forkpress start

forkpress start starts the local ForkPress preview server in the foreground by default.

Use it when you want server output and lifecycle tied to the current terminal, or when you need the lower-level command that serve uses internally.

Usage

forkpress start [options]

Options

Option	Default	Description
`--work-dir <path>`	`.forkpress`	Site state directory to serve.
`--php-bin <path>`	Embedded PHP	PHP binary used to run WordPress and ForkPress runtime scripts.
`--host <address>`	`127.0.0.1`	TCP address the PHP server binds to.
`--port <port>`	`18080`	TCP port for previews and the Git smart-HTTP remote.
`--root-host <host>`	`wp.localhost`	Root host for the main preview and branch subdomains.
`--site-title <title>`	`ForkPress`	Site title used when bootstrapping a site that needs runtime preparation.
`--workers <n>`	`min(8, CPUs * 2)`	Number of PHP CLI server workers on Linux and macOS. Pass `--workers 1` for single-request debugging mode.
`--background`	Disabled	Start in the background and return after the server is ready.
`--foreground`	Enabled by default	Keep the server in the current terminal. Conflicts with `--background`.

Foreground Behavior

In foreground mode, start registers the server, prints the preview URLs, and keeps running until you press Ctrl+C. On shutdown it stops the PHP server and detaches mount-backed COW storage when appropriate.

If the PHP server exits unexpectedly, start reports the exit status and points to the PHP server log.

Background Behavior

With --background, start behaves like forkpress serve. It launches a detached child process, writes wrapper logs under .forkpress/logs/forkpress-server.log, waits for readiness, then exits.

Examples

Start in the foreground:

forkpress start

Start in the background:

forkpress start --background

Bind another host and port:

forkpress start --host 127.0.0.1 --port 18100

Use a custom root host:

forkpress start --root-host wp.test

Use forkpress serve for the normal background startup command. Use forkpress stop or forkpress server stop to stop background servers.