Projects

Every project Rezure serves gets its own Nginx virtual host and a .test domain. The Projects page lists them all, shows whether each domain resolves yet, and puts the things you do with a project (open it, share it, check it, open a terminal) on its row.

Where projects come from

Folders in www

Each folder in C:\rezure\www is a project. A folder named myapp becomes myapp.test. Folders whose names start with . are skipped.

Linked folders

A project that lives somewhere else, D:\work\client-site, say, can be linked in place. Rezure records the path and nothing else; the folder isn't copied, moved, or written to. Linked projects carry a Linked badge. See Add an existing folder below.

New projects

New project creates a project in www from a template: Laravel, WordPress, blank PHP, or static HTML. See New Project.

Domains

• The suffix is always .test. It isn't configurable on purpose: browsers force .dev onto HTTPS, and .local belongs to mDNS on many networks.
• A domain may use letters, digits, and hyphens, with dots between parts (api.myapp.test). A part can't start or end with a hyphen, and is at most 63 characters.
• A folder whose name has an underscore, a space, or other characters can't make a valid domain. Its row says "Not served: rename the folder using letters, digits and hyphens only." and it gets no virtual host until you rename it.

Sites are served over plain http:// on port 80. There's no local HTTPS.

Frameworks and document root

Rezure reads each project's files to work out its framework, and the framework decides how Nginx serves it:

• PHP frameworks are served from the folder that holds their front controller: public\ for Laravel, CodeIgniter 4, Symfony, Slim, and Laminas, web\ for Drupal, Bedrock, and Yii 2, webroot\ for CakePHP, and the project folder for WordPress, CodeIgniter 3, Joomla, and plain PHP.
• JavaScript and Node projects (Vue, React, Svelte, Angular, Astro, Next.js, Nuxt, Node) are passed through to their own dev server, which Rezure starts when you click Open. See Dev Servers.
• Static HTML and Unknown projects are served from the project folder as plain files. A linked folder that no longer exists is shown as Missing.

The most specific match wins, so a CodeIgniter 4 app with a package.json for its Sass is CodeIgniter 4, not Node, and a Laravel app on Inertia is Laravel, not Vue. Each project shows its framework as a badge. Click it to pick another framework, or a Custom folder… of your own, and the change is live at once. The full list, the detection rules, and how to add a framework of your own are on Frameworks.

PHP projects share the same Nginx rules: static files first, everything else through index.php (the front-controller pattern), dotfiles such as .env and .git answer 404, request bodies up to 64 MB, and PHP given up to 300 seconds per request.

Rezure regenerates the configs in C:\rezure\data\nginx\vhosts\ whenever projects change, so edits made there by hand are lost.

The hosts file

A .test domain only resolves once it has a line in the Windows hosts file. On the Projects page:

• A domain in the accent colour resolves ("Resolves in the browser").
• A muted domain doesn't yet ("Not in the hosts file yet: it won't resolve until you sync").

Click Sync hosts file to add every missing domain and drop stale ones. Windows asks for administrator approval each time the file actually needs to change; the button reads "Waiting for admin approval…" meanwhile, and greys out with "Every domain already resolves" when there's nothing to do.

Rezure only touches its own block of the file, between these two lines:

# --- Rezure managed entries (do not edit below) ---
127.0.0.1	myapp.test
# --- Rezure managed entries end ---

Everything else in the file is left exactly as it was. Any 127.0.0.1 <domain> line counts as resolving, including ones you added yourself.

To skip the button, turn on Auto-write hosts entries in Settings. Rezure then syncs once each time it starts, with one administrator prompt at startup if anything changed.

The project list

• Search projects or domains filters by name or domain.
• List and Grid switch the layout.
• Each project shows its name, folder, domain, framework badge, and a usage line: "Not opened yet", or "Opened 3× · last today". Opening the site, its folder, or its terminal from Rezure counts. Hover the framework badge to see the folder it's served from; click it to change the framework.
• Dev servers, next to Sync hosts file, lists the JavaScript and Node projects served by their own dev server, with a badge counting the ones running. See Dev Servers.
• A linked folder that's gone shows "Folder not found: it may have moved, or be on a drive that isn't connected." It stays listed, without a virtual host, so it comes back when the drive does.

Actions on a project

Each row has, in order:

Action	What it does
Open	Opens http://<domain> in your default browser. For a dev server project it starts the dev server first and opens the browser once it answers; the dot on the button is green while it runs.
Share	Starts a public Cloudflare link for the project. See Sharing a Project.
Folder	Opens the project folder in Explorer.
Requirements check	Checks the project's PHP extensions, HTTPS from PHP, mail, and database settings. See Requirements Check.
PHP version	Pins the project to its own PHP version. See PHP Per Project.
Node.js version	Pins the Node.js version its terminal and its dev server use. See Node.js.
Terminal	Opens a terminal in the folder with the project's PHP and Node first on PATH. See Project Terminal.
× (linked projects only)	Removes the project from Rezure.

The PHP and Node.js buttons show each runtime's logo: grey while the project follows the global version, in colour on a filled button once a version is pinned. The Share icon is filled while a share is live.

There's no rename action. To rename a project in www, rename its folder, but note that the project then counts as a new one, so its usage history, PHP/Node pins, framework choice, and dev server settings don't follow.

Add an existing folder

1. Click Add folder ("Serve a project from a folder outside your www directory").
2. Click Choose a folder and pick it.
3. Rezure shows the framework it detected and the folder it will be served from, such as Laravel served from public/, with Change next to the framework if detection got it wrong. A JavaScript project reads "Served through its dev server". With no markers: "No framework markers found here: it'll be served from the folder itself. Pick the framework below if you know it." If you picked a project's public/ folder rather than the project itself, the dialog says so and offers to add the project folder instead. See Frameworks.
4. Check the Name and Domain. The domain is suggested from the folder name; if that's taken, a number is added (myapp-2.test). You can type any valid domain; it doesn't have to end in .test, though .test is the safe choice.
5. Click Add project, then Sync hosts file.

Rezure refuses some folders and says why before saving anything:

• a drive root ("serving a whole drive isn't safe")
• C:\Windows, C:\Program Files, or C:\Program Files (x86)
• a folder inside www ("it's already inside your www folder, so it's listed automatically")
• a folder that's already linked, or a domain another project uses

Linked projects are kept in C:\rezure\etc\links.json. Their name and domain can't be edited after linking; remove the project and add it again to change them.

Remove a linked project

Click × on its row ("Remove from Rezure (the folder is left alone)") and confirm. Rezure stops serving it and drops its virtual host. The folder and everything in it stays exactly where it is, and you can add it again any time: re-adding the same path with the same name brings back its history and pins.

Projects in www have no remove action: move the folder out of www instead.

Troubleshooting

The domain doesn't open

Check, in order: the domain is in the accent colour (if not, Sync hosts file); Nginx is running; the project's PHP service is running. A 502 Bad Gateway means Nginx is fine but PHP isn't. Then try a private browser window, in case an old failure is cached.

The hosts prompt keeps coming back

Another tool (Laragon and XAMPP both do this) is rewriting the hosts file and removing Rezure's entries. Stop the other tool, or turn off its own hosts management.

"hosts file update was cancelled"

The administrator prompt was declined. Click Sync hosts file again and choose Yes.

The project shows "Not served"

Its folder name can't be a domain. Rename the folder to letters, digits, and hyphens.

The site answers 404 although the code works elsewhere

The project is served from the wrong folder: a front-controller framework served from its project folder instead of public/ answers every URL with 404. Hover the framework badge to check, then click it and pick the right framework. See Frameworks.

"This project's dev server isn't running"

The project is a JavaScript or Node app and nothing answers on its port. Click Open, or Start in Dev servers. See Dev Servers.

Related

• Frameworks: detection, document roots, and adding your own
• Dev Servers: Vite, Next.js, Astro, and Nuxt on .test domains
• New Project: start from a template
• Requirements Check: find what a project is missing
• Project Terminal: run artisan, composer, and npm