Tools Overview

ForgeKit includes several built-in tools to make local development smoother.

These tools are designed to:

  • Work with your active Instances and sites
  • Respect selected PHP and Node versions
  • Avoid global system conflicts
  • Keep everything portable

Included Tools

Terminal Integration

A built-in terminal integration that runs commands within your ForgeKit environment.

  • Uses the correct PHP and Node version
  • Has Composer, npm, npx, Yarn, and pnpm available
  • Works per-site

→ See: Terminal Integration

Composer

ForgeKit supports both:

  • Composer v2 (modern default)
  • Composer v1 (for legacy projects)

Composer runs using the PHP version of the selected Instance.

→ See: Composer

Node.js

ForgeKit supports Node.js, npm, npx, and Corepack (Yarn/pnpm), assigned per site rather than per web server.

  • Different Node version per project, even on the same web server
  • npm/npx/Corepack all resolved from the same Node install
  • Never touches your own globally-installed Node/npm

→ See: Node.js

PHPMyAdmin

A web-based database interface for managing MySQL / MariaDB.

  • Create databases
  • Import/export SQL dumps
  • Run queries
  • Manage users

→ See: PHPMyAdmin

Mailpit

A local email catcher for mail sent by your sites.

  • Catches PHP's built-in mail() function per web server
  • Catches SMTP mail from Laravel, Symfony, Node, and others
  • Run more than one inbox at once
  • Nothing is connected automatically

→ See: Mailpit

Philosophy

ForgeKit tools are:

  • Integrated, not global
  • Version-aware
  • Optional (you’re never forced to use them)

You can still use external tools if you prefer.