Install the server on Windows 10/11

Written to be followed in order. Each step says how to tell it worked, because several of the failures here are silent — the app starts, looks right, and does nothing useful.

1. Install the toolchain

(Rust and Visual Studio Build Tools are only needed to build the desktop app — the server runs without them.)

2. Get the code

git clone https://github.com/tripsittr/SoundChex.git
cd SoundChex

composer install
npm install

3. Configure it

copy .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate

Then open .env and set two things.

Where the media is. Absolute paths, comma-separated. Backslashes are fine — the split is on commas, so a drive letter is never mistaken for a separator:

LIBRARY_WATCH_FOLDERS=D:\Media\Music,D:\Media\Films

What the app calls itself. This is the address it advertises to phones and other devices, so the port matters:

APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

4. Give PHP a certificate bundle

Windows PHP ships without one, so every outbound HTTPS request fails with cURL error 60: unable to get local issuer certificate — metadata, artwork, subtitles and server transfers alike. It reads as a network problem; it's a configuration one. macOS and Linux don't hit this.

Download cacert.pem, put it somewhere permanent, and point php.ini at it:

curl.cainfo = "C:\php\extras\ssl\cacert.pem"
openssl.cafile = "C:\php\extras\ssl\cacert.pem"

Restart php artisan serve and queue:work afterwards — both need it. Check:

php -r "var_dump(file_get_contents('https://api.themoviedb.org/3/'));"

Anything other than an SSL error means it works.

5. Database, storage link, front end

php artisan migrate --force
php artisan storage:link
npm run build

• Migrate creates SQLite at database\database.sqlite — no file exists in a fresh clone and none is needed.
• storage:link fails silently if skipped — every avatar and artist image 404s. Windows restricts symlink creation: turn on Settings → System → For developers → Developer Mode, or run from an Administrator terminal.
• Check: public\build\manifest.json exists (else pages render unstyled), and public\storage opens to the contents of storage\app\public.

6. Start it

php artisan serve                # the app
php artisan queue:work           # enrichment, transcoding, downloads
php artisan schedule:work        # scanning, backups, pruning

Three terminals — or set the workers up as Windows services with NSSM. The Admin → Services page that manages them on macOS is launchd-based; on Windows it detects this and says so rather than failing.

Check: open http://localhost:8000, register — the first account becomes the owner.

7. Scan the library — start small

php artisan library:scan

Start with a small folder — a dozen files, not the whole collection. This is the step most likely to fail on Windows, because path handling is where a Unix-shaped codebase breaks. If the scan finds nothing, or finds files it can't then play, check the watch-folder paths first. Check: items appear at http://localhost:8000/app/music and play.

If something is wrong

The app records what fails: Admin → Device reports shows what each device sent back, filterable by device and log type — more use than guessing.