OXAMP

Your PHP stack, and your agent's.

Apache, MariaDB and PHP compiled from source as relocatable arm64 binaries, with a SwiftUI control panel — and an MCP server so your coding agent can run the stack, make databases and scaffold apps without you switching windows.

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coding agents supported

PHP versions side by side

arm64

native, not emulated

Feature 01

Your coding agent drives the stack

OXAMP ships an MCP server. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Zed can check whether the stack is up, start it, tail the log behind a 500, create a utf8mb4 database and hand back the connection settings. Registration is one click per agent from the AI Agents screen, which also tells you which are already set up and repairs an entry that points at a moved copy.

Feature 02

It cannot run SQL, drop a database, or change your settings

The agent-facing tools are an allowlist, not a projection of the command line. There is no tool that takes a SQL string, under any name, and none that deletes anything. They are absent from the server rather than gated behind a confirmation, because a confirmation is something a model can be talked through and a missing tool is not.

Feature 03

WordPress or Laravel in one step

Files, database and configuration together: WordPress gets generated security salts, Laravel gets its app key and a working database connection. Both downloads are checksum-pinned. Both check the PHP extensions they need before fetching anything — so a gap is one sentence up front rather than a failure three minutes into an install.

Feature 04

Built from source, not borrowed

Homebrew builds bake /opt/homebrew into their install names, which is why they cannot be copied into an app bundle. OXAMP compiles its own Apache, MariaDB and PHP as relocatable binaries — otool reports nothing outside /usr/lib and /System. That is what lets it run on a Mac that has never installed a package manager.

Feature 05

Two PHP versions, one switch

Runtimes live in a content-addressed store, so 8.4 and 8.3 sit side by side without colliding. Pick the active series on the PHP Versions screen and restart. Adding another series takes a couple of minutes rather than an afternoon.

Feature 06

The opposite of XAMPP's defaults

Apache and MariaDB bind to 127.0.0.1 and ::1 only. The root password is generated at install, stored 0600, and applied to every root account MariaDB creates, while the anonymous account is deleted. Reaching the stack from your network is a deliberate switch, never the starting state.

You wanted a local PHP site. You got a package manager, a doctor command with opinions, and a container daemon idling in your menu bar.

OXAMP is Apache 2.4.65, MariaDB 11.4.9 and PHP 8.4.24, compiled from source as fully relocatable arm64 binaries. Nothing links back to /opt/homebrew, nothing needs a container, and nothing assumes your Mac has ever met a package manager.

Your coding agent can drive it. OXAMP ships an MCP server, so Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Zed can see whether the stack is running, start it, read the Apache error log behind a 500, create a database with the right charset, and install WordPress or Laravel for you. Open AI Agents in the sidebar and click Register — OXAMP writes the configuration for whichever of them are on your Mac and tells you which are already set up.

What the agent deliberately cannot do is as important as what it can. There is no tool for running arbitrary SQL, none for dropping a database, and none for changing your settings. Those are absent from the server rather than merely disabled, so no instruction an agent happens to read in a web page or a README can reach them.

One click to a running site. oxamp template install wordpress myblog downloads WordPress, creates its database, and writes wp-config.php with freshly generated security salts. Laravel gets composer create-project, its app key, and a .env pointing at a database that already exists. Both are checksum-pinned, so you get the bytes we tested rather than whatever a mirror served that morning — and both check every PHP extension they need before downloading anything, so a gap is one clear sentence instead of a failure part-way through an install.

The control panel is a real SwiftUI app rather than a web page in a window: a dashboard, every log the stack writes, a PHP version switcher, a database browser, the agent setup screen and settings — plus a menu-bar item and keyboard shortcuts for start, stop and restart. Everything it does, oxamp does from the shell against the same installation.

XAMPP's security defaults became a running joke. These are the inverse. Apache and MariaDB listen on 127.0.0.1 and ::1 only. The database root password is generated at install, stored 0600, and set on every root account MariaDB creates — while the anonymous account is removed outright.

Gallery

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How it compares

OXAMP vs the alternatives.

Feature	OXAMP	XAMPP / MAMP
Native arm64 binaries	Yes, compiled from source	Rosetta or Intel builds
Drives from an AI coding agent	Built-in MCP server	No
One-click WordPress and Laravel	Yes, with database and config	No
Root password	Generated, stored 0600	Blank by default
Listens on	127.0.0.1 and ::1 only	All interfaces by default
Multiple PHP versions	Side by side, switched in-app	Reinstall or hand-edit
Clean uninstall	Inventoried, itemised	Leaves debris

The same install, from the shell

oxamp start, stop, status, logs, db, template and mcp all act on the installation the panel manages.

Every log, not one per service

Apache writes error and access logs plus a pair per site. All of them are listed, with the non-empty ones first, and follow is a toggle.

It removes itself completely

The uninstaller inventories every directory it will delete, with sizes, and keeps your sites and databases unless you say otherwise.

System Requirements

macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Apple Silicon (M1 or newer). Roughly 300 MB per installed stack.

Frequently asked

Got questions?

Do I need to use an AI agent?

No. Everything the agent can do, you can do from the panel or the command line, and the MCP server only runs when an editor launches it. It is off until you register.

Which agents are supported?

Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code with Copilot, and Zed. OXAMP writes the configuration for whichever it finds and shows you a paste-in snippet for anything else that speaks MCP.

Can the agent break my databases?

It has no tool for running SQL and no tool for dropping anything — those are absent from the server, not disabled. It can create a database and read logs. Everything destructive stays with you.

Does it need Homebrew or Docker?

Neither. The binaries are compiled from source and fully relocatable, so nothing links back to a package manager prefix and nothing runs in a container.

Can I run more than one PHP version?

8.4 and 8.3 ship together and switch from the panel. Runtimes are content-addressed, so extra versions sit alongside rather than replacing each other.

Is it signed and notarized?

Yes — Developer ID signed, notarized by Apple and stapled, so it installs on a Mac with no network. Updates arrive through Sparkle and are signature-verified before they are applied.

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