ext-php-copilot/client

Generic PHP 8.3 client wrapper for the ext-php-copilot native extension.

v0.1.6 2026-06-14 14:02 UTC

Requires

• php: >=8.3
• ext-ext_php_copilot: *

MIT

Published on Packagist.org on 2026-06-14 14:02 UTC

README

ext-php-copilot

ext-php-copilot is a PHP 8.3+ extension, written in Rust with ext-php-rs, for driving GitHub Copilot through github-copilot-sdk 1.0.1.

The extension uses the SDK's bundled-cli feature to bundle the GitHub Copilot CLI when built with COPILOT_CLI_VERSION, while still supporting COPILOT_CLI_PATH and PATH resolution for local development.

Requirements

• PHP 8.3 or newer, NTS recommended for the initial release, with development headers and php-config available.
• Rust 1.94+; nightly is configured because Windows extension builds require abi_vectorcall.
• GitHub Copilot CLI in COPILOT_CLI_PATH or PATH for dev builds, unless COPILOT_CLI_VERSION is set at build time.

Build

cargo build

Build with a bundled Copilot CLI:

COPILOT_CLI_VERSION=1.0.62 cargo build --release

Run a PHP script with the debug extension on macOS:

php -d extension=target/debug/libext_php_copilot.dylib examples/basic.php

On Linux the extension suffix is .so; on Windows it is .dll.

GitHub Copilot Token

The PHP wrapper accepts a GitHub token through GITHUB_COPILOT_TOKEN. Use an account with an active GitHub Copilot entitlement.

For local development, the simplest path is GitHub CLI:

gh auth login
printf 'GITHUB_COPILOT_TOKEN=%s\n' "$(gh auth token)" > .env

The .env file is ignored by Git and is loaded by tests/acceptance.php. For deployed apps, set GITHUB_COPILOT_TOKEN through the host secret manager or environment configuration instead of writing it to disk.

Acceptance Test

Create a local .env file with a Copilot-enabled token:

GITHUB_COPILOT_TOKEN=your_token_here

Then run the live acceptance test:

cargo build
php -d extension=target/debug/libext_php_copilot.dylib tests/acceptance.php

The script loads .env, verifies authentication, sends one prompt, and stores local Copilot CLI state under var/copilot-acceptance.

Usage Documentation

See docs/README.md for PHP wrapper usage, native extension methods, every supported option, and examples for each method.

Platform Support

The Copilot SDK supports bundled CLI targets for macOS arm64/x64, Linux arm64/x64, and Windows arm64/x64. PHP extensions are ABI-specific, so release artifacts must be built per OS, architecture, PHP 8.3 patch version, ZTS/NTS mode, and debug/non-debug mode.

cargo-php is useful for install/stub workflows on macOS and Linux. Windows support should build through Cargo directly with PHP 8.3 development headers and rust-lld.

Release Artifacts

Version tags build downloadable release archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Each OS gets two variants:

• no-cli: requires COPILOT_CLI_PATH or a GitHub Copilot CLI available on PATH.
• embedded-cli: uses the SDK bundled-cli feature to bundle the GitHub Copilot CLI selected by COPILOT_CLI_VERSION in the release workflow.

The release workflow currently defaults COPILOT_CLI_VERSION to GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.62.

Available releases are published on GitHub:

• v0.1.6 latest, resolves Dependabot alerts for locked Rust dependencies.
• v0.1.5 embeds GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.62 by default in release builds.
• v0.1.4 updates to github-copilot-sdk 1.0.1 and the SDK bundled-cli feature.
• v0.1.3 embeds GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.48 in the embedded-cli archives.
• v0.1.2 adds downloadable release archives for each OS and variant.
• v0.1.1 includes the initial CI portability fixes.

AI Contribution Attribution

Assisted-by: GitHub Copilot

License

MIT License.

Copyright (c) 2026 Per Søderlind.