FrankenPHP is a high-performance application server and runtime for PHP. It functions as a web server that executes PHP scripts and delivers web content, incorporating a binary bundler to package applications and their dependencies into standalone executable files.
The project integrates the PHP interpreter directly into the Caddy web server to provide automatic HTTPS and flexible site configuration. It features a worker mode runtime that keeps applications bootloaded in memory across requests to eliminate bootstrap overhead and increase throughput. Additionally, it serves as a communication server capable of maintaining persistent connections for real-time data streaming.
The server supports HTTP early hints for preloading critical assets and provides a development workflow with automatic code reloading via a file-system watcher. It also enables the embedding of PHP scripts within other applications and the development of compiled language extensions.
