The easiest way to get started with OpnForm is through our official managed service in the Cloud. It takes just 1 minute to try out the builder for free, with high availability, backups, security, and maintenance all managed for you.
We recommend using our Docker-based development environment for the easiest setup experience. It provides hot-reload, debugging support, and all necessary services pre-configured. See our Docker Development Setup guide to get started with Docker.

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Manual Setup

If you prefer to set up OpnForm manually or can’t use Docker, follow the instructions below.

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Requirements

Before proceeding with the local deployment, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed on your system:
  • PHP: Version 8.0 or higher
  • Composer: The PHP dependency manager
  • Node.js: Version 14 or higher
  • NPM or Yarn: Package managers for Node.js
  • MySQL, or PostgreSQL: A supported database system
Make sure these components are properly installed and configured on your local machine before proceeding with the deployment steps.

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Local setup

  1. Install Laravel Herd -Download and install Laravel Herd from the official website: https://herd.laravel.com/
  2. Clone the repository and install dependencies: 
    git clone https://github.com/JhumanJ/opnform && cd OpnForm
cd api && composer install
cd ../client && npm install
  3. Compile assets and run dev server: 
    cd client && npm run dev # or build
  4. Set up environment files: 
    ./scripts/setup-env.sh
    This script will create the necessary .env files for both the API and client.
  5. Run the migrations: 
    cd api
php artisan migrate
  6. Set up Herd: For detailed instructions on setting up Herd, refer to the Herd documentation.
    • Open the Herd application
    • Add your OpnForm’s api directory to Herd
    • Herd will automatically configure a local domain for your project
    This will start the Nuxt.js development server, typically on http://localhost:3000.
  7. Access your local OpnForm installation:
    • The API will be available at the domain provided by Herd (e.g., http://opnform.test)
    • The frontend will be accessible at http://localhost:3000