php-cli-workspace

PHP CLI Docker image for Symfony development. Published for PHP 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5, on linux/arm64 and linux/amd64 (Docker pulls only the platform matching your machine).

Usage

# Latest stable (PHP 8.5)
docker pull ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:latest

# Pin a specific PHP version
docker pull ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:8.3

# Interactive shell
docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace

# Mount a project
docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/app ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace php bin/console list

What's included

• PHP 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5 (Debian Trixie)
• Composer 2
• Xdebug 3 (mode off by default)
• Extensions: bcmath bz2 curl exif fileinfo gd intl mbstring opcache openssl pcntl pdo_mysql pdo_pgsql pgsql sodium sockets xsl zip

Debugging (Xdebug)

Xdebug is installed but disabled by default to avoid overhead. Enable it at runtime via the XDEBUG_MODE environment variable:

# Step debugging (PHPStorm / any DAP client)
docker run --rm -it -e XDEBUG_MODE=debug -v $(pwd):/app ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace php bin/console …

# Profiling
docker run --rm -it -e XDEBUG_MODE=profile -v $(pwd):/app ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace php …

Default settings: client_host=host.docker.internal, client_port=9003, idekey=PHPSTORM.

JetBrains integration (PhpStorm / IntelliJ IDEA + PHP plugin)

Both IDEs share the same PHP plugin, so the setup is identical.

1. Interpreter: Settings → PHP → CLI Interpreter → … → + → From Docker, image ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:latest. Keep the default container volume (project root → /opt/project). Optional configuration options: -dmemory_limit=512M.

2. Composer: Settings → PHP → Composer → Execution: Remote Interpreter. Then use Tools → Composer → Install, or the links above composer.json.

3. Commands: Settings → Tools → PHP Command Line Tool Support → +, remote interpreter:

   Tool	Path	Alias
   Symfony	/opt/project/bin/console	s
   Composer (composer.phar or php script)	/usr/local/bin/composer	c

   Run them from Tools → Run Command… (Ctrl+Shift+X): s about, c -d /opt/project install, c -d /opt/project require symfony/mailer --dev. Process finished with exit code 0 means success. The IDE runs a tool from its script's directory, so c starts in /usr/local/bin: -d /opt/project points Composer at the project, or use step 2 instead.

4. Debugging: in a run/debug configuration, set XDEBUG_MODE=debug and start listening on port 9003 (default).

Notes:

• Use a real Xdebug mode (debug, profile…), never on: PHP reads it as 1, which Xdebug rejects.
• bin/console about shows Xdebug true as soon as the extension is loaded, even with mode off.
• Each command runs in a fresh container: add --network <name> to the interpreter's Docker container options to reach a database or other services.
• The IDE's built-in Terminal runs on your machine, not in the container: aliases s and c do not exist there.

Updating the image

If you already have the image pulled, re-pull to get the latest version (Docker only downloads changed layers):

docker pull ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:latest

To verify the image date after pulling:

docker inspect ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:latest --format '{{.Created}}'

Tags

Tag	PHP
latest	8.5
8.5	8.5
8.4	8.4
8.3	8.3

Each tag covers linux/arm64 and linux/amd64. To pull the other platform (for example an amd64 image on Apple Silicon, run under emulation):

docker pull --platform linux/amd64 ghcr.io/brei0x/php-cli-workspace:latest

The Dockerfile itself is versioned by git tags (vX.Y.Z) and GitHub releases, cut from the Conventional Commits of each push to main. Image tags stay by PHP version, and every tag is rebuilt each Monday to pick up PHP and Debian security patches.

Build locally

# Default (PHP 8.5)
docker build -t php-cli-workspace .

# A specific version
docker build --build-arg PHP_VERSION=8.3 -t php-cli-workspace:8.3 .

License

MIT. The image also ships PHP, Debian packages and Composer under their own licenses.