How to parse command line arguments in a PHP script
Oct 03, 2025 am 04:29 AM
Use $argv and $argc to process command line parameters, $argv[0] is the script name, and subsequently it is the incoming value; getopt() supports short and long options parsing, such as -u or --user=value, the colon represents the required value, and the double colon represents the optional value. Combining the two can achieve flexible parameter processing.
When running PHP scripts from the command line, you often need to pass data or options using command line arguments. PHP provides built-in ways to access and parse these arguments without relying on external libraries.
Accessing Command Line Arguments
PHP automatically populates the $argv and $argc variables when a script is run from the command line.
- $argv is an array containing all the arguments passed to the script, including the script name as the first element ( $argv[0] ).
- $argc is an integer representing the number of arguments.
For example, if you run:
php script.php john 30
Then:
- $argc = 3
- $argv = ['script.php', 'john', '30']
Parsing Simple Positional Arguments
If your script expects values ??in a specific order (positional), you can directly access them from $argv .
Example:
if ($argc != 3) {
echo "Usage: php script.php [name] [age]\n";
exit(1);
}
$name = $argv[1];
$age = (int)$argv[2];
echo "Name: $name, Age: $age\n";
Handling Named (Optional) Arguments with getopt()
For more flexibility—like flags and named options—use the built-in getopt() function.
getopt() parses short and long options and returns an associated array of options.
Syntax: getopt(string $short_options, array $long_options)
Example:
$options = getopt("u:p:", ["user:", "pass:"]);
if (isset($options['u'])) $user = $options['u'];
if (isset($options['user'])) $user = $options['user'];
if (isset($options['p'])) $pass = $options['p'];
if (isset($options['pass'])) $pass = $options['pass'];
This supports both:
php script.php -u john -p secret
and
php script.php --user=john --pass=secret
A single colon ( : ) means the option requires a value. Two colons means the value is optional.
Example: Combined Usage
A practical script might mix positional and optional arguments:
#!/usr/bin/php
// Parse optional flags
$opts = getopt("h", ["help"]);
if (isset($opts['h']) || isset($opts['help'])) {
echo "Usage: php script.php [--help] [message]\n";
exit(0);
}
// Handle positional argument
$message = $argv[$argc - 1] ?? "Hello!";
echo "$message\n";
?>
Basically, use $argv for simple cases and getopt() when you need flags or named parameters. No extra dependencies needed—just plain PHP.
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