Govard is a professional-grade local development orchestrator engineered in Go. It replaces legacy bash-based tooling with a fast native binary that manages complex containerized environments with a focus on stability, speed, and developer experience.
| Area | Govard Advantage |
|---|---|
| Core architecture | Native Go binary with direct Docker SDK orchestration instead of shell-script glue. |
| Framework intelligence | Automatic framework discovery + framework-specific blueprints + custom stack wizard. |
| Magento depth | First-class Magento/OpenMage workflow (auto env.php/local.xml wiring, table prefixes, Varnish/Redis/queue/search, dedicated php-debug routing). |
| Local HTTPS/DNS | Built-in Caddy + dnsmasq + Root CA auto-trust for *.test domains. |
| Remote safety | remote/sync protections for sensitive targets (prod write blocking, scoped capabilities, audit logs). |
| Deployment | A framework recipe drives a neutral task pipeline (deploy), a container sandbox rehearses it locally, and an artifact mode keeps CI jobs toolchain-free. |
| Team reproducibility | govard lock + lock.strict to detect environment drift across machines. |
| Recovery workflow | govard snapshot for quick local DB/media checkpoints before risky operations. |
- First-Class Deployment:
govard deploypublishes a revision over SSH + rsync with a framework recipe, atomic symlink swap or in-place publish, maintenance windows, database backup, verification, rollback and resume — plusgovard sandboxto rehearse the pipeline against a container on your machine. - Remote Management (Flagship): named remotes with scope-based capabilities (
files,media,db,deploy), flexible auth (keychain,ssh-agent,keyfile), safe sync with dry-run planning, and connectivity diagnostics (govard remote test). - Shared SSH Gateway:
govard-proxy-sshdgives every sandbox a stable address (ssh -p 2222 <project>@127.0.0.1, sftp included) instead of an ephemeral port. - Infra Host Access: Elasticsearch/OpenSearch at
http://<project>.test:9200and the RabbitMQ management UI athttp://<project>.test:15672— per-project Caddy routes, no extra config. - Framework Discovery: Magento 1/OpenMage, Magento 2, Mage-OS, Laravel, Next.js, Emdash, Drupal, Symfony, Shopware, CakePHP, PrestaShop, WordPress, and Django, plus an interactive custom-framework wizard.
- Zero-Config Debugging: Xdebug 2 & 3 with one-click toggling and project-specific isolation.
- Database Observability: live query monitoring (
govard db top), progress bars for imports/syncs, Redis/Valkey management. - Static Analysis & Profiling:
govard audit(lint, integrity, profiler) with persisted sessions, diffs, and reruns. - VSCode Integration:
govard vscode setup [--global]runs Intelephense, PHPStan, PHPCS, PHPUnit, and Xdebug inside the container. - Global Services: Caddy proxy, Mailpit, PHPMyAdmin, Portainer out of the box.
- Team Safety Nets: snapshots, drift detection, 1Password (
op://) secret references, resumable transfers. - CLI + Desktop: the same engine in a terminal binary and a Wails desktop app;
govard self-updatewith checksum validation.
Pick one channel and stick to it:
| Channel | Command | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| npm | npm i -g @ddtcorex/govard |
Node 20+, CLI only, any OS |
| Homebrew | brew install ddtcorex/tap/govard |
macOS + Linuxbrew, CLI only |
| Docker | docker run ghcr.io/ddtcorex/govard:<version> version |
No install needed; CI-friendly |
| CI | uses: ddtcorex/setup-govard@v1 |
GitHub Actions, pinnable version |
| Script | curl -fsSL .../install.sh | bash |
Full installer (CLI + Desktop where supported) |
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ddtcorex/govard/master/install.sh | bashThe installer handles system dependencies, starts global services, and configures SSL trust. By default it also installs govard-desktop on Linux where WebKitGTK 6.0 and GTK 4 are available (Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 13+); pass --cli-only to skip Desktop explicitly, or let the installer fall back to CLI-only automatically where WebKitGTK 6.0 is missing (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, and every non-Linux platform). Tagged releases also ship .deb/.pkg installers, including a separate govard-desktop_<version>_linux_<arch>.deb — see the releases page and the installation guide for the full options. Do not mix channels on one machine (conflicting binaries across /usr/bin and /usr/local/bin).
Govard runs without Docker for host-side commands (govard capabilities lists every command's requirement); container-backed commands exit 3 with CAPABILITY_MISSING instead of failing midway. Details: Runs Without Docker.
Contributors build from source (./install.sh --source -y, needs Go 1.25+, Node 24+ and pnpm for the desktop); see CONTRIBUTING.md.
govard init # scan the project, generate .govard.yml
govard env up # render compose, start the stack (govard up works too)
govard shell # enter the application containergovard remote add staging --host staging.example.com --user deploy --path /var/www/app
govard remote copy-id staging
govard remote test staging
govard sync --source staging --destination local --full --plan # dry-run first
govard sync --source staging --destination local --fullprod remotes are write-protected by default; file/media sync is resumable rsync. Full docs: Remotes and Sync.
govard deploy plan staging # the whole task list, connecting nowhere
govard deploy check staging # preflight: connectivity, layout, permissions, php, disk, lock
govard deploy staging --yes # deploy the local HEAD (or --revision <sha>)
govard deploy releases staging # what is on the target
govard deploy rollback staging # put the previous release backRehearse against a container first, or split the build off to CI:
govard sandbox up --profile full --php 8.3
govard deploy --remote sandbox --yes
govard sandbox down --purge- Full guide: Deployment
- Worked configurations (Luma, Hyvä, themes, modes, webroots): Deployment case studies
govard db dump -e staging # dump / import / query / top
govard debug on # toggle Xdebug for the current project
govard snapshot create # checkpoint before risky upgrades
govard audit run # static analysis with persisted sessions
govard tunnel start # expose locally via cloudflare (needs the binary)Command reference (shortcuts, aliases, every command): CLI Commands.
Govard serves every .test domain over HTTPS via Caddy + a local Root CA, with dnsmasq resolving *.test to loopback. Point your resolver at it once:
| OS | Setup |
|---|---|
| Linux (systemd-resolved) | DNS=127.0.0.1 + Domains=~test under /etc/systemd/resolved.conf.d/ |
| macOS | echo "nameserver 127.0.0.1" | sudo tee /etc/resolver/test |
Then govard svc up auto-trusts the Root CA (system store + best-effort browser import). Details and troubleshooting: SSL and Domains.
Shared across all projects (via govard svc):
| Service | URL | Credentials |
|---|---|---|
| Mailpit | https://mail.govard.test |
No auth; SMTP: mail:1025 |
| PHPMyAdmin | https://pma.govard.test |
Project DB credentials |
| Portainer | https://portainer.govard.test |
admin / AdminGovard123$ |
| Search API | http://<project>.test:9200 |
No auth (Elasticsearch/OpenSearch) |
| RabbitMQ UI | http://<project>.test:15672 |
guest / guest |
| SSH gateway | ssh -p 2222 <project>@127.0.0.1 |
Your allowlisted key (govard gateway allow-key) |
CLI shortcuts: govard open mail|db|portainer.
Full documentation (auto-synced to the GitHub Wiki):
- Getting Started - Installation and first project workflow
- CLI Commands - Shortcuts, tools, diagnostics, utilities
- Configuration -
.govard.yml, profiles, remotes, blueprint registry - Deployment + Case studies
- Remotes and Sync - Setup, flows, audit logs, remote DB work
- SSL and Domains - HTTPS, CA trust, routing
- Frameworks - Support matrix and framework notes
- Desktop App - Desktop surface and dev-mode workflow
Builds, tests, and the mandatory brainstorming → writing-plans → executing-plans workflow live in CONTRIBUTING.md and AGENTS.md. Quick gate before pushing: make test && make build.
Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.
Developed with ❤️ by ddtcorex