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The ChildProcess class allows you to spawn and manage child processes from your NativePHP application. You can run system commands, PHP scripts, Node.js scripts, and Artisan commands as separate processes.

​
Available Methods

​
start()

Start a new child process with a custom command.
​
cmd
string|array
required
The command to execute. Can be a string or an array of command arguments.
​
alias
string
required
A unique identifier for this process. Used to reference the process later.
​
cwd
string|null
default:"base_path()"
The working directory for the process. Defaults to your application’s base path.
​
env
array|null
Environment variables to pass to the process.
​
persistent
bool
default:"false"
Whether the process should restart automatically if it exits.
​
return
ChildProcess
Returns the ChildProcess instance with populated properties.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::start(
    cmd: 'npm run dev',
    alias: 'vite',
    persistent: true
);

​
php()

Start a PHP script as a child process.
​
cmd
string|array
required
The PHP script or command to execute.
​
alias
string
required
A unique identifier for this process.
​
env
array|null
Environment variables to pass to the PHP process.
​
persistent
bool
default:"false"
Whether the process should restart automatically if it exits.
​
iniSettings
array|null
PHP ini settings to apply to the process (e.g., ['memory_limit' => '256M']).
​
return
ChildProcess
Returns the ChildProcess instance.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::php(
    cmd: 'script.php',
    alias: 'background-task',
    iniSettings: ['memory_limit' => '512M']
);

​
node()

Start a Node.js script as a child process.
​
cmd
string|array
required
The Node.js script or command to execute.
​
alias
string
required
A unique identifier for this process.
​
env
array|null
Environment variables to pass to the Node.js process.
​
persistent
bool
default:"false"
Whether the process should restart automatically if it exits.
​
return
ChildProcess
Returns the ChildProcess instance.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::node(
    cmd: 'server.js',
    alias: 'node-server',
    persistent: true
);

​
artisan()

Run an Artisan command as a child process.
​
cmd
string|array
required
The Artisan command to execute (without the ‘artisan’ prefix).
​
alias
string
required
A unique identifier for this process.
​
env
array|null
Environment variables to pass to the Artisan command.
​
persistent
bool
default:"false"
Whether the process should restart automatically if it exits.
​
iniSettings
array|null
PHP ini settings to apply to the process.
​
return
ChildProcess
Returns the ChildProcess instance.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::artisan(
    cmd: 'schedule:work',
    alias: 'scheduler',
    persistent: true
);

​
get()

Retrieve information about a running process by its alias.
​
alias
string|null
The alias of the process to retrieve. If called on an instance, defaults to that instance’s alias.
​
return
ChildProcess|null
Returns the ChildProcess instance if found, or null if not found.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::get('vite');

if ($process) {
    echo "Process ID: {$process->pid}";
}

​
all()

Retrieve all running child processes.
​
return
array
Returns an associative array of ChildProcess instances, keyed by their aliases.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$processes = ChildProcess::all();

foreach ($processes as $alias => $process) {
    echo "{$alias}: PID {$process->pid}\n";
}

​
stop()

Stop a running child process.
​
alias
string|null
The alias of the process to stop. If called on an instance, defaults to that instance’s alias.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

ChildProcess::stop('vite');

​
restart()

Restart a running child process.
​
alias
string|null
The alias of the process to restart. If called on an instance, defaults to that instance’s alias.
​
return
ChildProcess|null
Returns the restarted ChildProcess instance, or null if the process could not be restarted.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::restart('vite');

​
message()

Send a message to a running child process.
​
message
string
required
The message to send to the process.
​
alias
string|null
The alias of the process to send the message to. If called on an instance, defaults to that instance’s alias.
​
return
ChildProcess
Returns the ChildProcess instance for method chaining.
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

ChildProcess::message('reload', 'vite');

​
Properties

The ChildProcess class exposes the following readonly properties:
​
pid
int
The process ID of the child process.
​
alias
string
The unique identifier for this process.
​
cmd
array
The command that was executed, as an array.
​
cwd
string|null
The working directory of the process.
​
env
array|null
The environment variables passed to the process.
​
persistent
bool
Whether the process is set to restart automatically.
​
iniSettings
array|null
PHP ini settings applied to the process (PHP processes only).
use Native\Desktop\Facades\ChildProcess;

$process = ChildProcess::get('vite');

echo "PID: {$process->pid}\n";
echo "Alias: {$process->alias}\n";
echo "Command: " . implode(' ', $process->cmd) . "\n";
echo "Persistent: " . ($process->persistent ? 'Yes' : 'No') . "\n";

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