Async Plan

Async plan

The async branch is an experiment: can Symfony, Slim and Laravel run with minimal php-src patches, with synchronous application code and requests switched as fibers at wait points? It is synced from main from time to time. Full evidence: Async Analysis 2026-10-03.

State (2026-10-03)

• 13 commits ahead of main, 27 behind; 7 conflicting files; the sync workflow has never run.
• Needs only two php-src patches (0007 TLS, 0008 stream_select); the io_hooks RFC could replace both.
• The core design (state swap, executor, I/O seam) is sound. The failure lifecycle (fatal error, SIGQUIT, dropped requests) is not safe.
• Framework results in docs/frameworks.md are stale and need app help; no CI runs them.

Decisions (Piotr, 2026-10-03)

1. Delete the dead True Async executor (#530, #623).
2. Include model: option A, a validated fiber.shared_includes directive, default on (#78).
3. Refuse all persistent connections under the fiber executor (#550).
4. Refuse the session files handler under fiber with pm > 1 (#616).
5. After a fatal error, drain and recycle the child (#607).

Open: whether main keeps its empty async seams (#601).

Phases

Order: make the branch maintainable, then failures safe, then correctness, then measure frameworks again. No new fiber features before phase 3 is done.

Phase	Goal	Issues
1	Branch infrastructure: async-only patch dir and CI, exclude fiber sources from main's SDK build, manual main→async merge, working sync	#620, #528
2	Delete dead code and stale text	#623, #624, #530
3	Lifecycle safety: bailout, SIGQUIT, dropped request, time limit and recycling, shutdown functions, in-flight cap	#607, #608, #609, #610, #82, #529
4	Isolation and I/O correctness: FastCGI read, TLS connect/read, flock, session arbiter, files handler, error fields, statics, tests	#611-#618, #622, #79, #84, #85, #80, #549, #550, #551
5	Framework re-validation in CI, OPcache, Redis misattribution	#619, #621, #449, #83, #50, #52
6	io_hooks migration when the RFC lands (PHP 8.7)	#599, #600, #81