Make the PHP built-in web server step work without server-command

[swissspidy]

Problem

Given a PHP built-in web server (and the to serve :subdir variant) always passes {RUN_DIR}/vendor/wp-cli/server-command/router.php as the router script to php -S. No built-in step ever puts wp-cli/server-command into the run directory: Given a WP installation with Composer only requires WordPress core. PHP therefore fails every request with a fatal error while trying to open the router, and because CI runs with display_errors=On, that error page is served with a 200 status.

This surfaced in wp-cli/package-command#250: scenarios that serve a ZIP fixture from an empty directory received the PHP error page instead of the file ("Not a zip archive"), and a request for a missing file never produced a 404. The only in-tree consumer of the step, in wp-cli/wp-cli's bootstrap.feature, is tagged @broken, likely for the same reason.

Separately, Then the HTTP status code should be :code still called the Requests v1 Requests class, which WP-CLI 3 no longer autoloads, so the step died with Class "Requests" not found before making the request.

Changes

• start_php_server() only passes a router when one exists. It checks the run directory's Composer vendor directory first (honoring a custom vendor-dir in its composer.json), then the vendor directory of the project under test. Without a router, PHP's built-in web server serves the directory as-is, which is what a plain directory of static files needs.
• then_the_http_status_code_should_be() uses RequestsLibrary so it works with whichever Requests version WP-CLI ships.
• Two new scenarios in behat-steps.feature: one serves a plain directory and asserts the status and the served body, the other asserts a real 404 for a missing file. Both fail against the old behavior of serving PHP's fatal-error page with a 200.

Testing

• composer phpstan (including the PHP blocks in feature files), composer phpcs and gherkin-lint pass.
• The new scenarios pass. With this patch applied to the vendored copy in wp-cli/package-command, the four remote-ZIP scenarios from Use Utils\make_temp_file() / Utils\make_temp_dir() for package ZIP install temp paths package-command#250 pass using the original And a PHP built-in web server step, including the 404 case.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_019g8sd6U4w59qiQW7LTt1jG

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Advanced

Run ID: de289624-1bd0-4bc8-9bb8-2bce554288fb

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 902de26 and c8a6e1d.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• features/behat-steps.feature
• src/Context/FeatureContext.php
• src/Context/ThenStepDefinitions.php

Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 1 included review per hour; 0 remain after this review.

---

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The PHP built-in server step now supports plain directories without a router package. Router discovery is conditional. HTTP status checks load the bundled Requests library dynamically. A Behat scenario verifies a plain directory returns status 200.

Changes

PHP server support

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Conditional PHP server router src/Context/FeatureContext.php	The server command adds a router only when one exists in the run directory or project vendor directory.
HTTP status validation and scenario coverage src/Context/ThenStepDefinitions.php, features/behat-steps.feature	The status check registers and resolves the bundled Requests library. A new scenario checks that a plain directory with an index.html file returns status 200.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Suggested reviewers: schlessera

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to c8a6e

The PHP server steps retain router-backed behavior while supporting static directories without the optional router package. No actionable merge-blocking risk remains.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 3 functions across 2 files. (1 skipped: 1 …
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: making the PHP built-in web server step work when server-command is unavailable.

✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/php-server-router-fallback

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 0% with 32 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/Context/FeatureContext.php	0.00%	28 Missing ⚠️
src/Context/ThenStepDefinitions.php	0.00%	4 Missing ⚠️

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

[swissspidy]

On the red codecov/patch check: the changed lines are in the Behat step definitions, which run inside the Behat process. Coverage in this repository is only collected from PHPUnit and from the wp subprocesses that the functional tests launch, so step-definition code is never instrumented. src/Context/FeatureContext.php sits at 6.57% on main for that reason, and every recent merged PR that touched src/Context (#362, #360, #357, #356, #354, #353) reported 0% patch coverage as well. The new scenario in behat-steps.feature exercises the changed code functionally; there is nothing within this PR that can make that check pass.

---

Generated by Claude Code

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

Two moderate issues remain regarding custom vendor directories and insufficient server-response coverage.

Get a fresh assessment by requesting another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

This PR fixes PHP built-in server routing and HTTP status checks for WP-CLI 3 compatibility.

Changes:

• Conditionally discovers available router scripts.
• Uses RequestsLibrary for HTTP requests.
• Adds plain-directory server coverage.

File summaries

File	Summary	Final review note
src/Context/ThenStepDefinitions.php	Uses the supported Requests abstraction.	No unresolved finding.
src/Context/FeatureContext.php	Resolves optional PHP server routers.	Moderate: Hard-coded /vendor misses custom Composer vendor directories (2 votes).
features/behat-steps.feature	Adds plain-directory server coverage.	Moderate: The assertion can pass on PHP’s fatal-error page; verify the response body or a 404 (3 votes).

Review details

• Files reviewed: 3/3 changed files
• Comments generated: 2
• Review effort level: Lite

---

💡 Add a code-review agent skill or configure MCP servers for context-aware, tailored reviews. Learn more in the docs.