PHPStart - PHP Project Scaffolding CLI

A powerful command-line tool to scaffold production-ready PHP projects in seconds.

Features

🚀 Create complete PHP projects with one command
📦 Multiple project types: Core PHP, MVC, REST API, Laravel
🎨 Beautiful CLI with colored output
🔧 Zero dependencies - pure PHP only
📝 Complete with routing, database, and MVC structure
🔐 Built-in authentication and session management
🌐 REST API with CORS and middleware support
🛠️ Web-Based Installer: A premium 5-step installer wizard shipped by default for easy setup
🔄 Database Backup Panel: One-click DB backup and restore utility with auto-rotation
🚀 Version Command: Manage application & package versions easily via CLI
📚 Comprehensive documentation

Installation

Step 1 — Install Composer

If you don't have Composer installed, get it first.

Linux / macOS

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
composer --version

Windows Download and run the installer from https://getcomposer.org/download After install, verify:

composer --version

Step 2 — Install PHPStart

Option A — Global Installation (Recommended)

Installs phpstart as a global command available anywhere on your system.

composer global require amanprojects/phpstart

Then make sure Composer's global bin directory is in your system PATH.

Linux / macOS — add this to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile:

export PATH="$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin:$PATH"

Reload your shell:

source ~/.bashrc
# or
source ~/.zshrc

Windows — add this path to your system environment variables:

C:\Users\YourName\phpstart

Go to: Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables Edit the Path variable and add the line above. Then restart your terminal.

Verify the install:

phpstart help

Option B — Local Installation (Per Project)

Install inside a specific project only.

composer require amanprojects/phpstart
./vendor/bin/phpstart help

Option C — Clone and Install Manually

git clone https://github.com/amanprojects-ops/phpstart.git
cd phpstart
composer install
chmod +x bin/phpstart          # Linux/macOS only
php bin/phpstart help

To use it globally from a local clone, symlink the binary:

Linux / macOS

sudo ln -s /full/path/to/phpstart/bin/phpstart /usr/local/bin/phpstart

Windows — add the bin/ folder path to your system Path environment variable.

Step 3 — Verify Installation

phpstart
phpstart list
phpstart help

You should see the ASCII banner and available commands.

Usage

Create a New Project

# Core PHP project (default)
phpstart new myapp

# MVC Framework
phpstart new myapp --type=mvc

# REST API
phpstart new myapi --type=api

# Laravel
phpstart new myblog --type=laravel

Available Commands

phpstart new <name>     # Create a new project
phpstart list           # List all project types
phpstart version        # View, bump or set application version
phpstart help           # Show help information

Options

--type=<type> - Project type (core, mvc, api, laravel)
--force - Overwrite existing directory
--no-git - Skip git initialization
--author=<name> - Set author name

Project Types

Core PHP

Basic PHP project with:

Simple routing system
PDO database wrapper
MVC structure
Helper functions
Environment configuration

MVC Framework

Full MVC framework with:

Advanced routing
Middleware support
Authentication system
Session management
Request/Response handlers
View rendering engine

REST API

RESTful API with:

JSON responses
CORS support
Bearer token authentication
Rate limiting
Error handling
RESTful routing (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE)

Laravel

Laravel framework installation with:

Automatic setup
Application key generation
Post-install instructions for Livewire and Filament

Requirements

PHP >= 8.1
Composer
Git (optional, for git initialization)

Examples

# Create a core PHP project
phpstart new mywebsite

# Create an MVC project without git
phpstart new myapp --type=mvc --no-git

# Create an API with custom author
phpstart new myapi --type=api --author="John Doe"

# Force overwrite existing directory
phpstart new myapp --force

Environment Setup Guide

This section covers two things:

System environment — what your machine needs to run phpstart
Project .env — how to configure the app that phpstart generates

Part 1 — System Environment (for phpstart itself)

phpstart is a CLI tool. It does not use a .env file itself. Instead it relies on your system PATH and installed tools.

Required: PHP >= 8.1

Verify your PHP version:

php --version
# PHP 8.1.x or higher required

If PHP is not installed:

OS	Install
Windows	Download from https://windows.php.net or install XAMPP
macOS	`brew install php`
Ubuntu/Debian	`sudo apt install php8.1-cli`
CentOS/RHEL	`sudo dnf install php`

Make sure php is available in your terminal PATH:

# Windows — add PHP folder to system Path
# e.g. C:\xampp\php  or  C:\php

# Linux/macOS — usually auto-added, verify with:
which php

Required: Composer

Verify Composer is installed:

composer --version
# Composer version 2.x.x

If not installed:

Linux / macOS

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer

Windows Download the installer from https://getcomposer.org/download and run it.

Required: Composer Global Bin in PATH

After installing phpstart globally, the phpstart command must be reachable from your terminal.

Linux / macOS — add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin:$PATH"

Reload:

source ~/.bashrc

Windows — add this to your system Path environment variable:

C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Composer\vendor\bin

Go to: Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables Find Path under System Variables, click Edit, and add the line above. Restart your terminal after saving.

Verify:

phpstart help

Optional: Git

Git is used to auto-initialize a repository after scaffolding. If Git is not installed, phpstart will skip this step with a warning.

git --version

Install Git: https://git-scm.com/downloads

To skip git init when running phpstart:

phpstart new myapp --no-git

Optional: Composer (for --type=laravel)

The laravel type runs composer create-project internally. Composer must be installed and available in PATH for this to work.

Part 2 — Project .env Setup (for generated projects)

Every project scaffolded by phpstart includes a .env file at the root. This file holds all environment-specific configuration — database credentials, app name, debug mode, etc.

Step 1 — Locate Your .env

After running phpstart new myapp, your project root will contain:

myapp/
├── .env            ← your local config (auto-generated, gitignored)
├── .env.example    ← template with all keys, empty values (safe to commit)
├── public/
├── src/
└── config/

If .env is missing, recreate it from the example:

cp .env.example .env

Step 2 — Configure All Variables

Open .env and fill in your values:

# ─────────────────────────────────────────
# APPLICATION
# ─────────────────────────────────────────

APP_NAME="My App"
# Name of your application.
# Use double quotes if the name contains spaces.

APP_ENV=development
# Options: development | production | testing
# development → full errors shown, debug enabled
# production  → errors hidden, optimized for live server
# testing     → used during automated tests

APP_URL=http://localhost:8000
# Full base URL. No trailing slash.
# Local dev server  → http://localhost:8000
# XAMPP subfolder   → http://localhost/myapp/public
# Live server       → https://yourdomain.com

APP_DEBUG=true
# true  → show detailed error pages (use in development only)
# false → hide errors from users (always use in production)

APP_TIMEZONE=UTC
# PHP timezone for all date/time functions.
# Examples: UTC | Asia/Karachi | Asia/Dhaka | Europe/London | America/New_York
# Full list → https://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

# ─────────────────────────────────────────
# DATABASE
# ─────────────────────────────────────────

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
# Database driver.
# Supported: mysql | pgsql | sqlite

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
# Database server hostname.
# Use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost to avoid socket issues on some systems.

DB_PORT=3306
# MySQL / MariaDB → 3306
# PostgreSQL      → 5432
# SQLite          → leave blank (not applicable)

DB_DATABASE=myapp
# The database name. Must exist before connecting.
# Create it first:
#   CREATE DATABASE myapp CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

DB_USERNAME=root
# Database user.
# Use a dedicated non-root user in production.

DB_PASSWORD=
# Database password.
# Leave empty if no password is set (common in local XAMPP/WAMP).
# Wrap in double quotes if it contains special characters:
#   DB_PASSWORD="p@$$w0rd#2024"

DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4
# utf8mb4 supports full Unicode including emojis.
# Only change if your server requires a specific charset.

Step 3 — Environment Profiles

Local Development (PHP built-in server)

APP_NAME="My App"
APP_ENV=development
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_TIMEZONE=UTC

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=
DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4

XAMPP / WAMP (subfolder)

APP_NAME="My App"
APP_ENV=development
APP_URL=http://localhost/myapp/public
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_TIMEZONE=UTC

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=myapp
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=
DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4

Production Server

APP_NAME="My App"
APP_ENV=production
APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_TIMEZONE=Asia/Karachi

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=prod_myapp
DB_USERNAME=db_user
DB_PASSWORD="StrongPassword@2024"
DB_CHARSET=utf8mb4

Step 4 — Reading Variables in Code

Use the built-in env() helper anywhere in your project:

// Simple read
$name = env('APP_NAME');

// With fallback default
$host = env('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
$port = env('DB_PORT', '3306');

// Boolean check
$debug = env('APP_DEBUG', 'false') === 'true';

// Inside a class
class Database
{
    public function connect(): PDO
    {
        $dsn = sprintf(
            '%s:host=%s;port=%s;dbname=%s;charset=%s',
            env('DB_CONNECTION', 'mysql'),
            env('DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
            env('DB_PORT', '3306'),
            env('DB_DATABASE', ''),
            env('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8mb4')
        );

        return new PDO($dsn, env('DB_USERNAME'), env('DB_PASSWORD'));
    }
}

Step 5 — Common Issues and Fixes

env() returns null for every key Your .env file is missing or in the wrong location. It must be at the project root, not inside public/.

myapp/
├── .env        ← correct location
└── public/
    └── index.php

Special characters in password break the connection Wrap the value in double quotes:

DB_PASSWORD="p@$$w0rd#special!"

App name with spaces not loading correctly Always quote values that contain spaces:

APP_NAME="My Awesome App"

Wrong timezone causing date issues Check your current system timezone:

php -r "echo date_default_timezone_get();"

Then set the matching value in .env.

Database connection refused

Make sure your database server is running
Try 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost
Verify the database exists and the user has access

phpstart command not found after global install Your Composer global bin is not in PATH. See Part 1 above.

.env Security Checklist

Rule	Why
Never commit `.env` to git	Contains passwords and secrets
Always commit `.env.example`	Lets teammates know what keys exist
Set `APP_DEBUG=false` in production	Prevents leaking stack traces publicly
Use a non-root database user in production	Limits damage if credentials are exposed
Set file permissions on Linux: `chmod 600 .env`	Prevents other system users from reading it
Never place `.env` inside `public/`	It would be directly downloadable via browser

Running Your Project

After creating a project and configuring .env:

cd myproject
php -S localhost:8000 -t public

Visit http://localhost:8000

Project Structure

myproject/
├── public/          # Web root
├── src/             # Application code
│   ├── Controllers/ # Controllers
│   ├── Models/      # Models
│   ├── Views/       # Views
│   └── Helpers/     # Helper functions
├── config/          # Configuration files
├── install/         # Web-based installation wizard
├── backup/          # Database backup & restore panel
├── storage/         # Logs, cache, uploads, backups
└── assets/          # CSS, JS, images

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Author

Aman Projects

Email: [email protected]
GitHub: https://github.com/amanprojects-ops

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on GitHub.

Made with ❤️ by Aman Projects

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PHPStart - PHP Project Scaffolding CLI

Features

Installation

Step 1 — Install Composer

Step 2 — Install PHPStart

Option A — Global Installation (Recommended)

Option B — Local Installation (Per Project)

Option C — Clone and Install Manually

Step 3 — Verify Installation

Usage

Create a New Project

Available Commands

Options

Project Types

Core PHP

MVC Framework

REST API

Laravel

Requirements

Examples

Environment Setup Guide

Part 1 — System Environment (for phpstart itself)

Required: PHP >= 8.1

Required: Composer

Required: Composer Global Bin in PATH

Optional: Git

Optional: Composer (for --type=laravel)

Part 2 — Project .env Setup (for generated projects)

Step 1 — Locate Your .env

Step 2 — Configure All Variables

Step 3 — Environment Profiles

Step 4 — Reading Variables in Code

Step 5 — Common Issues and Fixes

.env Security Checklist

Running Your Project

Project Structure

License

Author

Contributing

Support

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