Installation

Melis Platform Community Edition is free and open-source (OSL-3.0). Three install paths are available — pick the one that fits your workflow.

Melis v6 keeps the same framework, modules and database as v5. What changed is the back-office: a new React interface now lives at /melis-react, sitting alongside the classic tools. Installation is identical — the sections below apply unchanged, and the Meet the React back-office section explains what you'll see once you log in.

Where to find Melis Platform

All official repositories live under the melisplatform organisation on GitHub:

Repository	What it is
melis-docker-react	Ready-to-run Docker stacks with the React back-office enabled by default — the fastest path to a working v6 platform
melis-platform-skeleton	Project skeleton for Composer & source installs

The skeleton is also available on Packagist as melisplatform/melis-platform-skeleton, and the Docker images are published on Docker Hub — they are pulled automatically when you bring the Compose stack up.

Classic (v5) Docker stack

The pre-React melis-docker stack still exists; it is covered in the legacy (v5) installation guide.

Choose your install path

Path	Command	Best for
Docker	`git clone https://github.com/melisplatform/melis-docker-react.git`	Demos, local dev, no local PHP setup — React back-office by default
Composer	`composer create-project melisplatform/melis-platform-skeleton`	New projects on your own Apache/PHP stack
GitHub source	`git clone --recursive https://github.com/melisplatform/melis-platform-skeleton.git`	Contributors, teams that want full Git history

Requirements

For Docker, everything is bundled — skip to Option A below. For Composer or source installs:

PHP 8.3 (recommended) or 8.4 (experimental) with the extensions: intl, mysqli, pdo_mysql, gd (freetype/jpeg/webp), zip, curl, mbstring, exif, xml (and opcache recommended). PHP 8.5 is not usable yet (Laminas dependencies cap at 8.4).
MySQL 8 (the stack uses MySQL 8.4).
Composer 2 and Git (for the Composer and source paths).
Apache or Nginx with mod_rewrite / try_files pointing to public/.

Option A — Docker (recommended)

Melis ships a dedicated React-edition Docker repository, melis-docker-react, where every stack enables the React back-office by default (WITH_REACT=1) — you get /melis (classic) and/melis-react out of the box. Clone it once, then pick a stack (each folder is self-contained, with its own docker-compose.yml, .env.example, conf/ and README.md):

bash

git clone https://github.com/melisplatform/melis-docker-react.git
cd melis-docker-react

Stack (folder)	What you get	Best for
`prebuilt/`	Pulls a ready-to-run image + MySQL — no local build	Fastest evaluation
`install/`	Builds a fresh skeleton into `./melis` on your host (editable) + a Vite dev server	Working on the code / React UI
`fpm/`	nginx + PHP-FPM, skeleton baked into the image	Production-style topology
`app/latest/`	Mounts an existing Melis project (rewrites your `composer.json` — commit first)	Projects you already have
`dev/`	Per-PHP-version base images only (Apache/FPM, PHP 8.1–8.5)	Building your own images

Every path finishes the same way: the native Melis web installer at http://localhost:8080 (/melis/setup) sets up the DB schema, admin user and the optional demo site. The install is not scripted — the web installer is authoritative.

Fastest — pre-built image

bash

cd prebuilt
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d
# Open http://localhost:8080 and follow the web installer

When the installer asks for the database, use the .env defaults:

Field	Value
Host	`melis-db` (no `:port`)
Database / User / Password	`melis` / `melis` / `melis`

Turnkey build (editable code on your host)

First boot runs composer create-project of the skeleton into ./melis (a few minutes); the code stays on your host, editable. This stack also starts a Vite dev server for hot-reloading the React UI:

bash

cd install
cp .env.example .env
mkdir -p melis            # pre-create the bind mount (WSL / Rancher Desktop)
docker compose up -d --build

The stack exposes:

Service	URL
Front office	http://localhost:8080
React back-office	http://localhost:8080/melis-react
Classic tools	http://localhost:8080/melis
React UI with hot reload (Vite)	http://localhost:5173

Defaults & tips

Database host melis-db (no port), db / user / password melis / melis / melis. Change HOST_PORT in .env if port 8080 is taken. No GitHub token needed — every package (the React modules and the laminas-* forks) resolves from Packagist. make shortcuts: make up STACK=install, make logs, make shell, make down, make up VITE=1, make adminer.

Change credentials before going to production

The default melis / melis credentials and the database password are for local development only. Change them before exposing any instance publicly.

How the React back-office is enabled

Composer pulls the stable 6.x releases of three modules: melis-core (ships a committed production build of the React app, served under /MelisCore/ui-react/ — no Node.js at runtime), melis-react-api (the JSON API under /melis/react-api/*) and melis-react-override (the /melis-react SPA route + the iframe bridge that shows not-yet-migrated tools inside the React shell). Prefer plain legacy Melis? Set WITH_REACT=0 in .env before the first up.

To run several stacks at once without juggling ports, an opt-in shared nginx-proxy in local-proxy/ routes *.local hostnames — see the repo README.

Option B — Composer (new project on your stack)

bash

# 1. Create the project from the skeleton
composer create-project melisplatform/melis-platform-skeleton my-project
cd my-project
composer install

# 2. Create the database (utf8mb4)
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE myproject CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"

# 3. Import the base data, then run migrations
mysql -u root -p myproject < install/first_install.sql
flyway -configFiles=flyway/conf/flyway.conf migrate

Point an Apache virtual host at the project's public/ directory and declare the two Melis environment variables:

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/path/to/my-project/public"
    <Directory "/path/to/my-project/public">
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +ExecCGI
        DirectoryIndex index.php
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ServerName www.mysite.local
    SetEnv MELIS_PLATFORM "development"
    SetEnv MELIS_MODULE   "MelisDemoCms"
</VirtualHost>

Add 127.0.0.1 www.mysite.local to your hosts file, reload Apache, then open http://www.mysite.local/melis-react.

Option C — GitHub source (contributors)

Each module lives in its own repository, included as a Git submodule:

bash

git clone --recursive https://github.com/melisplatform/melis-platform-skeleton.git
# Already cloned? Pull all submodules:
git submodule update --init --recursive

cd melis-platform-skeleton
composer install

Then follow the same virtual host and database setup as Option B above.

The two Melis environment variables

Every Melis install is driven by two variables (set in docker-compose.yml for Docker, or via SetEnv for Apache):

MELIS_PLATFORM — identifies the environment. It selects the configuration file config/autoload/platforms/<MELIS_PLATFORM>.php, which holds the database connection (so MELIS_PLATFORM=local loads config/autoload/platforms/local.php).
MELIS_MODULE — identifies which site module is served as the front office for this domain.

Meet the React back-office

Open /melis-react and sign in — the React app shows its own login screen and handles authentication itself. Once in, you land on the dashboard: notification bubbles, KPI counters (users / sites / pages / languages), recent-login activity and your saved tile layout.

A few things worth knowing on first contact:

Left menu. The whole navigation tree is there, already filtered by your rights — a tool appears only if its module is enabled and you're allowed to use it. Click an entry to open the corresponding tool in the main panel.
Native React tools ("bricks"). Many tools have been rewritten as native React pages for a faster, smoother experience. Each of these carries a New (React) / Old (iframe) toggle so you can switch to the classic version of the same tool whenever you need to.
Classic tools still work. Any tool that hasn't been rewritten yet opens seamlessly inside the shell — same DataTables, forms, tabs, modals and save buttons as before. It looks and behaves exactly like the classic /melis back-office, just framed inside the React UI.
Two URLs, one platform. /melis-react is the new experience; the classic back-office remains available at /melis if you ever prefer it. Both drive the same data, rights and modules.

The AI Assistant is always one click away

A floating AI Assistant button sits in the corner of every back-office screen. Open it to chat with Melis' built-in assistant without leaving the tool you're on.

See Architecture & concepts for the mental model behind the shell, bricks and the classic-tool bridge, and the module reference for what each tool does.

Next steps

Architecture & concepts — the mental model behind Melis.
Build a website (CMS) — pages, templates and site trees.
Create your first tool — add your own back-office tool.
Working with AI — the assistant, agents and MCP inside Melis.

Installation ​

Where to find Melis Platform ​

Choose your install path ​

Requirements ​

Option A — Docker (recommended) ​

Fastest — pre-built image ​

Turnkey build (editable code on your host) ​

How the React back-office is enabled ​

Option B — Composer (new project on your stack) ​

Option C — GitHub source (contributors) ​

The two Melis environment variables ​

Meet the React back-office ​

Next steps ​

Installation

Where to find Melis Platform

Choose your install path

Requirements

Option A — Docker (recommended)

Fastest — pre-built image

Turnkey build (editable code on your host)

How the React back-office is enabled

Option B — Composer (new project on your stack)

Option C — GitHub source (contributors)

The two Melis environment variables

Meet the React back-office

Next steps