
• 🗄️ One-click services: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Meilisearch, RustFS, Mailpit, Stripe Mock, Reverb and more
• 📋 Live logs for PHP-FPM, Queue, Schedule, Reverb, per site
• 🔒 Rootless & daemonless - Podman-native, no Docker required
• 🤖 MCP server - let AI assistants (Claude Code, Windsurf, Junie) manage your environment directly
• ⚡ Laravel-first, with Symfony, WordPress, and custom framework support

AI Integration (MCP)

Lerd ships a built-in Model Context Protocol server. Connect it to Claude Code, Windsurf, JetBrains Junie, or any MCP-compatible AI assistant and manage your dev environment without leaving the chat.

lerd mcp:enable-global   # register once, works in every project

Then just ask:

You: set up the project I just cloned
AI:  → site_link()
     → env_setup()    # detects MySQL + Redis, starts them, creates DB, generates APP_KEY
     → composer install
     → artisan migrate --seed
     ✓  myapp → https://myapp.test ready

60+ tools available: run migrations, manage services, toggle workers, tail logs, enable Xdebug, manage databases, manage PHP extensions, park directories, and more, all from your AI assistant.

📖 MCP documentation

Why Lerd?

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/geodro/lerd/main/install.sh | bash

macOS beta

macOS support is in beta. Install via Homebrew:

brew install geodro/lerd/lerd
lerd install

Or if already installed:

brew upgrade lerd
lerd install

[!NOTE] See the beta installation docs for details.

Quick Start

cd my-laravel-project
lerd link
# → https://my-laravel-project.test

lerd install already starts everything for you on first run, so you can lerd link immediately. Day-to-day:

lerd start          # boot DNS, nginx, PHP-FPM, services, workers, UI
lerd stop           # stop containers and workers (UI and watcher stay up)
lerd quit           # full shutdown including UI, watcher, and tray
lerd autostart enable   # boot lerd on every login
lerd status         # health snapshot

See Start, Stop & Autostart for the full lifecycle reference.

Documentation

📖 geodro.github.io/lerd

• Requirements
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Start, Stop & Autostart
• Services
• Command Reference

License

MIT