====== PHP RFC: Object-oriented curl API v2 ======
  * Version: 0.2
  * Date: 2025-06-24 
  * Author: Eric Norris, erictnorris@gmail.com
  * Status: Draft
  * Implementation: TBA

===== Introduction =====
As part of the [[https://github.com/php/php-tasks/issues/6|Resource to object conversion project]], PHP internals developers converted ''curl'' resource types to objects. These objects do not have any methods, and do not currently provide an object-oriented API for developers to use.

There have been at least two prior attempts at suggesting an object-oriented API for curl, but they never made it to a voting phase:

  * [[curl-oop|PHP RFC: Add OOP methods to Curl objects]]
  * [[https://externals.io/message/117958|Discussion about new Curl URL API and ext/curl improvements]]

Creating an object-oriented API for ''curl'' still seems worth doing, however. We can leverage PHP features (e.g. namespace, enumerations, and asymmetric visibility) to provide a clean and safe interface for developers.

===== Proposal =====

==== New 'Curl' Namespace ====

We'll move all existing ''Curl*'' classes to the ''Curl'' namespace, e.g. ''CurlHandle'' will become ''Curl\Handle''. We'll maintain non-namespaced aliases for backwards compatibility.

==== New 'Curl\Option\*' enumerations ====

Multiple developers suggested using enumerations in response to the prior object-oriented ''curl'' RFC:

<blockquote>
What about making the CURL options an enumeration?

- [[https://externals.io/message/122371#122408|kalle]]
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
I was also going to suggest to use enums for the options, and have them be grouped by what value type they need.

- [[https://externals.io/message/122371#122410|girgias]]
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
The suggestion to use an Enum (or several) here is a good one and would help a lot with that, so I'm +1 there.

- [[https://externals.io/message/122371#122413|crell]]
</blockquote>

Using enumerations for ''curl'' options will improve usability, as it will both clearly demonstrate what type is expected for a given option, and will allow static analysis to enforce the correct usage before code hits production environments.

We will create enumerations per value type. For brevity, I won't list all of the enumerations:

=== Curl\Option\StringOpt ===

<PHP>
namespace Curl\Option;

enum StringOpt: int {
    case AbstractUnixSocket = CURLOPT_ABSTRACT_UNIX_SOCKET;
    case AcceptEncoding     = CURLOPT_ACCEPT_ENCODING;
    case AltSvc             = CURLOPT_ALTSVC;
    // ...
}
</PHP>

=== Curl\Option\BoolOpt ===

<PHP>
namespace Curl\Option;

enum BoolOpt: int {
    case Append      = CURLOPT_APPEND;
    case AutoReferer = CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER;
    case CertInfo    = CURLOPT_CERTINFO;
    // ...
}
</PHP>

=== Curl\Option\FileOpt ===

<PHP>
namespace Curl\Option;

enum FileOpt: int {
    case File     = CURLOPT_FILE;
    case InFile   = CURLOPT_INFILE;
    // ...
}
</PHP>

==== Other enumerations ====

Similar to the above, we'll introduce an enumeration for any constants that are in fact enumerations, e.g. ''CURLINFO_*'' constants:

<PHP>
namespace Curl;

enum Info: int {
    case AppConnectTime = CURLINFO_APPCONNECT_TIME;
    // ...
}
</PHP>

...and ''CURLPAUSE_*'' constants:

<PHP>
namespace Curl;

enum Pause: int {
    case All = CURLPAUSE_ALL;
    // ...
}
</PHP>

Again, for brevity, I will not list all of the implementations.

==== New Curl\Exception class ====

Like the previous RFC, this RFC proposes that we add a new exception class to represent ''curl'' errors.

<PHP>
namespace Curl;

class Exception extends \Exception
{
    /** Equivalent to curl_error() or the non-existent curl_multi_error(). */
    protected string $message;

    /** Equivalent to curl_errno() or curl_multi_errno(). */
    protected int $code;
}
</PHP>

==== Curl\Handle class implementation ====

The ''Curl\Handle'' class is a relatively straightforward translation of the non-object-oriented APIs, albeit with a few differences:

  * Since we now have option enumerations, we provide a matching ''set'' method per enumeration class.
  * Instead of returning ''false'', errors are treated as exceptions.
  * Like the previous RFC, this proposal opts to default to enabling the ''CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER'' behavior, instead of writing the result to ''STDOUT''.

<PHP>
namespace Curl;

class Handle
{
    /** Equivalent to curl_errno(). */
    public private(set) int $errorNumber;

    /** Equivalent to curl_error(). */
    public private(set) string $errorMessage;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_init().
     */
    public function __construct(?string $uri = null);

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_exec(), although it throws exceptions on failure, thus
     * the return type is string instead of string|bool.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function execute(): string;
 
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_getinfo().
     */    
    public function getInfo(?\Curl\Info $option): mixed;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_pause().
     */    
    public function pause(\Curl\Pause $flag): mixed;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_reset().
     */    
    public function reset(): void;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_setopt() for boolean values.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function setOptionBool(\Curl\Option\BoolOpt $opt, bool $value): \Curl\Handle;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_setopt() for string values.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function setOptionString(\Curl\Option\StringOpt $opt, string $value): \Curl\Handle;

    /**
     * ...additional setOptionFoo() methods omitted for brevity...
     */

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_escape().
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function escapeUrl(string $string): string;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_unescape().
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function unescapeUrl(string $string): string;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_upkeep().
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function upkeep(): void;
}
</PHP>

==== Curl\MultiHandle class implementation ====

The ''Curl\MultiHandle'' class is again a relatively straightforward translation of the non-object-oriented APIs with the same differences as the ''Cur\Handle'' translation.

A few additional notable differences:

  * ''curl_multi_exec'' will not return ''CURLM_CALL_MULTI_PERFORM'', and will instead emulate newer ''curl'' libraries by internally calling ''curl'' until it no longer returns ''CURLM_CALL_MULTI_PERFORM''.
  * ''curl_multi_select'' is called ''poll''.
  * ''curl_multi_info_read'' is called ''getMessages''.

<PHP>
namespace Curl;

class MultiHandle
{
    /** Equivalent to curl_multi_errno(). */
    public private(set) int $errorNumber;

    /** Equivalent to curl_multi_error(), if it existed. */
    public private(set) string $errorMessage;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_init().
     */
    public function __construct();

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_add_handle().
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function addHandle(\Curl\Handle $handle): void;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_remove_handle().
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function removeHandle(\Curl\Handle $handle): void;
        
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_exec(). Note that it will never return CURLM_CALL_MULTI_PERFORM, and will
     * internally emulate newer curl libraries. Returns true if there are still active connections.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function execute(): bool;
 
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_getcontent().
     */    
    public function getContent(\Curl\Handle $handle): ?string;

    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_info_read().
     */    
    public function getMessages(int &$queued_messages = null): array|false;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to curl_multi_select().
     */    
    public function poll(float $timeout = 1.0): int
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to `curl_multi_setopt()` for boolean values.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function setOptionBool(\Curl\MultiOption\BoolOpt $opt, bool $value): \Curl\MultiHandle;
    
    /**
     * Equivalent to `curl_setopt()` for int values.
     * 
     * @throws \Curl\Exception
     */    
    public function setOptionInt(\Curl\MultiOption\IntOpt $opt, int $value): \Curl\MultiHandle;

    /**
     * ...additional setOptionFoo() methods omitted for brevity...
     */
}
</PHP>

===== Examples =====

''Curl\Handle'':
<PHP>
<?php

$ch = new Curl\Handle("https://example.com")
    ->setOptInt(Curl\Option\IntOpt::ConnectTimeout, 30)
    ->setOptBool(Curl\Option\BoolOpt::FollowLocation, true);

try {
    echo $ch->execute() . "\n";
} catch (\Curl\Exception $ex) {
    echo "curl error ($ex->code): $ex->message\n";
}
</PHP>

''Curl\MultiHandle'':
<PHP>
<?php

$ch = new Curl\Handle("https://example.com")
    ->setOptInt(Curl\Option\IntOpt::ConnectTimeout, 30)
    ->setOptBool(Curl\Option\BoolOpt::FollowLocation, true);

$mh = new Curl\MultiHandle();
$mh->addHandle($ch);

while ($mh->execute()) {
    echo "multi handle is still active...\n";
}

echo $mh->getContent($ch) . "\n";
</PHP>

===== Backward Incompatible Changes =====

The ''Curl'' namespace will no longer be safe to use, and the aforementioned class names will be reserved, for example:

  * ''Curl\Handle''
  * ''Curl\MultiHandle''
  * ''Curl\Exception''
  * ''Curl\Option\BoolOpt''
  * ...

''CurlHandle'' and other existing classes **will still work**, as this RFC proposes to alias them to their new namespaced counterparts.

===== Proposed PHP Version(s) =====
Next PHP 8.x (currently 8.5, potentially 8.6).

===== RFC Impact =====

==== To the Ecosystem ====

None expected.

==== To Existing Extensions ====

''curl'' will gain new classes, and existing ''curl'' classes will gain new methods.

==== To SAPIs ====

None expected.

===== Open Issues =====

  * Should we organize the ''curl'' option enumerations by value type? Or have a single enumeration for all ''curl_setopt'' options and all ''curl_multi_setopt'' options?

===== Future Scope =====

N/A

===== Voting Choices =====

<doodle title="Implement object-oriented curl API as outlined in the RFC?" voteType="single" closed="true">
   * Yes
   * No
</doodle>

===== Patches and Tests =====

TBA, pending initial discussion.

===== References =====

  * Previous RFC ([[curl-oop|PHP RFC: Add OOP methods to Curl objects]]) and [[https://externals.io/message/122371|discussion]]
  * Previous discussion [[https://externals.io/message/117958|Discussion about new Curl URL API and ext/curl improvements]]

===== Rejected Features =====

===== Changelog =====