Local Development

Set up the DocuCast project locally using Docker Compose

This guide will walk you through setting up DocuCast on your local machine for development. The project uses Docker Compose to provide a consistent and isolated environment.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Docker Desktop (or Docker Engine + Docker Compose)
• Composer (PHP dependency manager)
• Node.js & npm (Frontend dependency manager)
• Git

Setup Guide

Follow these steps to get the application running locally.

1. Clone the Repository

   First, clone the DocuCast repository to your local machine.

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/docucast.git
   cd docucast
   
2. Install PHP and Node.js Dependencies

   Install the required backend and frontend packages.

   composer install
   npm install
   
3. Environment Configuration

   Create a copy of the example environment file.

   cp .env.example .env
   

   Generate the application key:

   php artisan key:generate
   
4. Start the Docker Environment

   DocuCast uses Docker Compose to run PostgreSQL, Redis, Traefik, Nginx, the PHP app, and the Reverb WebSocket server.

   Start all services in detached mode:

   docker compose up -d
   

   The first time you run this command, Docker will download and build the necessary images, which may take a few minutes.

5. Run Migrations and Build Assets

   Once the database container is up and running, execute the database migrations. Since the application is running inside Docker, you can run the migrations either locally (if you have PHP/PostgreSQL extensions) or inside the container.

   Using local PHP (requires local PostgreSQL extensions):

   php artisan migrate
   

   Or inside the Docker container:

   docker compose exec app php artisan migrate
   

   Next, build the frontend assets using Vite:

   npm run build
   

   For continuous asset building during development, use npm run dev.

Accessing the Application

Once everything is up and running, you can access the application through Traefik’s routing:

• Web Application: http://docucast.localhost
• Reverb WebSockets: Routed automatically via Traefik on the same host path.

Useful Commands

Here are some helpful commands during local development:

• View container logs: docker compose logs -f
• Stop the environment: docker compose down
• Access the app container shell: docker compose exec app bash