# Laravel Valet

What is Laravel Valet?

Laravel Valet is a development environment for macOS that runs Laravel applications using Nginx and DnsMasq. It provides a minimalist, lightweight alternative to virtual machines or Docker for local development.

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## Origin

Valet was introduced to streamline local development for Laravel projects, especially for macOS users, by eliminating the overhead of traditional virtualized environments.

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## Why is Laravel Valet Used?

1. **Simplifies Local Development**: Requires minimal setup and is fast to use.
2. **Supports Multiple Frameworks**: Works with Laravel, WordPress, and other PHP projects.
3. **Uses Native Tools**: Leverages macOS utilities for lightweight performance.

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## Best Practices

1. **Use for Lightweight Projects**: Ideal for simple local development setups.
2. **Combine with Version Control**: Use tools like Git to manage projects alongside Valet.
3. **Avoid Complex Environments**: Use Docker or Homestead for multi-service setups.

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## Example in Action

Install Valet:

```bash
composer global require laravel/valet
valet install
```

Park your project:

```bash
cd ~/Sites
valet park
```

Access your project at `http://your-project.test`. Laravel Valet provides a fast, efficient, and minimalist local development environment for macOS.

Read this definition in a browser: https://ranetrace.com/glossary/laravel-valet