Installation

Requirements, a new project from the template, and adding Aurora to an existing app.

Requirements

PHP 8.3 or newer, with the GD or Imagick extension
Composer 2 and Node.js 20+
A database: SQLite, MySQL/MariaDB or PostgreSQL. MySQL or MariaDB gives the best search, with full-text relevance.
A queue worker in production, for notifications, image formats and webhooks
HTTPS in production, which passkeys require

Start a new project

New websites start from the application template. It's a complete Laravel application with the CMS already wired in, the page layouts published and ready to make your own, app/Blocks as the place for your own blocks, and the build set up for the website and the admin. The CMS itself comes in through Composer, so you update it with composer update while your website's code stays yours.

~ Terminal

$ git clone https://github.com/thomas-alrek/filament-cms.git my-site && cd my-site
$ rm -rf .git && git init            # make it your project
$ composer install
$ php artisan aurora:install
$ npm install && npm run build

aurora:install walks you through setup:

creates .env if needed and the application key;
runs the migrations, or with --fresh starts over;
publishes the admin's prebuilt theme and scripts, and the page layouts;
seeds what the CMS needs (roles, permissions, the site and its languages); a website's own content comes from its own seeders;
indexes pages for search, syncs labels from the lang files, creates the OAuth keys for AI apps and links public storage;
creates your admin account, a Super Admin;
runs the website's own seeders (database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder, its first content, such as the homepage) when you say yes, or with --seed.

It can also run unattended:

~ Terminal

$ php artisan aurora:install \
$     --site-name="Acme" --language=en --languages="nb:no,sv" \
$     --name="Ada Admin" --email=ada@example.com --password=secret

Serve it the way you usually do. With Laravel Herd it's http://my-site.test; otherwise use php artisan serve. Open /admin to sign in.

Adding Aurora to an existing Laravel application

Starting from the template is the recommended way. Aurora can also be added to an existing Laravel 13 application; you then set up yourself what the template sets up for you: the layouts and the site's CSS.

~ Terminal

$ composer require aurora/cms
$ php artisan aurora:install

Aurora registers its own service providers and its Filament panel at /admin, and brings its default admin theme with it. Then add your own blocks. Optionally, aurora/minimal adds a second admin theme to choose from.

Quick setup

Creating blocks

Docs

Back to the overview.

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Quick setup

Eight steps from a fresh install to a website your team can work on.

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