Laravel Herd 2.0 is out for macOS and Windows. The release adds Herd Studio, a browser panel for working with coding agents next to your local .test sites. It also adds isolated workspaces for running several agents on one app, automatic php artisan dev support, a new Applications window, and deploys to Laravel Cloud.
The announcement post says Herd 2.0 "turns Herd from the fastest way to install PHP into the place where Laravel apps get built." If you only use Herd to serve PHP sites, the post says your setup stays the same:
If Herd is already part of your daily setup, nothing changes unless you want it to.
Every AI feature can also be turned off.
Herd Studio
When Herd Studio is enabled, Herd adds an "Edit with Herd" badge to every page of your local sites. This applies to every site Herd serves, not only Laravel apps. Clicking the badge opens Herd Studio for that site. You can also visit /herd-studio on a site, or run herd studio from the project directory.
Herd Studio shows a live preview of the site beside a set of tools:
- Agent chat with multiple conversations per site, plan approval, and image attachments
- Code for browsing and editing files, with PHP autocompletion
- Changes to review the agent's edits as a diff
- Terminal, Logs (via Laravel Pail), and Queue panels
- Site settings for PHP version, HTTPS, isolation, and services
- Tinker and Insights for Herd Pro users
- Share via Expose and Cloud for deploying to Laravel Cloud
When your app throws an exception, Herd Studio shows the latest one and lets you pass it to an agent.
Herd does not ship its own agent. Agent chat runs on opencode, and you connect the AI provider you already use. If you don't have an AI subscription, Herd Studio includes free models through opencode. The Herd Studio docs list the settings, including an option to expose the Herd MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and other agents.
Workspaces
A workspace is an isolated copy of a site on its own git branch and its own subdomain. If you create a workspace named feature-auth for shop.test, Herd serves it at feature-auth.shop.test. You can run a different agent in each workspace without switching branches.
cd ~/Herd/shop
herd workspace feature-auth
Herd creates the workspace as a copy-on-write clone, so it takes no extra disk space until files change. It also detects existing git worktrees and serves each one as a subdomain of the site.
By default, a workspace shares its parent's database. You can pass --database=clone to copy the data or --database=empty to start fresh and run migrations. Isolated databases work with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Herd also copies the .env file and updates APP_URL, SESSION_DOMAIN, SANCTUM_STATEFUL_DOMAINS, and DB_DATABASE to match the workspace.
The CLI includes herd workspaces, workspace:switch, workspace:open, workspace:merge, and workspace:delete. The workspaces docs cover each command and the herd.yml options.
Automatic Dev Server
With Herd Studio enabled, Herd starts the dev server when you open a site in the browser. For Laravel 13.25 or later, it runs php artisan dev. For other apps with a Vite config, it runs the dev script from package.json with the project's package manager.
If the site has no production build yet, Herd holds the first request for up to 15 seconds while Vite starts. This prevents a missing Vite manifest error on the first page load. Herd stops the server one minute after you close the last Herd Studio tab for the site, if the site has had no requests for five minutes. See the dev server docs for details.
Applications Window and Laravel Cloud
Your apps now have a dedicated Applications window. From there you can create an app from a prompt, check on agent workspaces, and deploy. You can connect a Laravel Cloud account and deploy each app from Herd with a "Deploy to Laravel Cloud" button.
AI Controls in Herd 2.1
Herd 2.1 is due out shortly, and it adds separate settings for each AI feature in the AI tab of the Herd settings. You can turn each of these on or off:
- Herd Studio itself
- The Herd Studio badge on your sites
- The Herd MCP server for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and other coding agents
- Runtime context for agents, such as queries, logs, jobs, dumps, and HTTP calls, with an option to include PHP CLI commands
- Automatic dev server starts
- Notifications when an agent finishes
- Background updates for the bundled coding tools
Turning off the Herd Studio toggle disables Herd Studio completely, including all of its subprocesses. The MCP server and runtime context settings stay separate, so you can keep them for an agent you run in your own terminal or turn them off as well.
Pricing
Herd is still free. The free version now includes Herd Studio and the PHP Profiler.
Herd Pro costs $99 for the first year and $79 per year after that. It adds MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, and other services, plus Mail, Insights, Tinker, and runtime context for coding agents. Pro also includes email support from the Herd team.
Herd for Teams costs $299 for the first year and $240 per year after that, for 10 licenses. It adds a license management portal, shared project configuration, and priority email support.
You can download Herd 2.0 from the Herd website, and the full list of changes is in the changelog.
