Installation

Requirements

• Docker (v20+) and Docker Compose (v2+)
• Git
• 4 GB+ RAM recommended (MySQL + Redis + 4 services)

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/appstorecat/appstorecat.git
cd appstorecat

Setup

Run setup with a single command:

make setup

This command:

1. Builds all Docker containers (server, web, scraper-ios, scraper-android, mysql, redis)
2. Installs dependencies (Composer for the server, npm for web and the App Store scraper)
3. Generates the Laravel APP_KEY
4. Runs the database migrations

Start the Services

make dev

All services will start in the background:

Service	URL	Description
Backend API	http://localhost:7460	Laravel API gateway
Frontend	http://localhost:7461	React SPA
App Store Scraper	http://localhost:7462	iOS data source
Google Play Scraper	http://localhost:7463	Android data source
MySQL	localhost:7464	Database (host-side; container is :3306)
Redis	localhost:7465	Cache & queue (host-side; container is :6379)

Verify the Setup

Check that all services are running:

make ps

You should see 6 healthy containers: appstorecat-server, appstorecat-web, appstorecat-scraper-ios, appstorecat-scraper-android, appstorecat-mysql, appstorecat-redis.

Visit http://localhost:7461 to reach the frontend.

Seed Store Categories

After setup, seed the store categories (App Store and Google Play categories):

make seed

Stop the Services

make down

Start Services Individually

If you only need specific services:

make dev-server    # Backend + MySQL + Redis
make dev-web   # Frontend only
make dev-ios   # App Store scraper only
make dev-android      # Google Play scraper only

Troubleshooting

Port Conflicts

Default ports are in the 7460–7465 range. If any port is in use, change it by editing the .env file at the project root.

Database Connection Issues

If the backend cannot connect to MySQL, wait a few seconds for the health check to pass:

docker compose logs appstorecat-mysql

Clean Install

To remove all containers and volumes and start from scratch:

make clean    # Remove containers and volumes
make setup    # Rebuild everything

For a full reset including local Docker images:

make nuke     # Remove everything, images included
make setup