Installation

Requirements

• PHP: Version 8.2 or higher
• FFI Extension: Must be enabled in your PHP installation
• Composer: For dependency management

Check FFI Extension

php -m | grep FFI

If you don't see "FFI" in the output, you need to enable it. Edit your php.ini and add extension=ffi.

Install via Composer

composer require phpmlkit/opal

Platform-dependent package

This library ships with pre-built native binaries. Run composer require on the same platform where you intend to use the library (Linux x86_64/ARM64, macOS x86_64/ARM64, Windows x64).

Verifying Installation

Create a test script:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

require_once __DIR__.'/vendor/autoload.php';

use PhpMlKit\Opal\Image;

$image = Image::blank(100, 100);
printf("Image created: %dx%d\n", $image->width(), $image->height());

// Try a thumbnail
$thumb = Image::thumbnail(__DIR__.'/vendor/phpmlkit/opal/examples/images/cats.jpg', 200);
printf("Thumbnail: %dx%d\n", $thumb->width(), $thumb->height());

echo "✓ Opal is working correctly!\n";

Run it:

php test.php

Expected output:

Image created: 100x100
Thumbnail: 200x150
✓ Opal is working correctly!

Troubleshooting

"FFI extension not loaded"

Make sure FFI is enabled in the php.ini that the CLI uses:

php --ini

Edit that specific file and ensure extension=ffi is present (without the semicolon).

"Platform package not found"

If you see errors about platform-specific binaries:

1. Check your platform is supported (Linux x86_64/ARM64, macOS x86_64/ARM64, Windows x86_64)
2. Try clearing Composer cache: composer clear-cache
3. Reinstall: composer require phpmlkit/opal

Next Steps

• Quick Start — your first image
• What is Opal? — understand the architecture