Govard Toolbox

Govard Toolbox

Govard is a containerized development environment orchestrator. This skill provides high-level shortcuts and references.

Quick Reference

Environment Lifecycle

| Shortcut | Full Command | Purpose | |----------|--------------|---------| | govard up | govard env up | Start project | | govard down | govard env down | Stop project | | govard sh | govard shell | Interactive shell | | govard ps | govard env ps | List containers |

Common Commands

# Start environment
govard up

# Stop environment
govard down

# Stop with volumes (clean slate)
govard down -v

# Shell into PHP container
govard sh

# Run single command
govard sh -c "ls -la"

# View logs
govard logs -f

# Restart services
govard restart

Database Operations

# Connect to MySQL
govard db connect

# Run query
govard db query "SELECT * FROM admin_user LIMIT 1"

# Import dump
govard db import --file backup.sql --drop

# Export database
govard db dump --no-noise -e staging

# Direct sync from remote
govard db import --stream-db -e staging --drop

Remote Sync

# Add remote
govard remote add staging ssh://user@staging.server/path

# Test connection
govard remote test staging

# Sync everything
govard sync --source staging --full

# Plan before sync (preview)
govard sync --source staging --full --plan

# Skip noise (cache, logs)
govard sync --source staging --full --no-noise --no-pii

Bootstrap

# From staging (full setup)
govard bootstrap --clone -e staging --no-pii --no-noise --yes

# Preview plan
govard bootstrap --clone -e staging --plan

Tool Execution

# Run framework CLI
govard tool magento cache:flush
govard tool magerun cache:clear
govard tool artisan migrate
govard tool drush cr

# Node tools
govard tool npm install
govard tool composer install

Services

# Redis
govard redis flush
govard redis cli

# Varnish
govard varnish purge

# Open URLs
govard open app      # Main site
govard open admin    # Admin panel
govard open db       # PHPMyAdmin
govard open mail     # Mailhog

Debugging

# Xdebug control
govard debug on
govard debug off
govard debug status

# Diagnostics
govard diag
govard diag --fix    # Auto-fix issues

Connecting an IDE

Xdebug listens on port 9003. govard debug on only enables the extension inside the container — the IDE side still needs to be configured to listen and map paths, or nothing will connect.

VSCode (.vscode/launch.json):

{
    "name": "Listen for Govard Xdebug",
    "type": "php",
    "request": "launch",
    "port": 9003,
    "pathMappings": { "/var/www/html": "${workspaceFolder}" }
}

PhpStorm: Settings → PHP → Debug → set debug port to 9003; Settings → PHP → Servers → add a server named to match the project, host .test, port 443, debugger Xdebug, path mapping /var/www/html → project directory.

If it still doesn't connect: check govard debug status, confirm the XDEBUG_SESSION cookie matches stack.xdebug_session in .govard.yml, and confirm the IDE is actually listening on 9003 before triggering a request. Disable Xdebug (govard debug off) when not actively debugging — it slows down every request noticeably.

Configuration

The .govard.yml at the project root defines the framework, PHP/Node/DB versions, services, and domain — it's committed to the repo, so no govard init is needed for an existing project. Config is layered (later overrides earlier), and only .govard.yml is writable via govard config set:

| File | Purpose | |---|---| | .govard.yml | Team-shared base config (committed) | | .govard.local.yml (or .govard/.govard.local.yml) | Developer-local overrides (gitignored) | | .govard..yml | Environment overrides, activated via GOVARD_ENV= |

project_name: myproject
framework: magento2          # magento2, laravel, symfony, wordpress, nextjs, …
framework_version: 2.4.7
domain: myproject.test
stack:
  php_version: "8.3"
  node_version: "20"
  db_version: "10.6"
  services:
    web_server: apache        # apache | nginx
    db: mariadb               # mariadb | mysql | none
    search: opensearch        # opensearch | elasticsearch | none
    cache: redis              # redis | valkey | none
  features:
    xdebug: false
    varnish: false

# Auto-config after DB sync (rebuilds app-level config, e.g. Magento's env.php)
govard config auto

# Read a value without opening the file
govard config get stack.php_version

# Write a value — only .govard.yml is writable this way
govard config set stack.php_version 8.4

Detailed References

See bundled documents:

• [COMMANDS.md](COMMANDS.md) - Exhaustive command reference
• [GUIDES.md](GUIDES.md) - Case studies and patterns
• [FAQ.md](FAQ.md) - Troubleshooting

For Magento-specific: Load govard-magento skill For Laravel-specific: Load govard-laravel skill

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: ddtcorex
• Source: ddtcorex/dev-skills-hub
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.