yii2-bootstrap/docs/internals/getting-started.md

Getting started with Yii2 development

The best way to have a locally runnable webapp that uses codebase cloned from main repository is to use yii2-dev Composer package. Here's how to do it:

1. git clone git@github.com:yiisoft/yii2-app-basic.git.
2. Remove .git directory from cloned directory.
3. Change composer.json. Instead of all stable requirements add just one "yiisoft/yii2-dev": "*".
4. Execute composer install.
5. Now you have working playground that uses latest code.

Note that requirements of extensions that come with yii2-dev are not loaded automatically. If you want to use an extension, check if there are dependencies suggested for it and add them to your composer.json.

If you're core developer there's no extra step needed. You can change framework code under vendor/yiisoft/yii2-dev and push it to main repository.

If you're not core developer or want to use your own fork for pull requests:

1. Fork https://github.com/yiisoft/yii2 and get your own repository address such as git://github.com/username/yii2.git.
2. Edit vendor/yiisoft/yii2-dev/.git/config. Change remote origin url to your own:

[remote "origin"]
  url = git://github.com/username/yii2.git