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`phpflash init [dir]`

Scaffold a PHP-on-ESP32 project: a config file, a project-src/ folder with a starter index.php, and a .gitignore. Interactive by default, driven by the installed php-esp32 manifest so it only offers what the firmware can actually build.

init scaffolds a new project in dir, or in the current directory if dir is omitted. A project is a config file plus a source folder: the config picks the board, the storage and execution models, the PHP version and the extensions to compile; project-src/ holds your PHP. init writes both, along with a starter script and a .gitignore, and leaves you ready to phpflash build.

bash terminal — init 
phpflash init my-project                       # interactive
phpflash init my-project --board esp32-s3-eth  # preselect the board
phpflash init . --yes                          # scaffold here, all defaults, no prompts
cd my-project

What it writes

Three things land on disk. project-src/ is the deployable, kept apart from the config and the build output so it is easy to reason about and easy to version.

text tree — scaffolded project 
my-project/
├── php-esp32.config.toml   the project config
├── .gitignore              ignores build/, sdkconfig, vendor/, the local override, .env
└── project-src/
    └── index.php           the starter script (hello or blink)
  • php-esp32.config.toml — the project config, rendered from your answers. It is meant to be read and edited; see the config file below.
  • project-src/index.php — the entry script, filled from the hello or blink starter. The folder name comes from [php] src (default project-src) and the file name from [php] entry (default index.php). This folder is exactly what gets copied to a microSD, or baked into the image for an embedded project.
  • .gitignore — excludes the build tree and machine-local files.
text .gitignore 
/build/
/sdkconfig
/project-src/vendor/
/php-esp32.config.local.toml
/.env

init refuses to clobber an existing config

If php-esp32.config.toml already exists in the target directory, init stops rather than overwrite it. Pass --force to remove the old config first and re-scaffold.

The interactive flow

init is interactive, with a default at every step. It reads the installed php-esp32 through its manifest, so the board list, the storage and execution modes, the PHP versions and the optional extensions are exactly what the firmware you have installed can build — nothing offered that would not compile. The prompts, in order:

  1. 01

    Project name

    — defaults to the directory name.

  2. 02

    Chip family, then board

    — the family list comes from the manifest; picking the board fixes the ESP-IDF target for you. The --board value seeds the board default.

  3. 03

    Storage type

    — microsd or embedded, limited to what the selected board declares it supports.

  4. 04

    Project type

    — the execution model, one of the modes the manifest offers for the board (init-loop, web-server, event-driven); a board with no network will not offer web-server.

  5. 05

    PHP version

    — asked only when more than one version is installed. Choosing the marked default leaves the config's version empty (the project follows the repo default); any other choice pins it.

  6. 06

    Optional extensions

    — a multi-select of the extensions the manifest marks optional for the chosen project type. Each one you enable then asks about its own boolean settings (for example mbstring offers oniguruma for mb_ereg). Always-on extensions are not listed.

  7. 07

    Serial port

    — leave empty to autodetect at flash time.

  8. 08

    Starter

    — a hello page or a blink sketch to write into project-src/index.php.

When php-esp32 is not installed yet

If the manifest cannot be read at --php-esp32-path, init prints note: php-esp32 not installed; board and extensions default -- configure after system-setup, keeps the flag/default board, and skips the board, mode, version and extension prompts. Run phpflash system-setup first, or fill those fields in by hand afterward.

Flags

Every prompt has a corresponding default, so the flags below are for non-interactive use and preselection. --yes accepts every default and asks nothing.

Parameters
--name
string optional

Project name written to the config. Defaults to the base name of the target directory.

--board
string optional

Board / target to preselect, for example esp32-s3-eth. Defaults to esp32-p4-pico. In interactive mode this seeds the board default; with --yes it is used as-is.

--php-esp32-path
string optional

Path to the installed php-esp32, used to read the board, mode, version and extension lists. Defaults to the PHP_ESP32_DIR environment variable, then ~/esp/php-esp32.

--yes
bool optional

Accept all defaults and ask nothing. Produces a microsd, init-loop project with no optional extensions, an empty serial port and the hello starter, on the --board board.

--force
bool optional

Overwrite an existing php-esp32.config.toml (removed before re-scaffolding).

The config file

init renders a commented php-esp32.config.toml from your answers. A minimal one looks like this:

toml php-esp32.config.toml 
name = "my-project"
storage_type = "microsd"   # where the PHP source lives
type = "init-loop"         # execution model

[board]
target = "esp32-p4-pico"
port   = ""                # empty = autodetect at flash time

[esp-idf]
path    = ""
version = ""

[php-esp32]
path    = ""
version = ""

[php]
src     = "project-src"    # PHP source folder (copied to the microSD / embedded)
entry   = "index.php"      # entry file within src
version = ""               # PHP version to build (e.g. "8.5.9"); empty = the repo default

Each optional extension you enabled becomes an [extensions.<key>] table with enabled = true plus any settings you turned on. The [esp-idf] and [php-esp32] tables (each path + version) let a project pin a specific toolchain or firmware checkout; leave them empty to use the system-setup defaults. The rendered file also carries commented [env], [store] and [web-server] sections you can uncomment.

Keep machine-specific settings out of git

For tweaks that should not be committed — a serial port, a local toolchain path — put them in a php-esp32.config.local.toml next to the main file. Every command overlays that file when present, and the scaffolded .gitignore already excludes it. init never creates it.

After init, the usual next step is phpflash build.

Last updated · 2026-09-04
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