Prerequisites
| Tool | Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Docker with Compose v2 | Recent | Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Colima or Docker Engine all work. |
| Node.js | 24 (see .nvmrc) | nvm use picks up the right version. |
| Git | Any | Commit hooks are installed by npm install. |
PHP and Composer are optional on your machine. Every PHP command (npm run composer, npm run lint:php, npm run analyse, npm run test:php) uses your local PHP if it is 8.3+ with the dom, mbstring, tokenizer and xmlwriter extensions; otherwise it runs inside a composer:2 container. Set WHALEPRESS_PHP=container to always use the container.
Ports
The defaults are below; change any of them in .env if they clash with something else.
| Service | Default |
|---|---|
| WordPress | 8088 |
| Adminer | 8080 |
| Mailpit | 8025 |
| Vite dev server | 5173 |
Editor
VS Code users get extension recommendations from .vscode/extensions.json, and can copy the debugging and formatting settings from local/.vscode-example/. A devcontainer is also available.