PortBayOne Play button per project.

Run Node, PHP, Python, and static sites with real HTTPS hostnames, managed DNS, and a reverse proxy you never touch. No containers, no hand-edited /etc/hosts.

Get started

Try it in your browser

CLI reference

Troubleshooting

One registry, GUI + CLI

Projects, hostnames, ports, services, readiness probes, and environment variables live in a JSON registry both the app and CLI use.

Local HTTPS by hostname

Caddy routes each project to https://<name>.test, with mkcert issuing the local certificates.

HTTP request inspector

Live Caddy access-log tailing into a filterable request table — method, status, latency, and the matched project.

Bundled databases

PortBay-supervised MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres, and Redis instances with connection details and per-project links.

A full SSH workspace

Save a remote host, then open an interactive terminal, an SFTP file browser with an inline editor, and port-forward tunnels — without keeping a second app open.

Sandboxed runner (Pro)

Run an untrusted project inside a macOS sandbox profile, inspect it, then promote it to a normal local run.

Drive it from an AI agent

An MCP server exposes 66 tools (14 toolsets) plus project resources to Claude Code, Cursor, Zed, and any MCP-aware client.

A task board your agents work

Move a card to To Do and the AI agent you assigned picks it up, works it in your repo, and writes a hand-off note for the next run.

Local AI, managed

PortBay installs, starts, and supervises a local Ollama server, and pulls models from the live catalog — nothing leaves your Mac.

Speech-to-Text

Hold Fn and talk — on-device speech-to-text plus a local AI rewrite turn spoken thoughts into text worth keeping. ⌘Z restores your exact words.

See it without installing. The interactive simulator runs the real PortBay interface against a set of sample projects, right in your browser — click Play on a project and watch it start.

Current Release State

PortBay is released for macOS (Apple Silicon), with Linux desktop packages in active support. Signed, notarized macOS builds ship via the DMG and Homebrew cask; Linux builds target AppImage, deb, rpm, Snap, and AUR packages. Windows is still ahead.

Area	Status
macOS app (Apple Silicon)	Available — signed & notarized
Linux app (x86_64)	In active support — AppImage, deb, rpm, Snap, AUR
Windows	On the roadmap
Homebrew cask, DMG, auto-update	Available
Process Compose sidecar	Bundled in the app and for local development
Caddy, mkcert, Mailpit, cloudflared	Bundled in the app; fetched per checkout when building from source
Searchable public docs	This site

The Short Version

bash

brew tap portbay-app/portbay
brew install --cask portbay

Then add a project, choose its type and port, and use the row actions to start it, open its local URL, inspect logs, or stop it. Prefer to build it yourself? See Install → Build From Source.

Where To Go

New to PortBay: start with Install and First Run.
Setting up routes and certificates: read Caddy and HTTPS.
Running PHP projects: read PHP Setup.
Debugging failures: use Troubleshooting.
Automating from a terminal: use CLI Usage and the CLI Reference.
Choosing a tool: see how PortBay compares to Herd, ServBay, Docker, and more.