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@lerd-env

Lerd

Open source local PHP development environment for Linux and macOS

Lerd

Local PHP development that just works. Run lerd link and your project is live at project.test with HTTPS. No Docker, no sudo, no system pollution.

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Open-source, Herd-like local PHP development for Linux and macOS, with Windows via WSL2 (beta). Nginx, PHP-FPM, and your services run as rootless Podman containers, fronted by a built-in Web UI, a btop-style terminal dashboard, a full CLI, and an MCP server so your AI assistant can drive the whole thing from chat.

curl -fsSL https://lerd.sh/install.sh | bash

Works with Laravel, Symfony, WordPress, Drupal, CakePHP, Statamic, and any custom PHP framework.

Why Lerd

Lerd DDEV Lando Laravel Herd
Podman-native 🟡
Rootless
Web UI
Terminal dashboard
Linux
macOS
Windows (WSL2) 🧪
MCP server

What you get

  • 🌐 Automatic .test domains with one-command TLS, or opt out and use *.localhost with no system resolver tweak
  • 🐘 Per-project PHP (8.1 to 8.5) switched with one click, plus a per-site FrankenPHP runtime with Laravel Octane and Symfony Runtime
  • 🖥️ Built-in Web UI with live dashboards, a Cmd+K command palette, in-browser editing of nginx, php.ini, and .env, and fourteen languages
  • 🛰️ Debug window that streams every dump() and dd() to the dashboard, plus SQL with N+1 and slow-query detection, mail, jobs, events, and outgoing HTTP, on Laravel and Symfony
  • 🔥 SPX profiler — one click turns every request into a flame graph, no FPM restart and no code changes
  • 🩺 Site doctor with framework-agnostic health checks and one-click fixes, in the UI, the TUI, the CLI, and MCP
  • 🗄️ One-click services: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Meilisearch, Mailpit, and more, each a versioned YAML preset you can update, migrate, or reset in place
  • 🌳 First-class git worktrees with auto-detected branch domains, per-worktree PHP and Node versions, and optional database isolation
  • 🤖 MCP server so Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, and other assistants scaffold projects, run migrations, and manage services from chat
  • 🔒 Rootless and daemonless, Podman-native, no Docker required, dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6

Repositories

lerd-env is the home for Lerd's community and distribution repos.

  • lerd, the main project: the CLI, the Web UI, the MCP server, and everything else.
  • frameworks, the community framework store. Every lerd link pulls a matching definition from here, so a new PHP framework gains full support by editing YAML, no Lerd release required.
  • services, the community service-preset store. Databases, caches, search engines, and admin dashboards, all as versioned YAML that ships without a binary release.
  • lerd-nixos, the NixOS flake. Packages the binary and ships the configuration.nix blocks the stack needs to run Lerd declaratively.

Get involved

Read the docs at lerd.sh, join the community on Discord and r/lerd, and open a pull request. Adding a framework to the store is the easiest place to start.

Popular repositories Loading

  1. lerd lerd Public

    Open-source, Herd-like local PHP development environment for Linux and macOS. Automatic .test domains, per-project PHP/Node isolation, one-command TLS. Podman-native, rootless.

    Go 702 37

  2. frameworks frameworks Public

    Community framework definitions that power Lerd. Teach Lerd a new PHP framework by editing YAML, no release required.

    3 3

  3. lerd-nixos lerd-nixos Public

    NixOS flake for Lerd, the Herd-like local PHP dev environment. Packages the binary and ships the configuration.nix blocks the stack needs.

    Nix 2

  4. services services Public

    Community service presets that power Lerd. Add a database, cache, search engine, or admin dashboard by editing YAML, no release required.

    1

  5. homebrew-lerd homebrew-lerd Public

    Homebrew tap for Lerd — local Laravel development environment

    Ruby

  6. .github .github Public

    Org profile and community files for Lerd

Repositories

Showing 6 of 6 repositories
  • lerd Public

    Open-source, Herd-like local PHP development environment for Linux and macOS. Automatic .test domains, per-project PHP/Node isolation, one-command TLS. Podman-native, rootless.

    lerd-env/lerd’s past year of commit activity
    Go 702 MIT 37 3 (1 issue needs help) 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026
  • homebrew-lerd Public

    Homebrew tap for Lerd — local Laravel development environment

    lerd-env/homebrew-lerd’s past year of commit activity
    Ruby 0 0 0 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026
  • services Public

    Community service presets that power Lerd. Add a database, cache, search engine, or admin dashboard by editing YAML, no release required.

    lerd-env/services’s past year of commit activity
    1 0 0 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026
  • frameworks Public

    Community framework definitions that power Lerd. Teach Lerd a new PHP framework by editing YAML, no release required.

    lerd-env/frameworks’s past year of commit activity
    3 3 0 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026
  • lerd-nixos Public

    NixOS flake for Lerd, the Herd-like local PHP dev environment. Packages the binary and ships the configuration.nix blocks the stack needs.

    lerd-env/lerd-nixos’s past year of commit activity
    Nix 2 MIT 0 0 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026
  • .github Public

    Org profile and community files for Lerd

    lerd-env/.github’s past year of commit activity
    0 0 0 0 Updated Jul 5, 2026

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