Deploying with FrankenPHP

FrankenPHP’s worker mode boots your app once and handles many requests. Verge is optimized for this.

Dockerfile

FROM dunglas/frankenphp

COPY . /app

WORKDIR /app

RUN composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

ENTRYPOINT ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--worker", "index.php"]

How Worker Mode Works

1. Your app boots once (routes register, bindings resolve)
2. FrankenPHP handles incoming requests
3. Each request runs through your registered routes
4. Scoped bindings reset between requests
5. Singletons persist across requests

Building and Running

docker build -t my-verge-app .
docker run -p 8080:8080 my-verge-app

Development Mode

For development without worker mode:

frankenphp php-server index.php

Or use PHP’s built-in server:

php -S localhost:8000 index.php

Environment Variables

Pass environment variables to Docker:

docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://... \
  -e REDIS_URL=redis://... \
  my-verge-app

Pre-Warming Caches

For maximum performance, pre-warm your route and container caches before starting:

FROM dunglas/frankenphp

COPY . /app

WORKDIR /app

RUN composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
RUN php bin/verge cache:warm

ENTRYPOINT ["frankenphp", "php-server", "--worker", "index.php"]

This serializes route definitions and constructor metadata so the first request is instant. See Bootstrap Caching for details.

How Worker Mode Works

Verge takes advantage of worker mode automatically:

• Singletons are created once and reused
• Routes load from pre-warmed cache
• Container reflection data is pre-compiled
• Only scoped bindings reset per request

No configuration needed—just use singleton() for expensive resources and scoped() for request-specific state.

Health Checks

Always include a health endpoint:

app()->get('/health', fn() => ['status' => 'ok']);

This lets orchestrators verify your app is running.