A guided tour through everything Stratos can do. Each feature links to its full documentation page with step-by-step instructions and configuration examples.
Start, stop, and restart every component of the local stack from a single popover. Status is reflected in the menu-bar icon — green when healthy, amber when something needs attention, red on failure. Each service can be operated independently: restart nginx without taking PHP down, cycle MySQL without losing the port binding.
Stack control guide →Drop a folder under your webroot and Stratos assigns a `.test` domain to it within a second. No editing `/etc/hosts`, no dnsmasq configuration, no DNS cache flushing. HTTPS is one click away — the app generates a self-signed certificate on demand and trusts it system-wide via the macOS keychain.
Trusted Root CA guide →Install every supported PHP version in parallel and pin one per project. Verified with Apple CryptoKit SHA-256 integrity checks and atomic staging directories. Change PHP versions directly in the site inspector — the FPM pool is rebuilt and nginx is reloaded automatically.
PHP version management →Execute Eloquent queries, inspect Laravel collections in interactive zebra-striped Table Grids with column sorting, benchmark execution timing down to the millisecond, and manage a persistent library of saved snippets (⌘R shortcut).
Visual Tinker playground →Create instant compressed backups of any project before running database migrations, Composer major upgrades, or risky experiments. Restore to a known-good snapshot with a single click and automatic rollback safety.
Site snapshots guide →Edit `.env` files safely with timestamped backup protection. Generate Laravel `APP_KEY` secrets and provision SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL databases in 1 click without opening a terminal.
Environment & databases guide →Inspect all incoming HTTP traffic in real time. Filter requests by resource type (Doc, XHR, JS, CSS, Media), copy executable cURL commands, and replay requests against local endpoints to verify bugfixes instantly.
Request inspector guide →1-click Xdebug step debugging for PhpStorm and VS Code with zero global php.ini pollution. Record execution timelines and interactive SPX flame graph profilers to eliminate slow queries and bottlenecks.
Xdebug & profiling guide →Manage MySQL 8.4/8.0, PostgreSQL 16/15/14, Redis 7.2, and Meilisearch from one dashboard. Built-in SQLite browser, interactive ER Schema diagrams with foreign key bezier curves, and auto-provisioned Web Adminer (http://db.test).
Database manager guide →Intercept outgoing SMTP mail locally on port 1025 with strict CSP sandboxing. Audit responsive email layouts with Desktop vs. iPhone (375px) viewport toggles, inspect HTML source, and search headers (10 emails on Free, 500 on Pro).
Mail catcher & dumps guide →Generate temporary or branded public HTTPS URLs with zero configuration. Share your local site with clients on mobile devices or expose endpoints to Stripe and Shopify webhook callbacks.
Public tunnels guide →A fast terminal binary: `stratos open <site>`, `stratos php`, `stratos composer`, `stratos artisan`, and `stratos test` to execute the built-in 38-assertion integrity and config test suite.
CLI companion guide →