PHP Error Handling Reference

How it works

Exceptions, reported PHP errors and shutdown conditions have different boundaries. A handler should preserve useful internal context without leaking secrets or converting every failure into success. Trace information can contain arguments and private paths. A production logging policy should redact sensitive fields and apply an appropriate access/retention policy rather than writing arbitrary request dumps.

Run it locally

Run this complete source locally with PHP 8.2 or newer. Save it using the filename shown and run the command below. PHP is not currently available in Bhylu’s browser playground. Apache and MySQL are not needed for an ordinary CLI example.

php -l ref-diagnostics.php
php ref-diagnostics.php

Download this source as a local PHP lab file. Keep lab files separate from the Bhylu project and production data.

Example

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

try { throw new RuntimeException("Internal fixture detail",17); }
catch (RuntimeException $error) {
    echo get_class($error), "\n";
    echo $error->getCode(), "\n";
    echo "Public response: operation failed\n";
}

Expected result

RuntimeException
17
Public response: operation failed

The local code inspects the type and code while the public-facing message remains controlled. A numeric exception code has meaning only under a documented application contract; it is not automatically an HTTP status. Real observability also needs a correlation mechanism and useful non-sensitive context around the failing operation.

Contracts to check

Related API names

This alphabetic inventory helps locate related calls. Availability was checked in the review runtime; it is not a recommendation to use every API or a claim that every overload/function was executed. Read the official entry for version, extension, failure and security details.