fix: WP-CLI fails with FrankenPHP 1.13.0; validate same-distribution CLI compatibility #46

P0: WordPress/WP-CLI runtime compatibility

Reported environment: Windows WSL2, Ubuntu 26.04, user peter_23, Homebrew Plak 0.4.65, /usr/bin/frankenphp package 1.13.0+php85-1, PHP 8.5, Caddy 2.11.7, /usr/local/bin/wp. Investigated on Ubuntu 24.04 ARM64 not WSL with official static 1.12.7/1.13.0 (same PHP 8.5.11), WP-CLI 2.12.0, plus isolated extracted DEB FrankenPHP 1.13.0 and php-zts-cli/embed 8.5.11-2 (no packages installed).

Reproduction / actual behavior

Create argv.php printing $argv, $argc, $_SERVER['argv'], $_SERVER['argc']. Run frankenphp php-cli argv.php alpha beta. 1.13.0 returns [frankenphp, script, alpha, beta] / argc 4; 1.12.7 and native php-zts return [script, alpha, beta] / argc 3. Both static and DEB 1.13.0 reproduce the shift. Independently run frankenphp php-cli /usr/local/bin/wp cli info: exit 1, Error: '/usr/local/bin/wp' is not a registered wp command. Plain PHP scripts and PHARs are affected; not a WSL-specific failure.

Expected: normal arguments and working WordPress creation/administration without an unrelated second PHP installation. Static HTML creation is not implicated.

Confirmed cause / compatibility findings

• Upstream known regression php-cli (v1.13.0): $argv[0] is "frankenphp" and the script path is shifted to $argv[1] — breaks Symfony Console php/frankenphp#2690; fix fix #2690 php/frankenphp#2691 merged 2026-10-10, no newer published release as of 2026-10-12 (latest 1.13.0).
• 1.13.0 caddy/php-cli.go prepends binary argv; PHP <8.6 emulation in emulate_php_cli.c passes that unshifted vector into php_embed_init. Upstream patch shifts script/eval arguments.
• The lower than 8.6 message is emitted when the emulation finds neither a script nor -r code (unsupported modes such as bare -i/-v); it is not evidence that WP-CLI requires 8.6.
• -f script -- ... and -- do not fix 1.13.0 argument placement (reproduced).
• PHAR WP-CLI subprocesses use PHP_BINARY directly. An argv-only eval shim would leave launch_self() broken because the emulation also reports the wrong PHP_BINARY; reject a core-download-only workaround.

Selected correction / alternatives

Preserve direct FrankenPHP execution on working runtimes. For the affected 1.13.0, probe actual script argv first (allow downstream backports); if broken, select only the readable executable sibling php-zts from the same distribution after checking exact PHP version, ZTS, architecture, loaded/scanned INI, relevant configuration and extension parity, plus conventional argv. Do not select generic php, install a new runtime, downgrade/upgrade packages, or silently accept mismatches. With no compatible companion, fail before provisioning with actionable upstream/companion guidance. Upgrade to a tested released upstream fix when one exists; do not target unreleased PHP8.6 based on strings.

Route all shell and embedded PHP WP invocations through the shared argv-array resolver: add/wp/core, provisioning, login, plugin/theme/agent, multisite, snapshot/clone/migration and the DB/history child-process paths.

Acceptance / tests

• Minimal scripts and WP-CLI info work with selected runtime; args (spaces/empty/metacharacters), stdin/stdout/stderr and exit codes preserved.
• 1.13.0 + matching same-distribution php-zts restores WordPress download/install/administration and WP-CLI self-subprocesses.
• Mismatch/missing companion blocks safely before new site/DB resources; corrected runtime stays direct.
• DB/history do not bypass selection; deterministic regression fixtures cover all branches.
• Real isolated WordPress/MariaDB tests pass and failed provisioning rollback is retained.
• No system packages, production runtime or existing user sites modified. Real WSL2 manual acceptance remains required.

Affected: shared/site/wp-cli, commands/site/add, commands/site/wp, commands/site/db, commands/site/history, shared/site/history, shared/site/multisite, shared/site/agent, generated plak.sh, tests/wp-cli.sh, live tests. Depends on FrankenPHP/PHP, WP-CLI, mysqli/MariaDB and correct PHPRC; diagnostics and Windows trust are separate follow-ups.