Host a PHP Website or API

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Before you begin

• PHP on your machine. If you don’t have it, download it from the official PHP website.
• A Square Cloud account: sign up with your email or GitHub.
• An active plan. See the plans and pick the one that fits your project.

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Configure Square Cloud

MAIN=index.php
MEMORY=512
VERSION=recommended
DISPLAY_NAME=My website
SUBDOMAIN=mywebsite

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What Square Cloud runs

• If the START field is not defined in the configuration file, a local PHP server will be started with the command php -S 0.0.0.0:80, with the root of your ZIP as the document root. If the START field is defined, the value in it will be executed directly. For more information about configuration file parameters, visit configuration parameters.
• If your project has a composer.json at its root, Square Cloud runs composer install before every start, so you don’t need it in START. It uses the composer.phar from your ZIP when there is one, and the Composer included in the runtime otherwise. Upload composer.lock too, so the server installs the same versions you tested.

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Port and host

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PHP with Swoole

• Swoole is a tool that improves standard PHP performance enabling the webserver to handle multiple requests asynchronously.
• With this tool, you can create microservices, websockets, background queues, among others. It also allows you to execute events just like JavaScript does.
• It is also important to mention that Swoole is compatible with other PHP frameworks. A good example of a PHP framework is Laravel which is compatible with Swoole thanks to Octane.
• You can use it instead of the standard PHP server by defining your custom START command. Example:

npm install && npm run build && php artisan optimize && php artisan octane:start --host=0.0.0.0 --port=80 --workers=4 --task-workers=8 --server=swoole

• You can check out all the powerful functions of Swoole in the Swoole manual.

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Prepare the project

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Required files

• squarecloud.app, at the root of the ZIP.
• index.php, or the file set in MAIN.
• composer.json and composer.lock, when you use Composer packages.

START=npm install && npm run build && php -S 0.0.0.0:80

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What to leave out

• Your local .env file: set your secrets as environment variables instead. The default server uses the root of the ZIP as the document root, so any file you upload there can be downloaded.
• vendor/: Square Cloud installs it from composer.json.
• node_modules/, when your START command installs it.

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Framework guides

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Deploy

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Via dashboard

1

Access the Upload Page

Access the upload page and upload your project zip file.

2

Configure Your Environment

After uploading your zip, you will need to configure the name, main file or runtime environment and other settings for your project.
If you are uploading a web project, make sure to select “Web Publication” and set a subdomain to your project.

3

Deploy Your Project

Finally, click on the “Deploy” button to host your project on Square Cloud.
After deployment, you can monitor your project’s status and logs from the dashboard.

4

Confirm Your App Is Live

Your first deploy usually takes less than a minute. In the dashboard, wait for your application status to show as running and check the logs for any startup errors.
If you deployed a website or API, open https://<your-subdomain>.squareweb.app in your browser: you should see your application responding. If you deployed a bot, send it a command to confirm it is online.

App not starting? See the Troubleshooting guide for the most common causes and fixes.

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Via CLI

curl -fsSL https://cli.squarecloud.app/install | bash

npm install -g @squarecloud/cli@latest

squarecloud auth login

squarecloud upload

squarecloud upload --file <path/to/zip>

squarecloud app status
squarecloud app logs

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Next steps

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Contact us