Sail Manager
Docs

Getting started

Install Sail Manager, walk through the first-run wizard, and learn where the app keeps its data.

Requirements

Sail Manager is a macOS app. To use it you need:

  • macOS 12 or newer. The app runs as a universal binary, so Apple Silicon and Intel both work.
  • Docker Desktop. The app shells out to docker compose, so Docker has to be installed and running. If it's not, the sidebar shows a "Start Docker" button.
  • Nothing else. No PHP, Composer, or Node installed locally. Sail Manager runs everything in Docker.
Optional but nice: Git for cloning repos, your editor of choice (PhpStorm, VS Code, Cursor, or Zed) so the "Open in editor" button works.

Install

  1. Grab the latest .dmg from the releases page.
  2. Open it and drag the app into Applications.
  3. Launch it. macOS may ask you to confirm the first time.

If you'd rather build from source, see the snippet at the bottom of the download section on the home page.

First-run wizard

The first time you launch the app, you'll go through a short wizard. You can skip it, but it sets up the parts of the system that need a one-time configure.

  1. Welcome. Quick intro and a link to GitHub.
  2. System check. The app probes Docker and lists what it found. Required tools (Docker) gate the next step. Recommended tools (Git, Composer, Node, Laravel CLI) get a status badge but don't block. Optional tools (Oh My Zsh, Herd, Valet) are listed for context.
  3. Local URLs. Toggle whether you want http://shop.test-style URLs and pick the TLD. This is the only step that asks for your password (once, to write /etc/resolver/<tld>). Skipping is fine; you can enable it later.
  4. Projects folder. Pick where new projects get created. Defaults to ~/SailProjects.
  5. Done. Optional checkbox to open the "Create project" form right after finishing.

If the app finds existing Sail-looking folders inside your projects directory that aren't registered yet, it shows an "Import all" toast you can click to pull them in.

Where data lives

Sail Manager stores its own state in the standard macOS app data directory:

~/Library/Application Support/com.laraveldevtool.app/
├── state.db          SQLite: projects, ports, history, auto-commands
├── settings.json     Theme, local URL TLD, editor pick, projects root
├── templates.json    Project templates
├── proxy/            Generated Traefik dynamic config
└── dns/              Generated dnsmasq config

Project source code lives in your projects folder (default ~/SailProjects). Containers and volumes live wherever Docker stores them.