PHP IntelliSense for VS Code - Deployment & Usage Guide

Prerequisites

For End Users

• Visual Studio Code (latest stable version recommended)
• PHP >= 7.0.0 (must be accessible in system PATH or configured via settings)
• Git (optional, for cloning sample projects)

For Development/Contribution

• Node.js (LTS version recommended)
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• Composer (PHP dependency manager)
• PHP >= 7.0.0 with CLI support
• Visual Studio Code with Extension Development support
• vsce (VS Code Extension CLI tool) for packaging:

  npm install -g vsce
  

Installation

Option A: End User Installation (Marketplace)

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "PHP IntelliSense" by Felix Becker
4. Click Install
5. Disable built-in PHP IntelliSense to avoid duplicate suggestions:

   {
     "php.suggest.basic": false
   }
   

Option B: Manual Installation (VSIX)

1. Download the latest .vsix from releases or build locally (see Build section)
2. In VS Code, go to Extensions view → ... menu → Install from VSIX
3. Select the downloaded file

Option C: Development Installation (Source)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/felixfbecker/vscode-php-intellisense.git
   cd vscode-php-intellisense
   

2. Install PHP dependencies (language server):

   composer install
   

3. Install Node.js dependencies:

   npm install
   

Configuration

Required Settings

Add to your VS Code settings.json (Ctrl+, then search settings):

Recommended Settings

{
  "php.suggest.basic": false,
  "php.executablePath": "/usr/bin/php",
  "php.memoryLimit": "4095M"
}

Memory Limit Validation Rules:

• Must be numeric with optional suffix (K, M, G)
• Or -1 for unlimited
• Examples: 512M, 2G, 4095M, -1

Environment Variables

Ensure php command is available in your shell PATH, or explicitly configure php.executablePath.

Build & Run

Development Workflow

1. Install dependencies:

   composer install
   npm install
   

2. Build the extension:

   npm run build
   

3. Launch Development Host:

   • Open the project folder in VS Code: code .
   • Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
   • A new VS Code window opens with the extension loaded
   • Open any PHP file to test IntelliSense features

Working on the Language Server

The PHP language server is bundled via Composer in vendor/felixfbecker/language-server. To use a local development version:

1. Clone the language server repository separately
2. Replace the vendor directory with a symlink:

   rm -rf vendor/felixfbecker/language-server
   ln -s /path/to/your/php-language-server vendor/felixfbecker/language-server
   

Production Build

Create a deployable VSIX package:

npm run build
vsce package

This generates a .vsix file for distribution.

Deployment

Publishing to VS Code Marketplace

1. Prerequisites:

   • Azure DevOps Personal Access Token with Marketplace permissions
   • Publisher account on VS Code Marketplace

2. Login:

   vsce login <publisher-name>
   

3. Publish:

   vsce publish
   

   Or for specific version:

   vsce publish patch  # or minor/major
   

Enterprise/Offline Deployment

For air-gapped environments or enterprise distribution:

1. Build the VSIX: vsce package
2. Distribute the .vsix file via internal extension gallery or file share
3. Users install via Command Palette → Extensions: Install from VSIX

CI/CD Integration (Travis CI)

The project uses Travis CI for automated builds (see .travis.yml):

• Builds run on every push/PR
• Semantic-release automates versioning and publishing
• Ensure GH_TOKEN and VSCE_TOKEN are set in Travis environment variables

Troubleshooting

PHP Executable Not Found

Error: PHP executable not found. Install PHP 7 and add it to your PATH...

Solutions:

1. Verify PHP installation: php --version (should show >= 7.0.0)
2. Set explicit path in settings:
   • Windows: "php.executablePath": "C:\\php\\php.exe"
   • Linux/Mac: "php.executablePath": "/usr/bin/php"
3. Restart VS Code after changing settings

Invalid Memory Limit

Error: The memory limit you\'d provided is not numeric...

Solution: Use valid PHP shorthand notation:

• Correct: "4095M", "2G", "-1"
• Incorrect: "4095 MB", "unlimited"

PHP Version Compatibility

Error: Spawning PHP fails or features don't work

Check: Run php --version in terminal. Must be >= 7.0.0. The extension checks for semantic version ^7.0.0.

Duplicate Suggestions

Issue: Seeing double completion suggestions

Solution: Disable VS Code's built-in PHP IntelliSense:

{
  "php.suggest.basic": false
}

Language Server Crashes

Symptom: Features stop working, high CPU usage

Solutions:

1. Increase memory limit: "php.memoryLimit": "-1" (unlimited) or "8G"
2. Check Output panel → "PHP IntelliSense" for stack traces
3. Ensure no conflicting PHP extensions are installed (disable other IntelliSense providers)

Development: Extension Won't Launch

Issue: F5 doesn't open Extension Development Host

Solutions:

1. Ensure npm run build completed without errors
2. Check that composer install ran successfully (vendor directory exists)
3. Verify TypeScript compilation: check out/ directory exists with compiled .js files

Windows-Specific Issues

If using WSL or Cygwin paths, ensure php.executablePath uses Windows-style paths or WSL paths consistently with your VS Code environment.