PHP Runtime Manager

PAM is the single owner of PHP across the platform. Server, Native, and Desktop adapters inherit their runtime from PAM; they do not independently download, compile, or publish PHP distributions.

Declare the Native PHP series

{
  "runtime": {
    "php": "8.5",
    "channel": "stable"
  }
}

PAM resolves the request through runtime/catalog.json. Each catalog entry pins the official PHP source URL and SHA-256, Android API and NDK, extension surface, and PAM runtime revision. The project resolution is written to .pam-native/runtime.lock.json.

pam mobile runtime:list
pam mobile runtime:use 8.5
pam mobile runtime:info
pam mobile runtime:update

These commands default to the current project. Pass a directory only when operating on another project.

Runtime identity

Runtime IDs use <php-version>-r<revision>. A PHP security update changes the PHP version and resets the revision. A PAM portability patch, build flag, or packaging correction increments only the revision.

For example, 8.5.8-r2 means the second PAM build of the verified official PHP 8.5.8 source. It is not a forked application version.

Reproducible release behavior

Release builds consume the exact runtime lock rather than resolving “latest” at build time. PAM release automation recompiles every supported Android ABI from the verified source and publishes runtimes inside the PAM distribution with build provenance.

Commit the runtime declaration and preserve the generated lock as a CI/release artifact. Verify downloaded archives before extraction. Native and Desktop packages must never hide a second PHP toolchain behind their own installers; fixes belong in the central catalog and revision.