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mensbeam/fork
=============

Runs code concurrently by forking processes

1.5.0(1w ago)010MITPHPPHP ^8.1

Since Jul 1Pushed 1w agoCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/mensbeam/Fork)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/mensbeam/fork)[ RSS](/packages/mensbeam-fork/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 1w ago

READMEChangelogDependencies (10)Versions (5)Used By (0)

Fork
====

[](#fork)

*Fork* is a library for running jobs concurrently in PHP. It works by forking the main process into separate tasks using PHP's [`pcntl`](https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.pcntl.php) and [`sockets`](https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.sockets.php) extensions. So, it should go without saying that this library will not work on Windows.

There is an existing library for forking processes, [spatie/fork](https://github.com/spatie/fork). This library on its surface is very similar, but internally it's quite a bit different. Unlike `spatie/fork`, `mensbeam/fork` does not return an array of returned values from all tasks after all of them have finished. Instead, it uses callbacks to handle output as each task completes. This design prevents potential memory exhaustion when running a large number of tasks, as we encountered when using `spatie/fork`. Handling output immediately as tasks finish is more scalable and efficient.

Requirements
------------

[](#requirements)

- PHP >= 8.1
- [ext-pcntl](https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.pcntl.php)
- [ext-sockets](https://www.php.net/manual/en/book.sockets.php)
- [mensbeam/self-sealing-callable](https://code.mensbeam.com/MensBeam/SelfSealingCallable) ^1.0

Installation
------------

[](#installation)

Install using Composer:

```
composer require mensbeam/fork
```

Usage
-----

[](#usage)

Here is a simple example. `Fork->run()` can accept an array or an `\Iterator` of callables to run concurrently and will execute them. This means it can also accept a generator to continuously run tasks concurrently.

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

function gen(): \Generator {
    foreach (range(1, 5) as $n) {
        yield function () use ($n) {
            $delay = rand(1, 5);
            sleep($delay);
            return [ $n, $delay ];
        };
    }
}

(new Fork())->after(function(array $output) {
    echo "{$output['data'][0]}: {$output['data'][1]}\n";
})->run(gen());
```

Example output:

```
4: 2
3: 2
2: 3
5: 3
1: 5

```

---

Callbacks
---------

[](#callbacks)

You can use `before()` and `after()` to register callbacks to run **before or after each task**. You can register different callbacks for the parent and child processes.

---

Concurrency
-----------

[](#concurrency)

You can limit how many tasks run concurrently using `concurrent()`.

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

(new Fork())->concurrent(2)->run([
    fn() => sleep(1),
    fn() => sleep(1),
    fn() => sleep(1)
]);
```

---

Timeouts
--------

[](#timeouts)

You can set a timeout (in seconds) for each child process:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

(new Fork())->timeout(5)->run([
    fn() => sleep(10), // This will timeout
    fn() => sleep(2)
]);
```

When a task times out, a `TimeoutException` is thrown inside the child process, captured as a `ThrowableContext`, and — as with any fatal — thrown directly in the parent by default, or left in `$output['errors']` instead if `Fork::$throwFatalErrors` is set to `false`.

---

Stopping tasks
--------------

[](#stopping-tasks)

You can stop all currently running and queued tasks from within an `after()` callback:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

$f = new Fork();
$f->after(function(array $output) use ($f) {
    if ($output['data'] === 'stop') {
        $f->stop();
    }
})->run([
    fn() => 'continue',
    fn() => 'stop',
    fn() => 'never runs'
]);
```

---

ThrowableContext
----------------

[](#throwablecontext)

When a task throws, or triggers a non-fatal error (`E_WARNING`, `trigger_error()`, etc.), it's captured as a `ThrowableContext` and sent back to the parent — never as `$output['data']`, which is always either the task's real return value or `null`. See [Errors and exceptions inside the fork](#errors-and-exceptions-inside-the-fork) below for where it actually ends up.

### What it includes

[](#what-it-includes)

- Error code
- File and line where the throwable was thrown
- Message
- Class type
- Optional stack trace (enabled via `Fork::$tracesInThrowableContexts`)
- Any previous throwable chain

---

Errors and exceptions inside the fork
-------------------------------------

[](#errors-and-exceptions-inside-the-fork)

By default:

- Non-fatal errors are automatically re-triggered in the parent process, through whatever error handler is active there, preserving their original severity, message, file, and line — as if they'd happened directly in the parent.
- A fatal (the throwable that actually stopped the task) is thrown directly in the parent, inside `Fork::run()` — so a failing task behaves like an ordinary, synchronous failure would.

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

try {
    (new Fork())->after(function(array $output) {
        echo "Child succeeded with: " . $output['data'] . "\n";
    })->run([
        fn() => throw new \RuntimeException("Something went wrong!"),
    ]);
} catch (\RuntimeException $e) {
    echo "A task failed: " . $e->getMessage() . "\n";
}
```

Since `$throwFatalErrors` throws inside `Fork::run()` itself, a fatal from any one task halts the entire run immediately — with multiple tasks running concurrently, whichever one fails first stops the rest: their own `after()` callbacks may never fire at all, and which task "fails first" isn't guaranteed to be consistent between runs. If you're running several tasks together and want every one of them to complete regardless of individual failures, set `$throwFatalErrors = false` and check `$output['success']`/`$output['errors']` in `after()` instead.

Two static flags control this default behavior:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

Fork::$reraiseNonFatalErrors = false; // default: true
Fork::$throwFatalErrors = false; // default: true
```

- `$reraiseNonFatalErrors` — when `false`, non-fatal errors are not re-triggered; they're left in `$output['errors']` instead.
- `$throwFatalErrors` — when `false`, a fatal is not thrown; it's left in `$output['errors']` instead, for you to handle yourself in an `after()` callback.

When both are `false`, `$output['errors']` holds everything that wasn't auto-handled — non-fatal errors first, and the fatal last, if there was one:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;

Fork::$reraiseNonFatalErrors = false;
Fork::$throwFatalErrors = false;

(new Fork())->after(function(array $output) {
    foreach ($output['errors'] as $context) {
        echo $context->getMessage() . "\n";
    }
})->run([
    function () {
        trigger_error('a warning', \E_USER_WARNING);
        throw new \RuntimeException('Eek!');
    },
]);
```

### Telling Fork's own captured errors apart from a task's own

[](#telling-forks-own-captured-errors-apart-from-a-tasks-own)

A non-fatal error Fork itself captures always wraps a `MensBeam\Fork\Error` (which extends `\ErrorException`). If a task's own code happens to throw a plain `\ErrorException` itself, you can still tell the two apart — here with `$reraiseNonFatalErrors` off, so the captured warning actually ends up in `errors` to demonstrate this:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;
use MensBeam\Fork\Error;

Fork::$reraiseNonFatalErrors = false;

(new Fork())->after(function(array $output) {
    foreach ($output['errors'] as $context) {
        if ($context->getThrowable() instanceof Error) {
            echo "Fork captured a non-fatal error: {$context->getMessage()}\n";
        } else {
            echo "The task threw this itself: {$context->getMessage()}\n";
        }
    }
})->run([
    function () {
        trigger_error('a warning', \E_USER_WARNING);
        return 'done';
    },
]);
```

---

Handling traces
---------------

[](#handling-traces)

You can enable including stack traces in `ThrowableContext` objects:

```
use MensBeam\Fork;
Fork::$tracesInThrowableContexts = true;
```

Keep in mind there are some minor limitations, however. Anything that can't be serialized such as Generators, Closures, etc. are all sanitized to strings denoting what they were before being replaced.

---

License
-------

[](#license)

MIT License. See [LICENSE.md](LICENSE.md) and [AUTHORS.md](AUTHORS.md) for details.

###  Health Score

42

—

FairBetter than 88% of packages

Maintenance98

Actively maintained with recent releases

Popularity6

Limited adoption so far

Community6

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity49

Maturing project, gaining track record

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~134 days

Total

4

Last Release

8d ago

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/fa45644fa8847647e3d12802571072bbd4f3da8d27ed03f6f8df3c3859db6f6e?d=identicon)[dustinwilson](/maintainers/dustinwilson)

---

Top Contributors

[![dustinwilson](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1885928?v=4)](https://github.com/dustinwilson "dustinwilson (22 commits)")

###  Code Quality

TestsPHPUnit

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/mensbeam-fork/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/mensbeam-fork/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/mensbeam-fork)
```

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