Accessing tools from the tray
Every tool listed on this page is available under the system tray menu. Right-click the Bearsampp tray icon, then select the tool by name to open its submenu. From there you can:- Launch a Console window with the tool on your
PATH - Switch to a different installed Version
- Access tool-specific options
Composer
Composer is the standard dependency manager for PHP. It reads acomposer.json file in your project and installs the packages your project depends on into a vendor/ folder.
Open a Composer-ready console from the tray:
Right-click the tray icon → Composer → Console
Then run Composer commands as normal:
Git
Git is the version control system used by most modern projects. Bearsampp gives you two Git interfaces from the tray menu:- Git console — a command-line terminal with Git on the
PATH - Git Gui — the graphical Git interface for staging, committing, and branching
npm, composer, and other CLI tools when you want a single terminal for all your project commands.
Ngrok
Ngrok creates a secure public URL that tunnels to your local Bearsampp server. Use it to share a work-in-progress with a client, test webhooks that need a publicly reachable URL, or access your local site from another device. Right-click the tray icon → Ngrok → Console Start a tunnel to your local Apache server:https:// URL that forwards to http://localhost:80.
Free Ngrok accounts have session time limits and rotating URLs. Sign up at ngrok.com and authenticate the bundled Ngrok with your token to remove these limits.
Python
Python is included as a portable interpreter. Use it to run scripts, work with data, or use Python-based tools that your project depends on. Right-click the tray icon → Python → Console (or Python console) Switch Python versions from Python → Versions.Ruby
Ruby is included as a portable interpreter, useful for running Ruby scripts, Jekyll static sites, or other Ruby-based tooling. Right-click the tray icon → Ruby → Console Switch versions from Ruby → Versions.Perl
Perl is included as a portable interpreter for running Perl scripts and legacy tooling that requires it. Right-click the tray icon → Perl → Console Switch versions from Perl → Versions.PowerShell
Bearsampp provides a Windows PowerShell console entry in the tray menu for running PowerShell scripts and commands within the Bearsampp environment. Right-click the tray icon → PowerShell → ConsoleGhostscript
Ghostscript is an interpreter for the PostScript language and for PDF. It is used by libraries and tools that need to render, convert, or manipulate PDF and PostScript files — for example, image processing libraries or PDF generation tools in PHP. Right-click the tray icon → Ghostscript → Console Switch versions from Ghostscript → Versions.Bruno
Bruno is an open-source API client — similar to Postman — for designing, testing, and debugging HTTP APIs. It stores your API collections as plain files on disk, which means they work naturally with Git. Right-click the tray icon → Bruno → Console to open Bruno.Tool summary
| Tool | Purpose | Console in tray | Version switching |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composer | PHP dependency manager | Yes | Yes |
| Git | Version control | Yes (+ Git Gui) | Yes |
| Ngrok | Secure tunnel to localhost | Yes | Yes |
| Python | Python interpreter | Yes | Yes |
| Ruby | Ruby interpreter | Yes | Yes |
| Perl | Perl interpreter | Yes | Yes |
| PowerShell | Windows PowerShell console | Yes | Yes |
| Ghostscript | PostScript / PDF interpreter | Yes | Yes |
| Bruno | API client | Yes | Yes |