Quickstart

Get Stratus running locally and process your first transaction in minutes.

This guide walks you through cloning Stratus, running the setup script, creating your account, and reaching the dashboard — all in under ten minutes.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed before you begin:

Requirement	Minimum version	Notes
PHP	8.2	With extensions: pdo, mbstring, openssl, tokenizer, xml, ctype, json
Composer	2.x	getcomposer.org
Node.js	18.x	Includes npm
Database	—	MySQL 8+, MariaDB 10.6+, PostgreSQL 15+, or SQLite (zero-config)

Run php -v, composer -V, and node -v to confirm your installed versions before continuing.

Set up the project

1. Clone the repository

   Clone the Stratus source code and navigate into the project directory.

   HTTPS

   git clone https://github.com/AlexanderDamont1/Stratus.git
   cd Stratus
   
2. Configure your environment

   Copy the example environment file and open it in your editor. At minimum, set your database connection values before running the setup script.

   cp .env.example .env
   

   The default connection is MySQL. Update the database variables in .env:

   .env

   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=stratus
   DB_USERNAME=your_db_user
   DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password
   

   For the fastest local setup with no database server required, switch to SQLite: set DB_CONNECTION=sqlite and remove the other DB_* lines. Laravel will create database/database.sqlite automatically.

   The setup script copies .env.example to .env automatically if the file does not exist yet. If you want to review the full configuration before running setup, copy it manually first as shown above.

3. Run the setup script

   The setup script installs all PHP and JavaScript dependencies, generates the application key, and runs database migrations in a single command.

   composer run setup
   

   This executes the following steps in order:

   1. composer install — installs PHP packages
   2. Copies .env.example to .env if not present
   3. php artisan key:generate — generates APP_KEY
   4. php artisan migrate --force — creates database tables
   5. npm install — installs JavaScript packages
   6. npm run build — compiles front-end assets

   migrate --force runs without a confirmation prompt. Make sure your DB_* values in .env point to the correct database before running this command.

4. Start the development server

   Start all required processes — the Laravel HTTP server, queue worker, and Vite asset server — with a single command:

   composer run dev
   

   This runs three processes concurrently:

   • server — php artisan serve at http://localhost:8000
   • queue — php artisan queue:listen --tries=1 for background jobs
   • vite — npm run dev for hot-reloading front-end assets

   Keep this terminal window open while you work. All three processes must be running for full functionality.

Create your first account

1. Open the registration page

   With the dev server running, open your browser and go to:

   http://localhost:8000/register
   

   Fill in your name, email address, and a password, then click Register.

2. Verify your email address

   After registering, Stratus sends a verification email to the address you provided. Check your inbox and click the verification link.

   In local development, emails are typically captured by a mail catcher such as Mailpit or Mailtrap rather than sent to a real inbox. Check your .env MAIL_* settings to see where outgoing mail is routed.

   If you need to resend the verification email, visit:

   http://localhost:8000/verify-email
   
3. Access the dashboard

   Once your email is verified, you are redirected to the dashboard at:

   http://localhost:8000/dashboard
   

   The dashboard is protected by both the auth and verified middleware, so access is granted only after completing email verification. See Dashboard for a full overview of what’s available.

Update your profile

After your first login, update your display name and account details from the profile page.

1. Navigate to http://localhost:8000/profile or click your name in the navigation menu.
2. Edit your Name and Email fields, then click Save.
3. To change your password, use the password update form on the same page.
4. To delete your account, use the Delete Account section at the bottom of the profile page.

Account deletion is permanent. All associated data will be removed and cannot be recovered.

See Profile management for full details on profile fields and account settings.

Next steps

Authentication

Learn how login, registration, email verification, and password reset work in Stratus.

Dashboard

Explore the main dashboard and understand what each section shows.

Point of sale

Start processing transactions and managing products.

Configuration

Configure your environment, database, and deployment settings.