Mac process manager for local dev

Rig is a Mac process manager built for local development, not a generic task killer. It discovers npm scripts, Procfiles, Laravel artisan sidecars, and Compose stacks, then gives each process a name, health state, port, and merged log line in one window. When something crashes, Rig can free the stuck port and restart the service while explaining what failed — without hunting through six terminal tabs. A local MCP hub lets Cursor or Claude read health, logs, and ports and restart a dead sidecar with scoped tools instead of a raw shell. Source stays on your Mac. Optional cloud syncs catalog metadata across studio Macs; it never uploads your repo. Rig complements Docker, Herd, and Valet — it is the control plane around them.

Is Rig a replacement for Docker or Herd?

No. Docker runs containers; Herd or Valet serve PHP. Rig orchestrates the processes on your Mac — Vite, queues, APIs, workers — with logs, ports, and MCP beside those tools.

Does Rig work offline?

Yes. Core process management, logs, ports, and the local MCP hub work fully offline on your Mac.

Related

https://userig.app/mac-process-manager

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Mac process manager

Every local process. One window.

A web project on your Mac is usually several programs at once: the site, an API, a database, a background worker. Rig is a native Mac process manager for development. It finds your scripts and Procfiles, starts your stack, streams every log into one place, reclaims ports and restarts crashed sidecars, without six terminal tabs.

Download for MacProcess table docs

Free forever on your computer. Pay only for Mesh (Pro, $15 a month).

rig / acme-stack / processeslive
ProcessStatus
webnpm run dev · Vite:5173up 2h 14mRunning
apiProcfile · Node:4000up 2h 14mRunning
queuephp artisan queue:worknoneup 2h 14mRunning
postgresdocker compose:5432up 2h 15mRunning

4 processes · 3 ports · one window

The problem

Six tabs, and no idea which one died.

When every part of a project runs in its own terminal tab, nobody tells you when one of them stops. You find out when the page breaks.

Living in terminal tabs
  • A tab per service, none of them named
  • A crashed queue worker sits there silently for hours
  • “Address already in use” and a hunt with lsof to find out why
  • Logs scattered across six scrollbacks
  • Your AI assistant guesses from a pasted error
With Rig
  • Every service named, with its health, port and uptime
  • Crashes caught, explained and restarted for you
  • Stuck ports freed with one click
  • One merged log stream, filterable per service
  • Cursor and Claude read the real state over MCP
Run · observe · recover

Name it, watch it, bring it back.

Rig does three jobs for every process on your Mac: starts it, shows you what it is doing, and recovers it when it falls over.

Run: Rig finds what you already have

You should not have to describe your project twice. Rig reads npm scripts, Procfiles, Laravel artisan sidecars and Docker Compose stacks, then names every service so you can start the lot with one button.

01
rig / add projectlive
rig › scanning ~/Sites/acme
found › package.json → dev, build, preview
found › Procfile → api, worker
found › artisan → queue:work, schedule:work
found › docker-compose.yml → postgres, redis
rig › 6 services named. Press Start.

Observe: one log stream, not six

Reading six scrollbacks to find one error is slow. Laravel queues, Vite, Node APIs and Compose sidecars share one colour-tagged log stream, and Rig watches health and ports as they run.

02
rig / acme-stack / logslive
web › VITE ready in 412 ms · localhost:5173
api › listening on :4000
queue › Processing: App\Jobs\SendInvoice
postgres › database system is ready to accept connections
queue › SQLSTATE[HY000] connection refused
rig › queue exited 1 · restarted automatically

Recover: crashes parsed, ports freed

A process that dies overnight should not cost you the morning. Rig parses the crash, frees the stuck listener that is holding the port, and restarts only the service that died.

03
rig / acme-stack / apilive
api › Error: listen EADDRINUSE :::4000
rig › :4000 is held by node (pid 8812), left over from yesterday
rig › freed :4000 · restarting api
api › listening on :4000

Process table docs →Run →Observe →Control →

AI & MCP

Your AI assistant sees the same window.

An assistant that cannot see your processes guesses. Rig runs a local MCP hub, so Cursor or Claude can read health, logs and ports, and bring a crashed sidecar back. It gets a short list of scoped tools, never a raw shell, and changes wait for your yes.

list_projectsget_healthget_logswho_owns_portdiagnose_crashrestart_project

Cursor & Claude MCP →AI & MCP →

Honest comparisons

Not a container engine or a PHP runtime.

Rig is the control plane around the tools you already use. See how Rig sits beside Docker Desktop, Herd, Valet and living in iTerm tabs.

Rig vs terminal tabs

Same commands, but named, watched, logged together and restarted when they crash.

Rig vs terminal tabs

Rig vs Docker Desktop

Docker runs containers. Rig runs the native processes around them, and can start Compose sidecars too.

Rig vs Docker Desktop

Rig vs Laravel Herd

Herd serves PHP. Rig runs Vite, queues and workers beside it, with logs and MCP.

Rig vs Herd

Rig vs Laravel Valet

Keep Valet for .test domains. Rig watches everything running underneath.

Rig vs Valet

All comparisons →

Built for the Mac

Native, offline, and private.

A process manager should not need the internet or your source code to do its job.

Native

A real Mac app

Runs from the menu bar, starts at login if you want it to, and stays out of the way until something breaks.

Offline

Works with no connection

Process management, logs, ports and the local MCP hub all work fully offline on your Mac.

Private

Source stays on your Mac

The optional cloud account syncs your project list between machines. It never uploads your repo.

Security
Questions

Fair questions

Is Rig a replacement for Docker or Herd?

No. Docker runs containers; Herd or Valet serve PHP. Rig orchestrates the processes on your Mac — Vite, queues, APIs, workers — with logs, ports, and MCP beside those tools.

Does Rig work offline?

Yes. Core process management, logs, ports, and the local MCP hub work fully offline on your Mac.

Other workflows

Rig for the way you work

Laravel + Valet

Keep Valet's .test domains. Rig watches the queue workers, Horizon and logs underneath.

See the workflow

Local WordPress

A fresh WordPress site in one click, with WP-CLI, the database and HTTPS built in.

See the workflow

Cursor & Claude MCP

Your AI assistant reads real ports, logs and health instead of guessing from your code.

See the workflow

For freelancers

Show a client the work running on your computer with a link, not a staging deploy.

See the workflow

For solo developers

Every side project on one board, back up after a reboot without touching a terminal.

See the workflow

Full stack local dev

Web, API, database and workers started in the right order with one button.

See the workflow

Download the Mac control plane.

Free on your own Mac. One window for every local process, its port and its log.

DownloadSee all features