---
title: Requirements
tags:
  - docs
---



The requirements for Pattern Lab 2 vary depending on what features you want to use.

## Minimum Requirements

To use the basic features of Pattern Lab to compile patterns, you must have **PHP 5.4+** installed. On Mac OS X Pattern Lab should work "out of the box." If you're on Windows you can [download PHP from PHP.net](http://windows.php.net/download/). Pattern Lab comes with its own built-in web server.

Because Pattern Lab's output consists of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript there are **no requirements** for hosting your Pattern Lab site. Simply upload the `./public/` directory to your host and you should be good to go.

## Highly Recommended: Composer

Pattern Lab uses [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) to manage project dependencies. While Pattern Lab can be downloaded as a Zip we highly recommend installing Composer so you can easily update your project in the future. Please follow the directions for [installing Composer](https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md#installation-linux-unix-osx) on the Composer website. We recommend you [install it globally](https://getcomposer.org/doc/00-intro.md#globally).



