How to access laravel valet project from local network?

# How to Access Your Laravel Valet Project from the Local Network: A Developer's Guide As a senior developer, I often see developers working with local development environments and then struggling with deployment or access issues when trying to share those projects across a local network. Specifically, when using tools like Laravel Valet, understanding how networking and process management interact is crucial. The scenario you described—running a project via Valet and trying to access it via an IP address—is very common. While Valet simplifies the setup, accessing services over a local network requires understanding how your operating system, ports, and firewalls manage traffic. Let’s dive into why your attempt might be failing and explore the most robust solutions. ## The Core Conflict: Valet vs. Artisan Serve To understand the solution, we must first distinguish between how Laravel Valet operates and how `php artisan serve` functions. **Laravel Valet** is a fantastic tool for setting up local development environments quickly using SSH. It manages virtual hosts and symlinks, making it excellent for working on your machine. When you access `project-name.dev`, Valet handles the routing internally via the SSH tunnel. **`php artisan serve`** is a simple, lightweight PHP development server. By default, it binds to `127.0.0.1` (localhost), meaning it is *only* accessible from the machine it is running on. Your attempt to bind it to your IP address (`--host 192.168.1.5`) tells the server to listen on that specific network interface, but this often runs into permission or routing issues if you are not using a dedicated web server setup. ## Solution 1: The Direct Fix for `php artisan serve` (Testing) If your goal is simply to test local network access for development purposes, binding the server correctly is key. While sometimes complex due to macOS networking specifics, ensure you are listening on an interface that allows external connections. Try running the command again, ensuring you are using the correct port and checking firewall settings: ```bash # Run this command from your project root directory php artisan serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 80 ``` **Why `0.0.0.0`?** Binding to `0.0.0.0` tells the server to listen on *all* available network interfaces, not just a single IP address. This is generally the most reliable way for a development server to be reachable across the LAN. After running this command, try accessing your site from another device on the same network using your Mac’s IP address: `http://192.168.1.5:80`. If this still fails, the issue is likely a firewall blocking incoming connections (see Solution 2). ## Solution 2: The Professional Approach – Using Dedicated Web Servers For anything beyond quick local testing, relying solely on `php artisan serve` for network access is not scalable or secure. The industry standard—and the recommended approach when building production-ready applications based on Laravel principles—is to use a proper web server like Nginx or Apache, often deployed via Docker or directly onto your server environment. When you deploy an application, you are moving from a local development setup to a networked service. This usually involves: 1. **SSH Access:** Connecting securely to the remote machine. 2. **Web Server Configuration:** Setting up Nginx/Apache to proxy requests to your Laravel application's public directory (where `public/index.php` resides). 3. **Firewall Management:** Ensuring ports 80 and 443 are open for external traffic. This method provides better performance, security, and aligns perfectly with the deployment practices promoted by the Laravel ecosystem. For deeper insights into building robust, deployable applications, understanding these infrastructure layers is vital, much like mastering the architecture discussed on [laravelcompany.com](https://laravelcompany.com). ## Conclusion In summary, accessing your Laravel project from the local network hinges on whether you are using a simple test server or a full web stack. For quick testing, use `php artisan serve --host 0.0.0.0`. However, for any serious deployment or shared access, transition to setting up a dedicated web server (like Nginx) behind a firewall. This ensures your application is not only accessible but also secure and performant across your local network.