Deploy PHP

Use the PHP template in the dashboard when your upload is a runtime-ready PHP app archive.

This is the right path for Laravel-style apps, WordPress-style apps, and custom PHP projects, as long as the archive already contains the files the runtime needs.

1. Install production dependencies

For Composer-based apps:

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

2. Prepare the runtime root

The archive should unzip with your app root directly at the top level. For example:

index.php
vendor/...
public/...
app/...
bootstrap/...

If your framework expects a specific public document root, package the exact folder structure your deployment runtime needs.

3. Zip the app root

zip -r php-app.zip . -x ".git/*" "node_modules/*"

Upload php-app.zip with the PHP template in /dashboard/deploy.

Best fit

Use the PHP template for:

Laravel-style apps
WordPress-style PHP archives
custom PHP frameworks
PHP projects that need server-side execution

Packaging checklist

keep index.php in the correct runtime root
include vendor/ if the app depends on Composer packages
exclude development-only folders such as .git/ and node_modules/
upload the finished runtime archive, not the source checkout

When to use a tunnel instead

Use a normal Mekong tunnel when:

you want to expose your local dev server directly
you are still iterating locally with live changes
your deploy target should hit the machine you are currently developing on

Next.js (API Routes)Overview