# Rig

> Local-first control plane for every process in local development, on Mac and Windows. MCP for AI editors, not a raw shell. Source stays on disk.

Rig is a desktop app for Mac (Apple Silicon and Intel, macOS 13+) and Windows 11 that discovers, starts, stops, and watches local dev processes from one window. Optional cloud syncs catalog metadata and Continuity backups — never the repo.

Full text for agents: https://userig.app/llms-full.txt
Human docs: https://userig.app/docs

## Product

- [The desktop app for local development](https://userig.app/): Run, watch and restart every local process from one window on Mac or Windows — live logs, ports, and MCP for Cursor or Claude. Free forever. Download now.
- [Everything Rig ships](https://userig.app/features): One window for scripts, logs, ports, WordPress, Laravel, and a 95-tool MCP hub. See everything Rig ships — free forever.
- [How developers use Rig](https://userig.app/use-cases): How developers use Rig for morning boots, client reviews, Laravel plus Valet, AI debugging, and multi-machine sync.
- [Your AI can finally see what's running](https://userig.app/ai): Give Cursor, Claude, Codex or Windsurf your live local runtime — 95 scoped MCP tools, Cloud plugin, and agent packaging. Not a raw shell.
- [Your editor, talking to Rig Cloud](https://userig.app/acp): Agent Client Protocol for Zed and JetBrains: ask Rig Cloud about status, devices, Mesh, and tickets — separate from local MCP.
- [Your other computer, from anywhere](https://userig.app/mesh): Wake a sleeping computer, screen into it, and reach it by name. Your machines get a private network you build yourself — addresses, names, and rules in plain English.
- [Every machine, one catalog](https://userig.app/teams): Optional cloud for multi-machine sync, invites, shared catalog metadata, and fleet visibility — source stays local.
- [The studio board. The client sees your domain.](https://userig.app/agencies): Agency studio: custom Live Link domains, client lanes, fleet catalog. Preview on preview.yourstudio.com. Book a call. Source stays local.
- [Cloud that never takes your source](https://userig.app/cloud): Optional Rig cloud account: sync prefs and catalog metadata, Live Links, Continuity backups. Never your source files.
- [Rig for iPhone](https://userig.app/iphone): Companion iPhone app for Rig: see your computers, start and stop projects, ask the setup what broke, confirm every write. iOS 17+.
- [Free on your machine. Pay for Mesh.](https://userig.app/pricing): Rig is free on your computer forever, on Mac and Windows. Pro $15/mo, Team $25/seat, Agency $149/mo with 3 seats, Snag and white label domains. Save 20% yearly.
- [Get Rig](https://userig.app/download): Get Rig for Apple Silicon, Intel, and Windows beta. Free forever — then link Cursor or Claude to the local MCP hub in one click.

## Landings

- [Dev tools for freelancers](https://userig.app/for-freelancers): Freelance developers on Mac and Windows: client preview with Live Link, multi-project lanes, WordPress and Laravel beside Node — one control plane, no staging deploy.
- [Dev setup for solo developers](https://userig.app/for-solo-developers): Solo developers on Mac and Windows: one-click morning boot, merged logs, port reclaim, and MCP for Cursor — replace terminal tab archaeology.
- [Full stack local dev on Mac and Windows](https://userig.app/full-stack-local-dev): Run frontend, backend, database, and queue workers on Mac or Windows from one board — Procfile discovery, Vite + Node + Postgres, Laravel sidecars, unified logs.
- [Laravel + Valet workflow on Mac](https://userig.app/laravel-valet): Run Laravel beside Valet or Herd: Rig detects *.test sites, boots queue workers, Horizon, Reverb, and gives Cursor MCP access to live logs.
- [Local WordPress on Mac and Windows](https://userig.app/local-wordpress): One-click local WordPress on Mac and Windows with isolated MySQL and HTTPS. Rig runs php -S beside your Node stack — logs, MCP, and Live Link included.
- [MCP runtime for Cursor and Claude](https://userig.app/cursor-mcp): Link Cursor, Claude Code, or any MCP client to your live local runtime — 95 scoped tools for create, WordPress, Adminer, Live Link, Compose, logs, ports, git, and fleet.

## Docs

- [Rig knowledge base](https://userig.app/docs): Searchable guides for Rig Mac, Cloud, Continuity, MCP, and getting help — filter by product, category, and tags.
- [What is Rig?](https://userig.app/docs/what-is-rig): Rig is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that discovers, starts, stops, and watches local development processes — with logs, ports, MCP, and optional cloud.
- [MCP in Rig](https://userig.app/docs/mcp): How Rig's local MCP hub links Cursor, Claude, and other editors to live processes with scoped tools.
- [What is MCP?](https://userig.app/docs/mcp-what-is): Model Context Protocol in Rig: scoped runtime tools for AI editors, not a pasted terminal session.
- [Connect editors via ACP](https://userig.app/docs/acp): Agent Client Protocol for Rig Cloud: status, devices, Mesh, and tickets from Zed or JetBrains.
- [What ACP is in Rig](https://userig.app/docs/acp-what-is): Agent Client Protocol in Rig: editor ↔ agent for Rig Cloud context, not the same as MCP.
- [ACP vs MCP in Rig](https://userig.app/docs/acp-vs-mcp): When to use Rig’s local MCP hub versus the cloud ACP agent.

## Compare

- [Rig compared honestly](https://userig.app/compare): Honest comparisons: Rig is a local control plane. See how it sits beside Laravel Herd, Valet, Docker Desktop, and a typical private network.
- [Rig vs Laravel Herd](https://userig.app/compare/laravel-herd): Compare Rig and Laravel Herd: PHP runtimes vs local process control, MCP, Live Link, and multi-machine cloud. When to use each.
- [Rig vs Laravel Valet](https://userig.app/compare/laravel-valet): Rig vs Laravel Valet: complementary tools. Valet serves *.test; Rig boots processes, logs, MCP, and share. How they fit together.
- [Rig vs Docker Desktop](https://userig.app/compare/docker-desktop): Compare Rig and Docker Desktop for local development: containers vs native process control, logs, MCP, and when you need both.
- [Rig vs Local (WP)](https://userig.app/compare/local-wp): Compare Rig and Local by WP Engine: heavy per-site stacks vs a native desktop control plane with one-click WordPress, MCP, and Live Link.
- [Rig vs terminal tabs](https://userig.app/compare/terminal-tabs): Compare Rig with living in iTerm/Terminal tabs: process control, merged logs, MCP, and port reclaim vs a Procfile and muscle memory.
- [Rig Mesh vs a typical private network](https://userig.app/compare/mesh): Compare Rig Mesh with a typical private network: wake and screen between your machines, rules in sentences, your own range and names. Honest limits included.

## Journal and community

- [Journal](https://userig.app/blog): Notes from shipping Rig: architecture, fleet habits, and local control.
- [Changelog](https://userig.app/changelog): What shipped in Rig betas — release notes from the Sparkle feed.
- [Community](https://userig.app/community): Where Rig users talk — forum, Support, and docs.
- [About Rig](https://userig.app/about): Rig is local-first developer tooling from RigLab Corp.
- [Contact](https://userig.app/contact): RigLab Corp, 1007 N Orange St. 4th Floor Suite #6227, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, United States.

## Tools

- [Free developer tools for local development](https://userig.app/tools): Free browser tools to compare .env files, validate a Procfile, free a busy port, plan dev ports, and write MCP config. Nothing you enter is uploaded.
- [Local dev port planner: find and fix port clashes](https://userig.app/tools/dev-port-planner): List the services you run locally and get a port plan with no clashes. It flags privileged and ephemeral ports and gives .env, Procfile, and Compose snippets.
- [Env file diff checker: .env vs .env.example](https://userig.app/tools/env-file-diff): Compare .env with .env.example in your browser. Find missing, extra, duplicate, empty, and malformed keys, then copy a block of the missing ones.
- [MCP config generator: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex](https://userig.app/tools/mcp-config-generator): Generate MCP server config for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, VS Code, and more: file paths, exact JSON or TOML, add commands, and a snippet converter.
- [Port in use command generator: find and free a port](https://userig.app/tools/port-in-use-command): Get the exact commands to find which process uses a port and stop it on macOS, Linux, or Windows, with every flag explained and the safe order first.
- [Procfile validator: check every line and process type](https://userig.app/tools/procfile-validator): Check a Procfile for invalid lines, repeated process types, a missing web process, and $PORT use. See what Heroku and Rig accept, then copy a clean version.

## Ports

- [Default dev server ports and port collisions](https://userig.app/ports): Default ports for Vite, Next.js, Django, Rails, PostgreSQL, and other dev tools, a map of the ports that collide, and what each does when its port is busy.
- [Angular dev server port 4200: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/angular): Angular dev server uses TCP port 4200 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Astro dev server port 4321: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/astro): Astro dev server uses TCP port 4321 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Django runserver port 8000: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/django): Django runserver uses TCP port 8000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Flask development server port 5000: change it](https://userig.app/ports/flask): Flask development server uses TCP port 5000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Laravel artisan serve port 8000: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/laravel-artisan-serve): Laravel artisan serve uses TCP port 8000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [MySQL server port 3306: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/mysql): MySQL server uses TCP ports 3306 and 33060 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Next.js dev server port 3000: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/nextjs): Next.js dev server uses TCP port 3000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Nuxt dev server port 3000: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/nuxt): Nuxt dev server uses TCP port 3000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [PostgreSQL server port 5432: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/postgres): PostgreSQL server uses TCP port 5432 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Rails server port 3000: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/rails): Rails server uses TCP port 3000 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Storybook dev server port 6006: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/storybook): Storybook dev server uses TCP port 6006 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.
- [Vite dev server port 5173: change it and fix clashes](https://userig.app/ports/vite): Vite dev server uses TCP ports 5173 and 4173 by default. See what happens when it is busy, how to change it, and which other tools claim the same port.

## Glossary

- [Glossary of local development terms](https://userig.app/glossary): Short definitions of ports, localhost, loopback addresses, Procfiles, process managers, .env files, and MCP, with sources and notes on how Rig treats them.
- [.env file: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/dotenv-file): A .env file is a plain text file of KEY=value pairs that a library, framework, or tool loads into a process’s environment at startup.
- [EADDRINUSE: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/eaddrinuse): EADDRINUSE is the error code for “address already in use”. What it is, how it works, and a common confusion.
- [Environment variable: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/environment-variable): An environment variable is a named string value that a process receives from the process that started it.
- [Health check: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/health-check): A health check is a small, repeatable request that reports whether a service is alive and able to do its job.
- [localhost: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/localhost): localhost is the reserved hostname for the machine you are on. What it is, how it works, and a common confusion.
- [Loopback address: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/loopback-address): A loopback address is an IP address that sends traffic back to the same machine. What it is, how it works, and a common confusion.
- [Model Context Protocol: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/model-context-protocol): The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source standard for connecting AI applications to external systems.
- [Network port: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/network-port): A network port is a 16-bit number, 0 to 65535, that identifies an endpoint on a host for a transport protocol such as TCP or UDP.
- [Process manager: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/process-manager): A process manager starts programs, tracks them, captures their output, and decides what happens when they exit: restart, stay stopped, or report the failure.
- [Procfile: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/procfile): A Procfile is a text file named Procfile that declares an app’s process types, one per line, as a type name, a colon, and the command that runs it.
- [Reverse proxy: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/reverse-proxy): A reverse proxy is a server that accepts requests on behalf of one or more backend servers, forwards them, and returns the responses.
- [Sidecar process: definition and meaning](https://userig.app/glossary/sidecar-process): A sidecar is a helper that runs beside a main application and supports it. In Kubernetes it is a container in the same Pod.

## Learn

- [Learn: local development guides](https://userig.app/learn): Guides and topic hubs on ports, env files and secrets, local dev processes, and MCP. Each guide cites its sources, and every page shows when it was updated.
- [.env and .env.example checklist for teams](https://userig.app/learn/dotenv-env-example-checklist): A checklist for keeping .env, .env.example, and secrets in order: what to commit, ignore rules that work, drift checks, parser quirks, and leak response.
- [Env files and secrets: what to commit, what to rotate](https://userig.app/learn/env-files-and-secrets): How environment variables and .env files work, what to commit, how to catch drift from .env.example, how to respond to a leak, and where a .env file stops.
- [Find what is using a port and free it](https://userig.app/learn/find-and-free-a-port): Find the process listening on a port and stop it safely on macOS, Linux, and Windows, with commands for each system, TERM before KILL, and fixes that last.
- [Local dev processes: run, supervise, and restart servers](https://userig.app/learn/local-dev-processes): Run a web app, API, and worker together: tabs, Procfiles, Compose, and process managers compared, with health checks, sidecars, and local HTTPS explained.
- [localhost vs 127.0.0.1 vs 0.0.0.0 explained](https://userig.app/learn/localhost-vs-127-0-0-1-vs-0-0-0-0): What localhost, 127.0.0.1, and 0.0.0.0 mean for a dev server, who can reach each bind address, and why your phone cannot open 127.0.0.1.
- [MCP config file locations for coding agents](https://userig.app/learn/mcp-config-file-locations): Where Cursor, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Windsurf, VS Code, Copilot CLI, and OpenCode read MCP config, with root keys, transports, and token safety.
- [MCP for coding agents: config files, transports, tokens](https://userig.app/learn/mcp-for-coding-agents): How coding agents use MCP servers: where Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, VS Code, and others keep config, stdio versus HTTP, and how to keep tokens out of git.
- [Dev server port conflicts: causes, fixes, defaults](https://userig.app/learn/ports-and-conflicts): How ports work, which dev servers default to which port, what each does when its port is busy, and how to find and free a port on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
- [Procfile guide: syntax, process types, and local use](https://userig.app/learn/procfile-guide): Learn the Procfile format, what web, worker, and release mean, a worked file for web, worker, and scheduler, and how Foreman, Honcho, Overmind, and Rig run it.
- [Run multiple dev servers locally: six approaches compared](https://userig.app/learn/run-multiple-dev-servers-locally): Compare terminal tabs, tmux, concurrently, Procfile runners, Docker Compose, and Rig for running a web app, API, and worker together, with a trade-off table.

## Snag

- [Snag, client feedback by Rig](https://snag.userig.app/): Coming soon. Share the site on your computer as a link. Your client clicks anywhere. You get the screenshot, the device and the server logs. Early access for web agencies. Clients never pay.

## Optional

- [Security](https://userig.app/security): Local versus cloud, MCP, Mesh, Live Links, and disclosure.
- [Privacy](https://userig.app/privacy): How Rig and userig.app handle data.
- [Cookies](https://userig.app/cookies): Cookies and trackers on userig.app, and how to turn them off.
- [Terms](https://userig.app/terms): Terms of use.
- [Status](https://status.userig.app): Cloud status.
- [Forum](https://community.userig.app): Community.

## Key facts

- Product of RigLab Corp, Wilmington, Delaware. Support: help@userig.tech
- Not a hosted IDE, not a cloud coding VM, not a PHP runtime
- Complements Laravel Herd, Valet, Docker Desktop, and Local WP
- Desktop app free forever on the Hobby plan; paid Pro, Team and Agency plans add Mesh