Editor Setup¶

PHPantom communicates over stdin/stdout using the standard Language Server Protocol. Any editor with LSP support can use it. No special initialization options are required.

Automatic Installation¶

These editors download and manage the PHPantom binary for you. To use a newer version than what your editor provides, install it manually and put phpantom_lsp on your PATH.

Zed¶

PHPantom is supported directly by Zed's official PHP extension, no separate PHPantom extension needed. Install (or update) the PHP extension from Zed's Extensions panel, then add PHPantom to your Zed settings.json:

{
  "languages": {
    "PHP": {
      "language_servers": ["phpantom", "!intelephense", "!phpactor", "!phptools", "..."]
    }
  }
}

File filters¶

Zed forwards lsp.phpantom.initialization_options to the server as-is, so you can tell PHPantom which paths to skip and which extra extensions to treat as PHP from the same settings.json:

{
  "lsp": {
    "phpantom": {
      "initialization_options": {
        "indexing": {
          "exclude": ["generated", "storage/framework"],
          "extensions": ["module", "theme"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

These are the editor-supplied file filters: exclude uses gitignore syntax relative to the workspace root, and they merge with (rather than replace) anything the project's .phpantom.toml already sets.

Zed's own file_scan_exclusions and file_types are not picked up automatically. Its extension API serves extensions only the language, lsp, and context_servers settings categories, so the PHP extension cannot read those two settings to forward them. Until Zed exposes them, list the paths and extensions you care about in the block above, or in .phpantom.toml if you would rather your whole team got them.

VS Code / Cursor¶

Install the PHPantom extension from the VS Code Marketplace. It automatically downloads the language server binary and starts it when you open a PHP file.

File filters¶

No setup needed. The extension reads your files.exclude and files.associations settings for each workspace folder and forwards them as editor-supplied file filters, so a folder you hide is not indexed and an extension you have mapped to php is. Changing either setting re-sends them, and the index is reconciled with the new filters without a restart.

Two kinds of entry are skipped, because neither has an equivalent the server can act on. A files.exclude entry with a "when" clause hides a file only while a sibling exists, which is a per-file question a glob cannot answer, and hiding real source from the index on a guess is worse than indexing it. A files.associations pattern that does not reduce to a bare extension (Jenkinsfile, or *.blade.php, whose files are already indexed as .php) has nothing to contribute to a list of extensions. Put either case in .phpantom.toml instead.

Manual Installation¶

These editors require you to install PHPantom first.

Neovim¶

PHPantom is included in nvim-lspconfig (just needs to be enabled). If you do not use nvim-lspconfig, then you will need to manually configure it:

vim.lsp.config('phpantom_lsp', {
  cmd = { 'phpantom_lsp' },
  filetypes = { 'php' },
  root_markers = { '.phpantom.toml', '.git', 'composer.json' },
})

Finally, enable it with:

vim.lsp.enable('phpantom_lsp')

PHPStorm¶

1. Install LSP4IJ from Editor > Plugins, then restart PHPStorm.

2. Navigate to Languages & Frameworks > Language Servers and click + to add a new server:

   • Name: PHPantom
   • Command: path to your phpantom_lsp binary
   • Mapping: set PHP on both the Language tab and the File Type tab. Setting both ensures PHPStorm activates the server reliably.

Sublime Text¶

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P), type Package Control: Install Package, and install LSP.

2. Open the Command Palette again, type Preferences: LSP Server Configurations, and add:

{
  "phpantom": {
    "enabled": true,
    "command": ["phpantom_lsp"],
    "selector": "embedding.php",
    "priority_selector": "source.php"
  }
}

Make sure phpantom_lsp is on your PATH, or replace it with the full path to the binary.

Helix¶

Add PHPantom to your languages.toml (typically ~/.config/helix/languages.toml):

[language-server.phpantom]
command = "phpantom_lsp"

[[language]]
name = "php"
language-servers = ["phpantom"]

Emacs (eglot)¶

Eglot is built into Emacs 29+. Add to your init.el:

(with-eval-after-load 'eglot
  (add-to-list 'eglot-server-programs
               '(php-mode . ("phpantom_lsp"))))

Then open a PHP file and run M-x eglot.

Emacs (lsp-mode)¶

Add to your init.el:

(with-eval-after-load 'lsp-mode
  (lsp-register-client
   (make-lsp-client
    :new-connection (lsp-stdio-connection '("phpantom_lsp"))
    :activation-fn (lsp-activate-on "php")
    :server-id 'phpantom)))

Then open a PHP file and run M-x lsp.

Kate¶

Open Settings > Configure Kate > LSP Client > User Server Settings and add:

{
  "servers": {
    "php": {
      "command": ["/path/to/phpantom_lsp"],
      "url": "https://github.com/PHPantom-dev/phpantom_lsp"
    }
  }
}

Pragtical¶

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P), type Plugin Manager: Show, and install Language Server Protocol (LSP).

2. Open the Command Palette again, type Core: Open User Module, and add:

local lsp = require "plugins.lsp"

lsp.add_server {
  name = "phpantom",
  language = "PHP",
  file_patterns = { "%.php$" },
  command = { "/path/to/phpantom_lsp" },
  transport = "stdio",
  requests_per_second = 16,
  incremental_changes = false,
  verbose = false
}

For AI coding agent setup, see Agent Setup.