A FIELD GUIDE TO LARAVEL · VOLUME II · THE ECOSYSTEM
ENTRY II.28 · LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
Herd
Product · first recorded 19 July 2023, introduced at Laracon US
A native local environment for macOS and Windows. One installer brings PHP, nginx and Node, serves every project in a parked folder at name.test, and needs neither Docker nor Homebrew. Herd Pro adds the databases and caches.
Specification
Kind Desktop app plus a background service and a herd CLI
Interface A menu bar app, a site manager and the herd command
Runs on macOS 12 or later; Windows 10 or later
Installed by a downloaded installer; herd, php, composer, laravel, node on PATH
Voice none (not artisan): herd park · link · secure · isolate · services:create
Scales by Several PHP versions side by side; one pinned per site with herd isolate
Range Cloud: n/a: local only; no Cloud integration is listed
Forge, VPS: n/a: local only; a Forge integration deploys from Herd
Vapor: n/a: local only; nothing Vapor-specific
Neighbours
Valet is the ancestor: the same idea, built on Homebrew and macOS only; Herd migrates a Valet setup on first launch. Sail runs the stack in Docker, nearer a containerised production. Herd's distinction is native binaries from one installer, on macOS and Windows.
Valet II.10Sail II.24
Field marks
~/Herd (the parked path)
*.test in the browser
herd.yml
%USERPROFILE%\.config\herd on Windows
Fig. II.28.1 · a parked site, exploded
Parts
1 The site. Every folder in a parked path (~/Herd by default) answers at <folder>.test; herd link adds others.
2 DNS. On macOS, dnsmasq resolves *.test to the machine; on Windows the HerdHelper service writes the hosts file.
3 nginx, bundled. Routes the host name to the folder; herd secure adds a local certificate and HTTPS.
4 PHP, bundled, several versions. herd use sets the global one, herd isolate pins one to a site.
5 Your app. A plain Laravel project; nothing in it knows about Herd. herd open and herd edit reach it.
6 Services (Pro). MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Valkey, Reverb, Meilisearch, MinIO and more, via herd services:create.
Hidden joinery
First launch finds a Valet install and migrates its sites and certificates without touching Valet, so valet start still works. herd link accepts extra domains, so one project answers on several hosts. herd.yml records the PHP version, aliases and, with Pro, services; herd init rebuilds them elsewhere.
Every line checked against herd.laravel.com/docs (macOS and Windows) and its changelog on 2026-10-08.
TITLE
Herd · a parked site
SOURCES
herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/getting-started/installation · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/getting-started/sites · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/advanced-usage/herd-cli · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/sites/herd-yaml · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/sites/securing-sites · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/sites/managing-sites · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/technology/php-versions · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/herd-pro-services/services · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/integrations/laravel-forge · herd.laravel.com/docs/macos/changelog/index · herd.laravel.com/docs/windows/getting-started/installation · herd.laravel.com/docs/windows/getting-started/sites · herd.laravel.com/docs/windows/advanced-usage/directories-and-files · laravel-news.com/laracon-us-2023-schedule · laravel.com/docs/13.x/sail
STATUS
Verified · 2026-10-08
SHEET
II.28 of 48
REV
A · 2026-10-08
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