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Damp

Quick Start

Get your first DAMP project up and running in under 5 minutes. This guide assumes you have DAMP already installed and are familiar with web development concepts.

Create Your First Project

Section titled “Create Your First Project”

  1. Open DAMP

    Launch DAMP from your applications menu or system tray.

  2. Create a new project

    Click the “New Project” button in the DAMP dashboard.

  3. Choose project type

    Select your project template:

    • Laravel Recommended - Full Laravel framework with MySQL
    • PHP - Basic LAMP stack
    • Existing project - Bring your own codebase

    Create New Site

    Choose the type of site you want to create.

  4. Configure project

    Fill in the project details:

    • Project Name: my-first-app
    • Local Domain: my-first-app.local (auto-generated)
    • PHP Version: 8.2 (for PHP projects)

  5. Create project

    Click “Create Project” and wait for DAMP to:

    • 🔄 Pull required Docker images
    • 🔄 Generate SSL certificates
    • 🔄 Configure local domains
    • 🔄 Start development services

Access Your Project

Section titled “Access Your Project”

Once creation is complete, your project is immediately available:

Web Browser

Section titled “Web Browser”
  • HTTPS: https://my-first-app.local

Open in VS Code

Section titled “Open in VS Code”

For the best development experience, open your project in VS Code with DevContainer support:

  1. Click “Open in VS Code”

    In the DAMP project dashboard, click the “Open in VS Code” button.

  2. Install DevContainer extension (if prompted)

    VS Code will prompt you to install the DevContainer extension if not already installed.

  3. Reopen in container

    VS Code will ask to “Reopen in Container” - click “Reopen in Container”.

  4. Start coding

    You now have a fully configured development environment with:

    • ✅ PHP/Node.js runtime
    • ✅ Xdebug debugging
    • ✅ Database access
    • ✅ All dependencies installed

Test Your Setup

Section titled “Test Your Setup”

Let’s verify everything is working correctly:

Laravel Project Test

Section titled “Laravel Project Test”

If you created a Laravel project:

  1. View the welcome page

    Navigate to https://my-first-app.local in your browser. You should see the Laravel welcome page.

  2. Check the database

    Laravel should connect to MySQL automatically. Run a migration:

    Terminal window
    php artisan migrate

Custom Project Test

Section titled “Custom Project Test”

For other project types:

  1. Check web access

    Visit your project URL and verify the web server is responding.

  2. Test file changes

    Edit a file and verify changes appear immediately (live reload enabled).

  3. Database connection

    Test database connectivity using the provided credentials.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

Your development environment is ready! Here’s what to explore next:

Development Workflow

Section titled “Development Workflow”
  1. Project Management: Use the DAMP dashboard to start/stop services
  2. Code Editing: Work in VS Code with DevContainer for best experience
  3. Database Management: Use PHPMyAdmin or your preferred database client
  4. Email Testing: Check emails in Mailpit during development
  5. Debugging: Use Xdebug for step-through debugging

Advanced Features

Section titled “Advanced Features”

Once you’re comfortable with the basics:

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

If something isn’t working:

  1. Check service status in the DAMP dashboard
  2. Verify Docker is running and accessible
  3. Clear browser cache for SSL certificate issues
  4. Restart the project if services seem stuck

For detailed troubleshooting, see our troubleshooting guide.

Congratulations! 🎉 You’ve successfully created your first DAMP project. You now have a professional development environment with SSL, database access, email testing, and debugging capabilities - all configured automatically.

Ready to dive deeper? Explore our comprehensive guides to master DAMP’s powerful features.