initphp/console

A simple helper library for writing console/CLI applications in PHP. As of 2.1 this package also ships the table renderer previously distributed as initphp/cli-table.

2.1.0 2026-05-24 09:18 UTC

Requires

• php: >=7.2

Replaces

• initphp/cli-table: *

MIT

• Muhammet ŞAFAK

README

A simple helper library for writing console/CLI applications in PHP.

Starting with 2.1, this package also ships the ANSI-coloured table renderer that used to be distributed as the separate initphp/cli-table package (now deprecated). See the migration section below if you are coming from that package.

Requirements

• PHP 7.2 or higher

Installation

composer require initphp/console

Usage

#!/usr/bin/env php
<?php
require_once __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
use \InitPHP\Console\{Application, Input, Output};

$console = new Application("My Console Application", '1.0');

// Register commands ...

// hello -name=John
$console->register('hello', function (Input $input, Output $output) {
    if ($input->hasArgument('name')) {
        $output->writeln('Hello {name}', [
            'name'  => $input->getArgument('name')
        ]);
    } else {
        $output->writeln('Hello World!');
    }
}, 'Says hello.');


$console->run();

php console.php list

Rendering tables

This package ships a styleable ASCII/ANSI table renderer under \InitPHP\Console\Utils\Table:

use InitPHP\Console\Utils\Table;

$table = Table::create()
    ->setHeaderStyle(Table::COLOR_RED, Table::BOLD)
    ->setBorderStyle(Table::COLOR_BLUE)
    ->setCellStyle(Table::COLOR_GREEN);

$table->row(['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Matthew S.', 'email' => '[e-mail]', 'status' => true])
      ->row(['id' => 2, 'name' => 'Millie J.',  'email' => '[e-mail]',  'status' => false])
      ->row(['id' => 3, 'name' => 'Regina G.',  'email' => '[e-mail]',  'status' => true]);

echo $table; // or $table->getContent()

The renderer is intentionally lightweight: it stringifies non-string cell values ([NULL], [TRUE], [FALSE], [CALLABLE], [RESOURCE], class name for objects), auto-sizes columns, and emits standard SGR escape sequences. mb_strlen() is used when available so multibyte values align correctly.

Migrating from initphp/cli-table

The standalone initphp/cli-table package has been merged into this one starting with 2.1 and is now deprecated.

If your code currently uses \InitPHP\CLITable\Table, no source changes are required — this package ships a class_alias that keeps the old fully-qualified class name working. Just switch your dependency:

- "initphp/cli-table": "^1.0",
+ "initphp/console": "^2.1"

(initphp/console:^2.1 declares a Composer replace for initphp/cli-table, so Composer will not install both side-by-side.)

When you next touch the code, prefer the new canonical namespace:

// Before
use InitPHP\CLITable\Table;

// After
use InitPHP\Console\Utils\Table;

The alias is intended as a transition aid and may be removed in a future major release.

Credits

• Muhammet ŞAFAK <[e-mail]>

License

Copyright © 2022 MIT License