Replacing PHP http Wrapper¶

By Alexandre Daubois

<?php

// based on Alexandre Daubois code
// Refactored to make it running here

class MockHttp
{
    private string $data = '';
    private int $pos = 0;
    public $context;

    public function stream_open(
        string $path,
        string $mode,
        int $options,
        ?string &$opened_path = null
    ): bool {
        $this->data = json_encode([
            'mocked' => true,
            'url'    => $path,
        ]);

        $this->pos = 0;

        return true;
    }

    public function stream_read(int $count): string
    {
        $result = substr($this->data, $this->pos, $count);
        $this->pos += strlen($result);

        return $result;
    }

    public function stream_eof(): bool
    {
        return $this->pos >= strlen($this->data);
    }

    public function stream_stat(): array
    {
        return [
            'size' => strlen($this->data),
        ];
    }

    // Required when using STREAM_IS_URL in modern PHP versions
    public function url_stat(string $path, int $flags): array|false
    {
        return [
            'size' => strlen($this->data),
        ];
    }
}

stream_wrapper_unregister('http');
stream_wrapper_register('http', MockHttp::class, STREAM_IS_URL);

$data = file_get_contents('http://api.example.com/users');

var_dump($data);

stream_wrapper_restore('http');

Did you know you can override built-in protocols such as https://?

You can create mocks! I’d advise to use dedicated tools such as #Symfony MockHttpClient. But in the case of vanilla PHP…

I’ll let you tell me if it’s a good or a terrible idea 😉.

See Also¶

original tweet
http wrapper renewed [Try me]

PHP Features¶

Last updated: 14 July 2026