HyPHP

PHP development environment for Windows and macOS.
Multiple PHP versions side by side, each project declares its own. No Docker.

Website · Download · Getting started · CLI · Contributing

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HyPHP is a desktop app with its own orchestrator: several PHP versions serving different .test domains at the same time, local HTTPS, supervised workers, and an environment declared in a hyphp.yaml that travels with the project. PHP, Apache or nginx, MySQL or MariaDB, Mailpit and phpMyAdmin are downloaded, verified and supervised by the app.

Download

Windows 10/11 x64	Installer (hyphp-<version>-windows-amd64-setup.exe). It is not digitally signed yet: if SmartScreen warns you, choose More info › Run anyway.
macOS 15+ on Apple Silicon	curl -fsSL https://github.com/arismarioneves/hyphp/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh installs or updates /Applications/HyPHP.app. The dmg on the Releases page works too; macOS blocks the first launch of an app it has not notarized, so allow it once in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway. Runtimes come from Homebrew.

Why HyPHP

Tool	Limitation
XAMPP	mod_php: one PHP version per installation. No local domains, no local HTTPS, orphan processes after a crash.
Laragon	Sound architecture, but closed, with no published source. The PHP version is switched from a menu or a Profile, applies to the whole installation, and is not declared in the project.
WampServer	PHP per VirtualHost through FCGI since 3.2.8 (official changelog), but Apache only, and the configuration lives in the installation's menus and files, not in the project.
DDEV / Devilbox / Lando	Solid and open source, but they require Docker: 2–4 GB of RAM before the first request.

HyPHP brings together, on Windows and macOS and without Docker, what the others deliver separately: several PHP versions serving at the same time, the version declared in the project itself (hyphp.yaml, committable), Apache or nginx, and supervised workers.

What it does

• Real simultaneous multi-version. One pool of workers per PHP version (php-cgi in FastCGI mode on Windows, php-fpm on macOS) behind a single Apache or nginx. Each project declares its version.
• Worker pool. On Windows php-cgi serves one request at a time; without a pool, one slow request locks up the site. Measured: 2 requests of 3 s took 6.2 s with 1 worker and 3 s with 2.
• No orphan processes. On Windows, a Job Object with kill-on-close; on macOS, a process group per service. Processes left behind by a crash are cleaned up at the next start.
• Real status. Every service has a readiness probe; the UI shows degraded when the process is alive but not responding.
• .test domains and local HTTPS. Each project answers at <name>.test, with a certificate from a local CA (mkcert) once you install it. wildcard: true serves *.<name>.test through the app's own DNS resolver.
• The localhost page explains itself. http://localhost lists the projects on this machine and, for a host that opens the wrong page, says why (a subdomain without wildcard: true, a domain outside .test pointing to this machine).
• Config is output, not input. etc/ is generated and validated (httpd -t / nginx -t) before being applied; an invalid config never takes the environment down.
• Apache or nginx, MySQL or MariaDB. One of each active at a time, on the same ports, each database with its own data directory. Switching is immediate and rolls back if the new one does not come up.
• Database screen. Credentials, connection command, databases, and phpMyAdmin one click away. database: in hyphp.yaml creates the database if it is missing.
• Mail stays local. php.ini points mail() to Mailpit; the inbox is inside the app.
• php.ini per version. Directives such as max_input_vars are edited in the app for each PHP version, showing the effective value and where it comes from.
• Outgoing HTTPS works on Windows. The PHP builds for Windows ship without CA certificates; HyPHP keeps a bundle (Mozilla's, plus the local CA) and points curl.cainfo and openssl.cafile to it, so curl, file_get_contents and Composer do not fail with "curl error 60".
• Runtimes from official sources. PHP 7.2 to 8.5, Apache, nginx, MySQL, MariaDB, Mailpit, mkcert and phpMyAdmin are downloaded on demand and checked by SHA-256. The package catalog is signed and refreshed from the website every 6 hours, so a link that moved is fixed without a new app version.
• CLI for the terminal and AI agents. hyphp status, hyphp start all, hyphp logs mysql -f, hyphp ini 8.3 max_input_vars 5000… Every command runs in the open app, with --json output and meaningful exit codes. See CLI.
• Lives in the tray, can start at login (with or without the window), in English or Portuguese, dark or light theme (or the system's).

Getting started

1. Install and open HyPHP (see Download).
2. Runtimes: download a PHP version and Apache (nginx, MySQL or MariaDB, Mailpit and phpMyAdmin are optional). On macOS the same screen installs them with Homebrew.
3. Projects: add the folder where your projects live. Every subfolder with a hyphp.yaml, a public/index.php, an index.php or a composer.json becomes a project at <folder>.test.
4. Dashboard: the warnings tell what is missing and offer the fix. The actions that need administrator rights (the hosts file and the .test DNS rule, the local certificate) run only when you click them.
5. Open http://acme.test. Then commit a hyphp.yaml so the next clone gets the same environment:

name: acme
domain: acme.test          # default: <name>.test
wildcard: false            # true serves *.acme.test through the local DNS resolver
php: "8.1"                 # missing = global default version
docroot: public            # default: public if it exists, otherwise the root
extensions: [pdo_mysql, intl, zip, gd]
database: acme_dev         # created if missing
processes:
  queue: php artisan queue:work --tries=3
  scheduler: php artisan schedule:work

Default ports: 80 and 443 for the web server, 3306 for the database, 1025 (SMTP) and 8025 (web) for Mailpit, 8036 for phpMyAdmin. All of them can be changed in Settings.

CLI

hyphp talks to the open app (on Windows through a named pipe only your user can reach; on macOS through a socket inside the data root) and runs each command with the same services as the window: what the CLI does shows up in the UI right away, and the CLI tab lists the recent calls and who made them. Put it on your PATH from that tab.

hyphp status                          version, web server, database, services, warnings
hyphp services                        services and their states
hyphp start [service|all]             starts and waits until ready (no argument: everything)
hyphp stop [service|all]              stops (no argument: everything)
hyphp restart <service>               restarts and waits until ready
hyphp logs <service> [-n 50] [-f]     last log lines; -f follows
hyphp projects                        projects, domain, PHP and folder
hyphp php | php default <series> | php use <project> <series>
hyphp ini <series> [<directive> <value> | <directive> --reset]
hyphp db | db create <name> | db drop <name> --yes | db engine <mysql|mariadb>
hyphp web <apache|nginx>              switches the web server
hyphp warnings                        stack warnings
hyphp app                             shows the window (opens the app if it is closed)
hyphp version                         CLI and app versions
hyphp help [command]                  usage

For scripts and AI agents: every command accepts --json (errors too), and the exit code is 0 ok, 1 app error, 2 wrong usage, 3 app not running.

Platforms

	Windows 10/11 x64	macOS 15+ on Apple Silicon
Runtimes	downloaded by the app from the official sources	installed by the app with Homebrew (shivammathur/php for PHP)
PHP workers	php-cgi pools (there is no php-fpm on Windows)	php-fpm
.test domains	hosts file; wildcard through an NRPT rule	/etc/resolver/test
Data root	next to the executable if writable, otherwise %LOCALAPPDATA%\HyPHP	~/Library/Application Support/HyPHP
Signature	none yet (SmartScreen warning)	ad hoc, not notarized (Gatekeeper warning on the first launch)

HYPHP_ROOT overrides the data root on both. OS-specific code lives in _windows.go and _darwin.go files.

Stack

Component	Versions in the catalog	License	Source
PHP	7.2, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5	PHP License 3.01	windows.php.net
Apache httpd	2.4	Apache-2.0	apachelounge.com
nginx	1.30	BSD-2-Clause	nginx.org
MySQL Community	8.0, 8.4	GPL-2.0	dev.mysql.com
MariaDB Server	10.11, 11.4, 11.8, 12.3	GPL-2.0	mariadb.org
Mailpit	1.31	MIT	github.com/axllent/mailpit
mkcert	1.4	BSD-3-Clause	github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert
phpMyAdmin	5.2	GPL-2.0	phpmyadmin.net
CA certificates	Mozilla's bundle	MPL-2.0	curl.se

HyPHP does not redistribute these binaries: it downloads them on demand, verifies the SHA-256 and extracts them into bin/ (on macOS, Homebrew installs them). Any compatible build placed manually in bin/ is recognized as well. The catalog with the links and hashes lives in internal/pkgmgr/catalog.json.

Built with Go, Wails v3, React and TypeScript.

Installation details

Windows

The published installer installs into Program Files and asks for UAC once. Silent mode:

hyphp-<version>-windows-amd64-setup.exe /S /D=C:\path    # directory of your choice

The app itself never needs privileges to run: the data root (bin/, etc/, var/, log/) lives next to the executable if that directory is writable, otherwise in %LOCALAPPDATA%\HyPHP. A per-user installer (no UAC) can be built from the source (INSTALL_SCOPE=user, see Development).

The installer ships hyphp.exe and hyphp-helper.exe. The helper performs the actions that need administrator rights (writing to hosts, installing the local root certificate, the .test DNS rule, installing an update); each one asks for UAC only when you click it.

Uninstalling removes the installation directory but does not undo what you applied to the system: remove the hosts block, the .test DNS rule and the autostart entry from Settings (the Permissions card and the Start with Windows switch) before uninstalling.

macOS

curl -fsSL https://github.com/arismarioneves/hyphp/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
curl -fsSL https://github.com/arismarioneves/hyphp/releases/latest/download/uninstall.sh | sh

install.sh checks the dmg's SHA-256 against the release manifest, closes HyPHP if it is open and only asks for the password when /Applications is not writable. uninstall.sh closes the app, removes the .test DNS rule, /etc/paths.d/hyphp and the trust in the mkcert CA (asking for the administrator password), then the autostart entry, the cli folder and the app. The data (databases, settings, logs) stays unless you confirm in the Terminal or run uninstall.sh | sh -s -- --apagar-dados. Homebrew, its formulae and the mkcert CA files are left alone.

Updates

The app checks for the newest release one minute after it opens and every 6 hours (can be turned off in the About tab) and downloads it in the background. The release manifest is signed with ed25519 (public key in internal/update/key.go) and carries the installer's SHA-256; the app rejects a manifest or an installer that does not match. Installation only happens when you click Update and restart: the services stop, the system asks for permission once (Windows), and the app comes back in the new version. On macOS the app swaps its own bundle for the one in the new dmg, without a password when /Applications is writable by your account; otherwise it shows the Terminal command above.

Development

Requires Go 1.26+, Node 22+ and the Wails v3 CLI:

go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/cmd/wails3@v3.0.0-beta.23
wails3 doctor     # checks the environment
wails3 dev        # development with hot reload
wails3 build      # binary in bin/

Packaging:

# Windows: NSIS on PATH (winget install NSIS.NSIS installs into C:\Program Files (x86)\NSIS)
$env:PATH = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\NSIS;' + $env:PATH
wails3 task windows:package                      # bin/hyphp-amd64-installer.exe
wails3 task windows:package INSTALL_SCOPE=user   # user scope, no UAC

# macOS
wails3 task darwin:package       # bin/HyPHP.app (ad hoc signed, CLI and helper in Contents/Helpers)
wails3 task darwin:package:dmg   # bin/HyPHP.dmg

Project rules (comments, texts, tests, commits, checks before a pull request) are in AGENTS.md. The website lives in web/, with its own rules in web/README.md.

Support the project

HyPHP is free. If it saves you time, you can support its development:

License

HyPHP follows the open core model:

• Everything outside enterprise/ is under the MIT License: anyone, individuals or companies, can use, study, modify, share and sell it.
• enterprise/ will hold the paid features, under its own license and subscription-based use. Today it only contains the license: there are no paid features yet.

The name "HyPHP" and its logo are not covered by these licenses: a fork must use another name and logo.

Contributions outside enterprise/ are licensed under the MIT License; contributions to enterprise/ follow the CLA. See CONTRIBUTING.md. The components HyPHP downloads (table in Stack) each follow their own license.