From 2fb361bf6df6a518fd30ea868ba39a727d113d88 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: sacOO7 <sachinshinde7676@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 16:28:54 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] Support PHP 7.4 and later

---
 .github/workflows/check.yml | 2 +-
 README.md                   | 2 +-
 UPDATING.md                 | 4 ++--
 composer.json               | 2 +-
 tests/factories/TestApp.php | 5 +++--
 5 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/check.yml b/.github/workflows/check.yml
index a79c302..6a0ec7a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        php-version: ['8.1', '8.2', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
+        php-version: ['7.4', '8.1', '8.2', '8.3', '8.4', '8.5']
         protocol: [ 'json', 'msgpack' ]
         ignorePlatformReq: [ '' ]
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6b10af9..ea7a86c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ Ably aims to support a wide range of platforms. If you experience any compatibil
 
 | Platform | Support |
 | --- | --- |
-| PHP | 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 |
+| PHP | 7.4 and later (tested on 7.4 and 8.1 – 8.5) |
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/UPDATING.md b/UPDATING.md
index 7778488..cac3573 100644
--- a/UPDATING.md
+++ b/UPDATING.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ The client `Server::createHttpClient()` returns is the same REST client as befor
 | `AblyRest::setAblyAgentHeader('x', 'v')` | `Server::createHttpClient(['agents' => ['x' => 'v'], …])` |
 | `AblyRest::setLibraryFlavourString('x')` | removed — use the `agents` option |
 | `require 'ably-loader.php';` | removed — use Composer's autoloader (`vendor/autoload.php`) |
-| PHP 7.2 – 8.0 | PHP `^8.1` (tested on 8.1 – 8.5) |
+| PHP 7.2 – 8.0 | PHP 7.4 or later (tested on 7.4 and 8.1 – 8.5); 2.0.0 itself required PHP 8.1 |
 | `\Ably\AblyRest` type hints | `\Ably\PubSub\PubSubHttpClient` ([091d](https://ably.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/product/pages/5363957781)) |
 | `'environment' => 'sandbox'` / `'restHost' => '…'` | `'endpoint' => …` (see [Endpoint](#endpoint-replaces-environment-and-resthost)) |
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ The `agents` option is per-client, unlike the process-global static setters it r
 * `ably-loader.php`, the hand-rolled autoloader — Composer is the only supported install path.
 * The `environment` and `restHost` client options — replaced by `endpoint`. They are ignored if passed.
 * The `demo/` Heroku application and its `Procfile`.
-* PHP 7.2 – 8.0 support.
+* PHP 7.2 – 8.0 support. Releases after 2.0.0 support PHP 7.4 and later again, so only PHP 7.2 and 7.3 remain unsupported.
 
 `Auth::authorise()`, the British-spelling alias deprecated in favour of `Auth::authorize()`, is still present in 2.0.0.
 
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 1b46f0d..c6e32fb 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
         "issues": "https://github.com/ably/ably-pubsub-php/issues"
     },
     "require": {
-        "php": "^8.1",
+        "php": "^7.4 || ^8.0",
         "rybakit/msgpack": "^0.9.1 || ^1.0",
         "ext-json" : "*",
         "ext-curl" : "*",
diff --git a/tests/factories/TestApp.php b/tests/factories/TestApp.php
index c6ccdc0..8124004 100644
--- a/tests/factories/TestApp.php
+++ b/tests/factories/TestApp.php
@@ -127,8 +127,9 @@ private function request( $mode, $url, $headers = [], $params = '' ) {
             var_dump(curl_error($ch));  // Prints curl request error if exists
         }
 
-        // curl_close() has no effect since PHP 8.0 and is deprecated since 8.5;
-        // the handle is released when $ch goes out of scope. The floor is 8.1.
+        // curl_close() has no effect since PHP 8.0 and is deprecated since 8.5.
+        // On every supported version (7.4 and later) the handle is released
+        // when its last reference goes away, so unset() is enough.
         unset($ch);
 
         if ($this->debugRequests) {