Reactsh Laravel Package

Getting Started

reactsh is a minimal ReactPHP-based REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop) for interactive PHP development using async programming patterns. To start:

1. Install via Composer: composer require davidcole1340/reactsh --dev
2. Run from CLI: ./vendor/bin/reactsh
3. Begin typing PHP code — including async constructs like promises — and see immediate results.

It’s designed for quick experimentation (e.g., testing HTTP clients, event loops, or timers), not production usage. Start by trying basic async commands:
$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
$loop->addTimer(1, fn() => echo "Hello\n");

Implementation Patterns

• Async Prototyping: Use reactsh to quickly prototype asynchronous workflows before committing to a full script or CLI app.
• Integration Testing Aid: Interactively test Laravel Horizon jobs, HTTP clients (e.g., guzzlehttp/promises), or database connection pools with real-time feedback.
• Loop Inspection & Debugging: Inspect the active event loop ($loop), pending timers, streams, or watchers — helpful for diagnosing stalls in async apps.
• Quick CLI Tools: Though limited, you can build simple one-off CLI tools interactively (e.g., poll an API, transform data, output JSON).

Tip: Combine with Laravel’s artisan tinker—reactsh focuses on async primitives, while Tinker handles Eloquent/state.

Gotchas and Tips

• No Built-in Autocomplete or History: Unlike psy/psysh, there’s no readline support or command history by default (depending on environment). On Unix, try rlwrap vendor/bin/reactsh to add line editing/history.
• Promises Require Manual Resolution: You’ll often need to call $loop->run() explicitly after creating a promise to see side effects — otherwise, code silently exits after reactsh starts the loop.
• Silent Failures: Exceptions inside timers or async callbacks may not bubble to the REPL prompt. Use try/catch and var_dump() liberally during debugging.
• Version Lock: Last updated in 2022 — verify compatibility with modern ReactPHP versions (react/event-loop:^1.4). Consider reactphp/react’s own REPL (reactphp/repl) for more recent support.
• Extend via require: You can inject custom helpers by prepending a bootstrap file: reactsh -d auto_prepend_file=helpers.php — useful for adding Laravel bootstrapping or utility functions.