Phive is a professional Visual Studio Code extension designed to streamline PHP development by providing a modern, live-reloading environment. It eliminates manual browser refreshes and complex server configurations, making it ideal for both local development and cross-device network testing.
For complete technical documentation, architecture deep-dives, execution flow diagrams, and troubleshooting guides, please refer to the official DOCUMENTATION.md.
- Instant PHP Server: Launch a built-in PHP CLI web server instance directly from your workspace with a single click.
- Smart Live Reloading: Automatically refreshes connected browsers across desktop and mobile devices upon saving
.php,.html,.css,.js, or.jsonfiles. - Native Log Colorization (v1.1.6): Leverages VS Code's native
"log"syntax grammar for automatic, theme-adaptive (Light & Dark mode) log highlighting in the Output Channel. - HTTP Status Code Parsing (v1.1.6): Automatically parses and formats HTTP response status codes (
[200 OK],[302 REDIRECT],[404 NOT FOUND],[500 SERVER ERROR]) with real-time request tracking ([Req #N]). - Environment Aware (.env Hot Restart): Automatically restarts the background PHP process when editing
.envor environment configuration files, ensuring updated environment variables are instantly active. - Debounced Browser Reload: Debounces rapid consecutive file saves according to a configurable delay (
phive.reloadDelay). - Flexible Path Exclusion: Skips live-reload processing for configured folder segments (
phive.ignorePathslikenode_modules,.git,vendor, orcache) to prevent superfluous refreshes. - Port Conflict Resolution: Automatically detects port collisions on HTTP (port 8000) and WebSocket (port 9001) interfaces, falling back to the next available sequential ports.
- Network & Mobile Sharing: Automatically resolves local IPv4 addresses, allowing cross-device testing on mobile phones and tablets connected to the same network.
- Automated Router Injection: Dynamically generates and manages a temporary router script (
.phive_router.php) to handle asset serving and WebSocket injection while hiding the router from the file explorer. - Modular Internals: Server lifecycle, logging, router generation, and VS Code file-visibility handling are split into dedicated helpers for easier maintenance and evolution.
For in-depth guides and technical details, visit DOCUMENTATION.md:
- Section 1: Introduction and Overview
- Section 2: Key Features in Version 1.1.6
- Section 3: System Requirements & Prerequisites
- Section 4: Installation & Setup
- Section 5: Quick Start and Daily Usage
- Section 6: Configuration Reference
- Section 7: Architecture and Technical Deep-Dive
- Section 8: Detailed Execution Workflows
- Section 9: Integrated Request Logging & HTTP Status Colorization
- Section 10: Troubleshooting and Common Issues
- Section 11: Licensing, Governance, and Contributions
- Open Workspace: Open a PHP project folder in Visual Studio Code.
- Start Server: Click Phive: Go Live in the Status Bar (bottom right) or open the Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P/Cmd+Shift+P) and runPhive: Start PHP Server. - Develop: Phive automatically opens your default browser to
http://localhost:8000. Changes saved to supported files trigger immediate browser refreshes. - Stop Server: Click the active server status in the Status Bar or run
Phive: Stop PHP Server.
Configure Phive settings in VS Code (Ctrl+, searching for Phive):
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
phive.phpPath |
"php" |
Path to the PHP executable (e.g., C:\php\php.exe). |
phive.port |
8000 |
Preferred local port for the PHP server instance. |
phive.reloadDelay |
100 |
Delay in milliseconds before triggering a browser refresh. |
phive.ignorePaths |
["node_modules", ".git", "vendor", "cache"] |
Folders excluded from triggering live reloads. |
For detailed setting explanations, view the Configuration Reference in DOCUMENTATION.md.
Phive uses a WebSocket-based architecture (ws) to maintain a persistent connection with client browsers. During execution, Phive injects a lightweight client JavaScript snippet into the PHP HTML stream using a temporary router script (.phive_router.php). The router file is hidden from the VS Code explorer and automatically deleted upon server termination.
- Native OutputChannel Syntax Highlighting: Configured the VS Code output channel with language grammar identifier
"log"for native, theme-adaptive syntax colorization across both Light and Dark themes. - HTTP Status Code Parsing & Colorization: Added intelligent regex parsing of PHP CLI server stderr output to format status codes (
[200 OK],[302 REDIRECT],[404 NOT FOUND],[500 SERVER ERROR]) with color-coded status prefixes. - Structured Log Formatting & Request Indexing: Implemented request sequence tracking (
[Req #N]), timestamping, and standard severity markers ([INFO],[DEBUG],[WARN],[ERROR]). - Modular Refactor for Maintainability: Extracted router building, logging, and file-visibility behaviors into dedicated helper modules under
src/serverHelpers/.
- Hot Server Restart for .env Files: Added automatic PHP process restart when modifying
.envor related environment files to force PHP to load updated configuration values. - Seamless Browser Refresh: Triggers an automated client reload right after the PHP server completes its restart cycle.
- Path Exclusion Filtering: Added the
phive.ignorePathsconfiguration array to ignore designated folder segments. - Performance Optimization: Implemented early exit checks when processing saved files within ignored directories.
- Live Reload Optimization: Added
phive.reloadDelayconfiguration to prevent premature refreshes during heavy file writes. - Debounced Refresh: Merged consecutive file-save events into a single reload event.
Contributions must comply with official project governance. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting code, issues, or pull requests.
This project is licensed under the FomaDev Public License (FPL). Commercial distribution, resale, or hosting derivative services based on this engine requires an explicit paid license. See LICENSE for full terms.
Developed by FomaDev