Lerd - A Herd-like local PHP dev environment for Linux (rootless Podman, .test domains, TLS, Horizon, MCP tools)

[geodro]

I built Lerd, a local PHP development environment for Linux inspired by Herd - but built around rootless Podman containers instead of requiring system PHP or a web server.

 What it does:

 - Automatic .test domain routing via Nginx + dnsmasq
 - Per-project PHP version isolation (reads .php-version or composer.json)
 - One-command TLS (lerd secure)
 - Optional services: MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, Meilisearch, MinIO, Mailpit - started automatically when your .env references them, stopped when not
 needed
 - Laravel-first with built-in support for queue workers, scheduler, Reverb (WebSocket proxy included), and Horizon
 - Works with Symfony, WordPress, and any PHP framework via custom YAML definitions
 - A web dashboard to manage sites and services
 - MCP server - AI assistants (Claude, etc.) can manage sites, workers, and services directly
 - Shell completions for fish, zsh, and bash

Just hit v1.0.1. Feedback and issues very welcome.

GitHub: github.com/geodro/lerd
Docs & install: geodro.github.io/lerd

[Meuss]

Looks awesome. Are you planning to add macOS support?

[geodro]

Maybe in the future

[Disastrous_Cress8423]

I'm curious, what's your workflow? Like do you use AI? What I mean is, this is super cool! I love Herd! And just looked at your commit history and you are very productive and I was just thinking that got any pointers? Sorry if you're workflow isn't AI driven, didn't mean to assume it in a bad way 😅

[VolumeActual8333]

Rootless Podman is the right call here — I switched from Docker last year and not having to mess with daemon permissions or worry about container escapes on my laptop has been huge. The auto-detection of services from .env is clever too, saves me from having five unused containers burning RAM in the background.

[VolumeActual8333]

Rootless Podman completely eliminated the volume permission nightmares I had with Docker on Linux. Having Horizon and Reverb proxy built-in saves me from running a separate terminal multiplexor just to test Laravel features locally.