How to Install and Run ThinkPHP 8.x on PHP 8.0 – Step‑by‑Step Guide

Overview

ThinkPHP is a lightweight, open‑source PHP framework released under the Apache‑2.0 license. ThinkPHP 8.x runs on PHP 8.0 and is a refactored version of the 6.1 codebase.

Installation

composer create-project topthink/think tp

The created directory (default tp) becomes the application root and can be renamed.

Enable debug mode

Set the environment variable APP_DEBUG=true in the project root .env file during development. In production set it to false.

APP_DEBUG = true

Run the built‑in server

Start the development server with: php think run To bind a custom port, use the -p option, e.g.:

php think run -p 8289

Trace output to the browser console

Configure the trace service to use the console driver: 'type' => 'console', Then open http://127.0.0.1:8289/ in a browser. The console will show request timing, memory usage, query count, etc.

Sample console log

请求信息 2025-05-23 08:53:06 HTTP/1.1 GET : http://127.0.0.1:8289/
(index): 5 运行时间 0.877023s [ 吞吐率：1.14req/s ] 内存消耗：74.30kb 文件加载：106
(index): 6 查询信息 0 queries
(index): 7 缓存信息 0 reads, 0 writes

Framework bootstrap flow

ThinkPHP 8 follows a deterministic bootstrap sequence:

Entry file public/index.php is executed.

Composer autoloader loads all dependencies.

Framework core think\App is instantiated.

All service providers (system and custom) are registered.

Configuration files and environment variables are loaded.

Router parses the incoming request and determines the target controller.

The resolved controller (and its view) runs business logic and returns a response.