For Developers. By Developers.

Pick a stack, name the project, open it at https://blog.test

MixLab installs what the project needs and serves it at a .test domain with HTTPS your browser trusts.

curl -fsSL https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/install.sh | sh

No Docker, no VM
Windows, macOS, Linux
PHP, Node, Python, Ruby, Go, Java
Free, MIT or Apache-2.0

Laravel's welcome page at https://blog.test, opened from MixLab

~/Sites $ mix blueprint apply laravel --project blog --path blog --with-front-endPlan: laravel into project blog at /Users/ada/Sites/blog

  create      project blog at /Users/ada/Sites/blog, asking for php 8.4, node 24, composer 2
  installed   php 8.4
  installed   node 24
  installed   composer 2
  installed   mariadb
  installed   mariadb @main, reusing the shared instance
  create      database blog, user blog
  installed   redis
  installed   redis @main, reusing the shared instance
  create      site php-fpm at public, https
  create      domain blog.test
  create      certificate for blog.test
  installed   php extension redis: changes PHP 8.4.24 for every project here
  confirm     run `composer create-project laravel/laravel . --no-interaction`

This blueprint is signed. It wants to run, in the new project's directory:

    composer create-project laravel/laravel . --no-interaction
Run it? [y/N] y    0%  registering the project blog    7%  installing php 8.4   14%  installing node 24   21%  installing composer 2   28%  installing mariadb   35%  making sure of mariadb@main   42%  creating the database blog on mariadb   50%  installing redis   57%  making sure of redis@main   64%  creating the site   71%  adding the name blog.test   78%  issuing the certificate   85%  turning on the PHP extension redis   92%  the blueprint's own commandCreating a "laravel/laravel" project at "./"Installing laravel/laravel (v13.10.1)Created project in /Users/ada/Sites/blog/.Loading composer repositories with package informationUpdating dependenciesLock file operations: 109 installs, 0 updates, 0 removalsWriting lock fileInstalling dependencies from lock file (including require-dev)Package operations: 109 installs, 0 updates, 0 removalsGenerating optimized autoload files> @php artisan package:discover --ansi INFO Discovering packages.> @php artisan key:generate --ansi INFO Application key set successfully.job 7: succeeded (blueprint.apply)
  doing     the blueprint's own command has ended (100%)
  started   9s agoApplied laravel as blog at /Users/ada/Sites/blog

  done        project blog at /Users/ada/Sites/blog, asking for php 8.4, node 24, composer 2
  already     php 8.4
  already     node 24
  already     composer 2
  already     mariadb
  already     mariadb @main, reusing the shared instance
  done        database blog, user blog
  already     redis
  already     redis @main, reusing the shared instance
  done        site php-fpm at public, https
  done        domain blog.test
  done        certificate for blog.test
  already     php extension redis: changes PHP 8.4.24 for every project here
  done        run `composer create-project laravel/laravel . --no-interaction`

BLUEPRINTS

Quick start builds any of these from an empty folder. Blueprints

Laravel
Laravel + MongoDB
Symfony
Drupal
WordPress
PHP with MySQL
Next.js
Vite
Express + MongoDB
Strapi
Django
Ruby on Rails
Static site

SERVICES

Installed and started per project, with no container in between. Services

Caddy
Nginx
MariaDB
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Redis
Memcached
MongoDB

RUNTIMES

Install as many versions as you need. Each project picks its own. Runtimes

PHP 7.0 → 8.5
Node
Python
Ruby
Go
Java

INSIDE MIXLAB

What's in the app

The stuff you'd normally keep open across five different apps.

Sites and runtimes

Every local domain in one table: which project it belongs to, what serves it (PHP-FPM, a Node app, static files) and whether HTTPS is on. Anything the mix command can do, you can click through here instead.

Database

MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and Redis. Browse and edit rows, write SQL with table and column completion, dump and restore, and follow a foreign key with one click.

REST

Build requests by hand, or paste a cURL command and it gets filled in for you. Environment variables work too, and secrets stay in your OS keychain.

Terminal

Local shells and SSH sessions. If the network drops, tunnels reconnect by themselves.

Tools

Small utilities for the things you'd usually go looking for online: JSON, YAML and CSV conversion, JWT decoding, hashing, regex testing, diffs, formatting and minifying.

UNDER THE HOOD

MixEngine runs the sites. MixLab is the window onto it.

MixEngine comes with MixLab, so there's nothing extra to install. If you'd rather stay in the terminal, install the CLI by itself. It doesn't need the app.

Pin a version, the shell follows

Pin PHP 8.1 for legacy in MixLab. Inside that folder, php runs 8.1. Everywhere else it's still the default, 8.4.

MixLab's Projects screen, with legacy pinned to PHP 8.1.34

~/Sites $ php -vPHP 8.4.26 (cli)~/Sites $ cd legacy~/Sites/legacy $ php -vPHP 8.1.34 (cli)~/Sites/legacy $ cd ../blog~/Sites/blog $ php -vPHP 8.4.26 (cli)

$ mix status$ mix runtime install php 8.3.33$ mix site create --domain blog.test --kind php-fpm --https true$ mix cert status

Windows, macOS and Linux. Same commands, same docs.

Just the CLI, in one command

macOS and Linux, in a terminal

curl -fsSL https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/install.sh | sh -s -- --headless

Windows, in PowerShell

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/install.ps1))) -Headless

Install the CLI Read the docs GitHub

Real domains, trusted certificates

Every site gets its own hostname, like blog.test, with an HTTPS certificate your browser already trusts. No warnings to click through.
One version per project

Keep the old PHP for the legacy app and the newest one for the new app, side by side. Same for Node, Python and Ruby.
Root only when needed

One daemon (mixengined) and one command (mix). Admin rights are asked for once, for the few steps that need them, and dropped right after.
Readable by AI agents

The handbook is plain Markdown with an llms.txt index, and every mix command takes --json.
Native on every OS

Services run as ordinary processes on your machine, so file watching, debuggers and profilers work the way they always did.

DOWNLOAD

Get MixLab. MixEngine comes bundled.

One command, or an installer for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Install with one command

macOS and Linux, in a terminal

curl -fsSL https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/install.sh | sh

Windows, in PowerShell

irm https://mixnz.github.io/mixlab/install.ps1 | iex

It picks the installer for your system, checks its signature, then runs it. Add --headless (-Headless on Windows) to get the CLI without the app. Read it first: install.sh, install.ps1. More in the install guide.

Only need the CLI? Install MixEngine

Cloud Sync needs an account and works with the default server. Rather run your own? See the self-hosting guide.

License: MIT or Apache-2.0

Or download an installer

Windows

Your system

.exe · x64 and ARM64

x64 ARM64

macOS

Your system

Universal · .pkg

Download

Linux

Your system

.deb · Debian, Ubuntu

x64 ARM64

Linux

Your system

.rpm · Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE

x64 ARM64

Pick a stack, name the project, open it at https://blog.test

What's in the app

Sites and runtimes

Database

REST

Terminal

Tools

MixEngine runs the sites. MixLab is the window onto it.

Pin a version, the shell follows

Just the CLI, in one command

Real domains, trusted certificates

One version per project

Root only when needed

Readable by AI agents

Native on every OS

Get MixLab. MixEngine comes bundled.

Install with one command

Or download an installer

Windows

macOS

Linux

Linux