[RFC karma request] Scope: per-request state (superglobals, locale, timezone) for long-running and async PHP

From: Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:24:59 +0000
Subject: [RFC karma request] Scope: per-request state (superglobals, locale, timezone) for long-running and async PHP
Groups: php.internals 
Request: Send a blank email to internals+get-132880@lists.php.net to get a copy of this message
Hi internals, Every long-running PHP server (Swoole, RoadRunner, FrankenPHP, phasync, and anything built on fibers) hits the same wall: $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE, $_FILES, the default timezone and locale are process-wide, so serving two requests at once means rewriting them behind the application’s back or forbidding their use. The Scope RFC proposes the missing piece: a small class that identifies the logical operation running code belongs to (a request, a job) and keeps that identity across fibers and generators; two secondary votes let the five request superglobals and the default timezone/locale follow the scope, so unmodified code sees its own request. I’d like RFC karma for my wiki account, frodeborli. I’ve already submitted a karma request a few days ago so this is a nudge with some more details to show I’ve done real work on this RFC. The draft (version 0.7, target 8.7) is readable here while it waits for the wiki: https://fiber-interop.github.io/rfc-scope.html. It comes with a reference implementation released today as a PIE extension for PHP 8.2–8.5, fiber-interop/ext-scope 0.3.0 (https://github.com/fiber-interop/ext-scope), implementing the class and both secondary votes with phpt tests, and a userland polyfill with the same tests (fiber-interop/scope 0.3.0). It is in use by several event loops through the fiber-interop adapters, which is where the semantics were worked out and measured. I intend to publish the draft under https://wiki.php.net/rfc/scope and open discussion here once it’s up. Some of you may remember me from the stream_select() FD_SETSIZE work (php-src #14452). Thanks, Frode Børli

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