On this page
Whether your Laravel app runs on DDEV, Sail, Docker Compose or the PHP that Herd installed, DevWorkspace Pro opens it as a full project. The app spots Laravel from the artisan file and shows a Laravel badge. From there you get a stack-first create flow, Laravel recipes and a PHP scratchpad that boots your app.
Core features every project gets
Any folder you add, Laravel or not, comes with:
- Files editor with PHP IntelliSense, ⌘+P and project search
- Git Changes and History, plus GitHub issues and Actions
- Send to AI and AI sessions with resume
- Terminal tabs, Focus Pad and the ⌘+K switcher
- Uptime monitoring and Remote SSH
Extras for Laravel
On top of the core, Laravel gets:
- Stack features: the Laravel badge, the Laravel create flow, a Run card with Composer and npm scripts, Laravel recipes, and a Composer and npm security scan.
- Runtime features: DDEV (start, stop, services, database, PHP version, Xdebug, add-ons, logs), Laravel Sail and Docker Compose services, and Local PHP with
php artisan serve.
Your first day with a Laravel app
Create or import
Click New Project, select Laravel, then type a description and a name. Step 2 asks how you run it: DDEV, Laravel Sail, Docker Compose, Local PHP or Other. Before anything runs, it shows you the setup commands and the run command.
What happens next depends on your choice. With DDEV, the app runs ddev composer create-project laravel/laravel and DDEV writes the database settings into .env. With Sail, it runs composer create-project, adds laravel/sail and runs php artisan sail:install.
Already have the app? Drag its folder onto the window. A folder with .ddev/config.yaml comes in as a DDEV project with its PHP version, and any other folder comes in with the Laravel badge.
You can also start from a repository. Select Clone a repository with DDEV, and the app clones it, runs ddev start and ddev composer install, copies .env.example to .env and runs ddev artisan key:generate.
Run it
For a DDEV project, the page header has Start, Stop, Restart, Open and Share. A Sail project shows a Services card with a Sail badge, where you start, stop, restart and stream logs for each container.
With Local PHP, the Run card on the Overview tab runs php artisan serve. Under it you will find every composer run script and every package.json script, so npm run dev is one click away.
Hand a task to an AI agent
Press ⌘+J, type the task and press Enter. Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode starts in the project folder in a headless terminal.
If you quit the app halfway through, the status bar shows 1 to resume on the next launch. Claude Code then picks up the same conversation with claude --resume.
Ship through GitHub
Open Git › Changes, read the diffs, select files and commit. Your Husky or pre-commit hooks run as usual, and you push from the terminal tab.
Watch the run in Git › Actions. When a job fails, click Send failure to AI and your agent gets a prompt with the workflow, the failed step and the end of its log.
Laravel-specific tools
Scratchpad with a booted app (DDEV)
Run PHP inside your running Laravel app with ⌘+Enter, with facades, helpers and models all available. The output shows the query count with bindings and flags a Possible N+1. IntelliSense knows your model columns, casts, relations and scopes. In a project without DDEV, the Scratchpad tab is a notes pad instead.
Recipes
The Recipes panel only shows what applies to the project:
| Recipe | What it does |
|---|---|
| Laravel Upgrade | Upgrades the code one major version (Laravel 8 to 13) with rector-laravel |
| Rector, Rector Laravel | Installs the tools and creates rector.php |
| Laravel Pint | Installs Pint and creates pint.json with the laravel preset |
| Prettier PHP | Adds @prettier/plugin-php and the editor settings |
| Additional Database | Adds a second MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL database, for example for tests |
| Cloudflare Tunnel | Shares the local site on a public URL |
| Sail to DDEV | Moves a Sail project and its data to DDEV in place |
| NPM Dependencies | Lists outdated npm packages |
The PHP recipes apply to DDEV projects, and support outside DDEV is in progress. Sail to DDEV appears for Laravel projects that have a Sail compose file and do not use DDEV yet.
Dependency security
Health › Security reads composer.lock along with your npm, pnpm, Yarn or Bun lockfile, and checks both direct and transitive packages. You can upgrade a package with one click or send the upgrade to your AI tool.
Logs and log monitoring
In a DDEV project, the Logs tab streams the container logs. It also reads storage/logs on your server over SSH, and log monitoring tells you when new errors show up in your remote Laravel logs. Every entry has Send to AI.
Xdebug
One button runs ddev xdebug toggle. The menu next to it writes a VS Code launch.json on port 9003.
Keeps your existing setup
DevWorkspace Pro does not replace your tools. It runs the ddev, docker, php and composer commands already on your computer, and Local PHP uses the PHP that Laravel Herd installs.
Your editor stays too. Click IDE to open the project in VS Code, PhpStorm or any editor command. Git hooks, shell aliases and your SSH config all work as before.
Running a Symfony or WordPress app as well? See /for/symfony and /for/wordpress. For setup details, read the docs on Projects, DDEV Projects, Recipes and the Scratchpad.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I need DDEV to use DevWorkspace Pro with Laravel?
No. You can run a Laravel project with DDEV, Laravel Sail, Docker Compose, Local PHP (for example Laravel Herd) or a command that you type. Files, Git, GitHub, AI sessions and the terminal work with every run method. The start and stop controls, the Database card, the Logs tab, Xdebug and the PHP code runner need DDEV.
Can I move a Sail project to DDEV?
Yes. The Sail to DDEV recipe checks your computer, dumps the Sail database and configures DDEV with the same PHP, database and Node.js versions. It then imports the data and checks the tables and row counts. Only after that does it remove the Sail containers and volumes.
Which Laravel versions can the Laravel Upgrade recipe handle?
Laravel 8 to 13. It upgrades the code one major version at a time with rector-laravel. It does not change composer.json, so you update laravel/framework and run composer update yourself.
Does the security scan check my npm packages too?
Yes. It reads composer.lock and the npm, pnpm, Yarn or Bun lockfile in the project folder, and checks direct and transitive packages against public advisory databases.