Quickstart

This guide gets you from zero to a fully working PrestaShop sandbox with Panda installed in about 5 minutes (most of it waiting for downloads).

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop (or OrbStack, but Docker Desktop is best supported).
• Lando 3.x — brew install --cask lando on macOS.
• Node 20+ to run npx.
• The Panda theme zip from your SunnyToo account.

That's it. You don't need a global prestashop install, you don't need Composer, you don't need PHP locally.

1. Drop your zips in a folder

Create a project directory and put your Panda zip there:

mkdir my-shop && cd my-shop
cp ~/Downloads/panda-theme.zip .

Optional but recommended:

cp ~/Downloads/steasybuilder.zip .
cp ~/Downloads/steasy_trans_panda.zip .   # the bridge — needed if you have Easy Builder

ps-lando auto-detects any of these names: panda*.zip, steasybuilder*.zip, steasy_trans_panda*.zip.

2. Run create

npx ps-lando@latest create

You'll get a few prompts:

• PrestaShop version — pick the latest (currently 9.1.0). The list comes from the live prestashop-versions.json manifest, so you always see what's available.
• Project name — defaults to the current folder name. This becomes the Lando app name + the .lndo.site domain.
• PHP version — auto-suggested based on the PS version you picked. You can override.
• Modules to install — by default all 56. Pick "Custom" to deselect groups (blog, easybuilder, social, marketing).
• Recipes — optional bundled scripts to run after install. Demo data, ES taxes, etc. See Recipes catalog.

If you want to skip the wizard:

npx ps-lando@latest create -y --ps-version 9.1.0

3. What happens during create

1. Download PrestaShop from the official CDN (~117 MB, ~30 s).
2. Extract — outer ZIP → inner prestashop.zip → site root.
3. Run lando start to bring up Apache + MariaDB + phpMyAdmin + MailHog.
4. Run the PrestaShop CLI installer (php install/index_cli.php).
5. Extract the Panda theme zip → copy 54 st* modules to modules/.
6. (Optional) Extract steasybuilder + steasy_trans_panda.
7. Activate the Panda theme.
8. Install all modules in parallel batches (concurrency 3).
9. Run any selected recipes (init phase) and hooks (init-scripts/).
10. Smoke test the front-end.
11. Run any post-phase recipes/hooks.

Total: ~6 min for the first run on a clean machine, ~5 min once Docker has the images cached.

4. Open the back-office

When create finishes, you'll see a summary box:

✔ Sandbox lista
  Front:    http://my-shop.lndo.site/
  Admin:    http://my-shop.lndo.site/admin8a3kls9d/   ← randomized by PS
  Modules:  55/56 active, 1 installed-but-inactive: stupgrader
  PS:       9.1.0
  Theme:    panda

Open the back-office URL and log in with admin@example.com / sandbox1234 (the defaults — override via flags or the wizard).

npx ps-lando open bo

What about stupgrader?

stupgrader consistently reports as "installed but not active" on PS 9.x. It's a known PrestaShop module-install quirk — the install command exits 0, but the module never flips active=1 in ps_module. Not a ps-lando bug; the module isn't critical for your day-to-day. We document it explicitly so the count discrepancy doesn't confuse you.

Next steps