If you are building high-performance Laravel applications, you are likely already exploring the limits of what's possible with FrankenPHP and Laravel Octane. In my previous work designing a production-ready Laravel architecture with Traefik and FrankenPHP, I promoted this stack for its simplicity and raw power. However, bleeding-edge tech often comes with bleeding-edge problems. Recently, I lost three hours debugging an issue that should have been obvious: The FrankenPHP binary installed by Laravel Octane is version-locked. The FrankenPHP binary installed by Laravel Octane is version-locked. In my case, it was locked to PHP 8.4, despite my system running the latest stable PHP 8.5. If you are trying to upgrade your stack or build a high-performance directory like I did for LaraPlugins.io, you need your environment to match your expectations. PHP 8.4 PHP 8.5 build a high-performance directory like I did for LaraPlugins.io Here is how to force FrankenPHP to use PHP 8.5 and stop chasing ghost bugs. The Root Cause: Standard PHP vs. PHP-ZTS The core misunderstanding, and the reason for the missing extensions in your logs, is simple but critical: FrankenPHP does not use your system’s standard PHP installation. FrankenPHP does not use your system’s standard PHP installation. It requires PHP-ZTS (Zend Thread Safety). This is a specialized build of PHP that allows it to run safely in a multithreaded environment, which is essential for FrankenPHP's worker mode. PHP-ZTS When you run php artisan octane:install, it downloads a static FrankenPHP binary. As of early 2026, this static binary defaults to PHP 8.4. It ignores your local php -v and your locally installed apt extensions. If you need PHP 8.5 (or specific extensions not bundled in the static binary), you must bypass the static binary and install FrankenPHP dynamically using your system's package manager. php artisan octane:install php -v apt The Solution: Installing PHP 8.5 ZTS To get PHP 8.5 working, we need to use the repository maintained by Marc Henderkes (a key contributor to FrankenPHP packages). This provides the necessary ZTS builds for Debian/Ubuntu and RedHat systems. 1. Add the Repository Use the official installer script to set up the repository for PHP 8.5: curl -fsSL https://files.henderkes.com/install.sh | sudo sh -s 8.5 curl -fsSL https://files.henderkes.com/install.sh | sudo sh -s 8.5 Note: If you are on Fedora/CentOS, you might look for the RPMs at rpms.henderkes.com, but for Debian/Ubuntu, the script above handles the setup. Also go there if you do not trust shell scripts from me or the internet, they have a manual install too. Note: If you are on Fedora/CentOS, you might look for the RPMs at rpms.henderkes.com rpms.henderkes.com , but for Debian/Ubuntu, the script above handles the setup. Also go there if you do not trust shell scripts from me or the internet, they have a manual install too. 2. Install PHP-ZTS Extensions Once the repo is added, install the specific ZTS versions of your required extensions. The standard php-extension packages won't work here. need to install the php-zts packages: php-extension sudo apt install php-zts-{bcmath,bz2,gd,gmp,intl,zip,sqlite3,mysql,mbstring} sudo apt install php-zts-{bcmath,bz2,gd,gmp,intl,zip,sqlite3,mysql,mbstring} I've added mysql and mbstring to the list above as they are common requirements for Laravel apps but remember to edit the list to your needs! I've added mysql and mbstring to the list above as they are common requirements for Laravel apps but remember to edit the list to your needs! mysql mbstring 3. Install FrankenPHP Finally, install the FrankenPHP binary that links against this new ZTS PHP version: sudo apt install frankenphp sudo apt install frankenphp Now, when you start Octane, it will utilize the system-installed frankenphp binary, which in turn uses your custom PHP 8.5 ZTS environment. frankenphp Troubleshooting: The "Ghost" Errors If FrankenPHP crashes or behaves erratically without outputting an error, it is likely swallowing the logs. LLMs (Large Language Models) currently struggle to debug this because they often hallucinate standard Nginx/FPM config fixes or are jus tchecking the laravel logs. The specific command to reveal the internal worker errors is: php artisan octane:start --log-level=debug php artisan octane:start --log-level=debug This single flag saved me 30 minutes of frustration. It forces the worker output to your terminal, revealing the actual missing extensions or startup errors that the default log level suppresses. save it somewhere so the llm know how to debug these issues. Summary To recap: Don't trust the static binary if you need bleeding-edge PHP versions.Install PHP-ZTS explicitly using the Henderkes repository.Use --log-level=debug before you start tearing your hair out. Don't trust the static binary if you need bleeding-edge PHP versions. Don't trust the static binary Install PHP-ZTS explicitly using the Henderkes repository. Install PHP-ZTS Use --log-level=debug before you start tearing your hair out. Use --log-level=debug --log-level=debug By managing your own ZTS runtime, you regain control over extensions and versions, ensuring your high-performance architectures remain robust and up-to-date. high-performance architectures Have fun building.

Why 70% of Developers Don’t Trust Plugins—and How I Built a Fix

The FrankenPHP Version Trap: Why Your Laravel Octane Stack Isn’t Using PHP 8.5

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