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PsySH can be integrated into your PHP application or framework to provide interactive debugging and exploration capabilities.

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Laravel Integration

Laravel includes PsySH out of the box through the php artisan tinker command.

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Using Tinker

php artisan tinker
This starts a PsySH session with your Laravel application fully bootstrapped, giving you access to:
  • All Eloquent models
  • Service container bindings
  • Facades and helpers
  • Application configuration

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Example Usage

>>> $users = App\Models\User::all();
>>> $users->count()
=> 42

>>> Cache::put('key', 'value', 60)
=> true

>>> config('app.name')
=> "My Laravel App"

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Custom Configuration

Create a .psysh.php file in your project root: 
return [
    'defaultIncludes' => [
        __DIR__.'/bootstrap/helpers.php',
    ],
    'startupMessage' => '<info>Laravel Tinker</info>',
];

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Symfony Integration

PsySH can be used with Symfony applications for interactive debugging.

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Installation

composer require --dev psy/psysh

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Creating a Console Command

Create a custom console command to bootstrap your Symfony app: 
namespace App\Command;

use Psy\Shell;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;

class ShellCommand extends Command
{
    protected static $defaultName = 'app:shell';

    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int
    {
        $shell = new Shell();
        $shell->setScopeVariables([
            'container' => $this->getApplication()->getKernel()->getContainer(),
        ]);
        $shell->run();

        return Command::SUCCESS;
    }
}

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Usage

php bin/console app:shell

>>> $container->get('doctrine')->getManager()
=> Doctrine\ORM\EntityManager {#123}

>>> $container->getParameter('kernel.environment')
=> "dev"

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WordPress Integration

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Installation

Install PsySH globally or in your project: 
composer require --dev psy/psysh

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WP-CLI Integration

If you use WP-CLI, you can use the shell command: 
wp shell
This provides a PsySH session with WordPress loaded.

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Manual Integration

Create a shell.php file in your WordPress root: 
<?php
require_once __DIR__ . '/wp-load.php';
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$shell = new \Psy\Shell();
$shell->run();
Run it with: 
php shell.php

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Custom Framework Integration

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Basic Integration

For any PHP application, you can integrate PsySH by:
  1. Install PsySH:
composer require --dev psy/psysh
  1. Create a shell script (shell.php):
<?php

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

// Bootstrap your application
require __DIR__ . '/bootstrap/app.php';

// Create shell with application context
$shell = new \Psy\Shell();

// Add application objects to scope
$shell->setScopeVariables([
    'app' => $app,
    'config' => $config,
    'db' => $database,
]);

// Add custom commands
$shell->addCommands([
    new \App\Shell\CustomCommand(),
]);

$shell->run();
  1. Run the shell:
php shell.php

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Adding Custom Commands

Extend PsySH with application-specific commands: 
use Psy\Command\Command;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;

class ClearCacheCommand extends Command
{
    protected function configure()
    {
        $this->setName('clear-cache')
             ->setDescription('Clear application cache');
    }

    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int
    {
        // Clear your cache
        cache_clear();
        
        $output->writeln('<info>Cache cleared!</info>');
        return 0;
    }
}
Add it to your shell: 
$shell->addCommands([new ClearCacheCommand()]);

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Programmatic Usage

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Embedding PsySH

You can embed PsySH anywhere in your code for interactive debugging: 
function debug_here($context = [])
{
    extract($context);
    eval(\Psy\sh());
}

// Use in your code
$user = User::find(1);
debug_here(compact('user'));

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Breakpoint Debugging

Set breakpoints using the extract function: 
use function Psy\sh;

// In your code
foreach ($items as $item) {
    if ($item->id === 42) {
        extract(compact('item', 'items'));
        eval(sh());
    }
}
When embedding PsySH, make sure to remove or disable these calls in production environments.

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Configuration Per Framework

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Project-Specific Config

Each framework can have its own PsySH configuration in the project root: 
// .psysh.php
return [
    'defaultIncludes' => [
        __DIR__ . '/config/helpers.php',
    ],
    'startupMessage' => '<info>Welcome to MyFramework Shell</info>',
    'colorMode' => \Psy\Configuration::COLOR_MODE_FORCED,
];

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Loading Application State

Pre-load commonly used objects: 
$shell = new \Psy\Shell();
$shell->setScopeVariables([
    'app' => $application,
    'router' => $application->router,
    'db' => $application->database,
    'cache' => $application->cache,
    'log' => $application->logger,
]);
Now these are available immediately: 
>>> ls
Variables: $app, $router, $db, $cache, $log

>>> $db->query('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users')
=> 1337

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Best Practices

Install PsySH as a development dependency:
composer require --dev psy/psysh
Never load PsySH in production code paths.
When working with multiple projects, use the project trust system to securely load project-specific autoloaders:
psysh --trust-project
Configure a startup message that tells developers what’s available:
'startupMessage' => 
    "<info>MyApp Shell</info>\n" .
    "Variables: \$app, \$db, \$cache\n" .
    "Commands: clear-cache, db-migrate",
Create framework-specific commands for common debugging tasks like clearing caches, running migrations, or inspecting application state.

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