Your first project
Open or create one
The welcome window lists your recent projects. From there:
- Open a folder on disk.
- Clone Repository from a Git URL.
- New Project (File ▸ New Project): plain PHP, Laravel (starter kits and packages like Filament, Sanctum or Pest), Symfony, Drupal, and JavaScript generators (Next.js, Nuxt, Angular, Express…). PHPBlitz runs the tools for you and shows their output, then opens the new project.
The Customize page sets the theme, the layout, the zoom, the editor font size and the keymap (Keys like in: if you come from another editor, its shortcuts work here).
What happens when it opens
- PHPBlitz indexes the project and its
vendor/folder: classes, functions, methods. The index is cached in the project's.blitzfolder, so the next time it opens in seconds. - Mago analyzes the files you open right away, then the whole project in the background. Framework rules (Laravel, Symfony, PHPUnit, Doctrine…) come from
composer.json. - If
vendor/is missing, PHPBlitz says so and offers Run composer install, instead of reporting every class from a package as unknown.
Nothing in the project runs while it opens: PHPBlitz reads and parses files, it never executes them.
Set up PHP
Settings ▸ PHP chooses the PHP interpreter for running scripts and tests and for the debugger:
- Local: a
phpexecutable on this computer. - Docker or Docker Compose: PHP in a container, with path mappings between the project and the container.
- SSH: PHP on another machine.
It also sets the PHP language level, include paths and Composer files. These settings are saved in .blitz/project.json, which you can commit to share with your team (see project files).
Find your way around
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Find anything (classes, files, symbols, actions) | Double Shift |
| Open a file by name | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Open a class | Ctrl+N |
| Find an action or setting | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| See recent files | Ctrl+E |
| Open Settings | Ctrl+Alt+S |
These are the PHPBlitz keymap's keys; every keymap's are in keyboard shortcuts, and Help ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts lists them in the app.