- AWS Lambda PHP Integration
- Patterns for deploying PHP and Symfony applications on AWS Lambda using the Bref framework.
- Overview
- This skill provides complete patterns for AWS Lambda PHP development with two main approaches:
- Bref Framework
- - The standard solution for PHP on Lambda with Symfony support, built-in routing, and cold start optimization
- Raw PHP
- - Minimal overhead approach with maximum control
- Both approaches support API Gateway integration with production-ready configurations.
- When to Use
- Use this skill when:
- Creating new Lambda functions in PHP
- Migrating existing Symfony applications to Lambda
- Optimizing cold start performance for PHP Lambda
- Choosing between Bref-based and minimal PHP approaches
- Configuring API Gateway integration
- Setting up deployment pipelines for PHP Lambda
- Instructions
- 1. Choose Your Approach
- Approach
- Cold Start
- Best For
- Complexity
- Bref
- < 2s
- Symfony apps, full-featured APIs
- Medium
- Raw PHP
- < 500ms
- Simple handlers, maximum control
- Low
- 2. Project Structure
- Symfony with Bref Structure
- my-symfony-lambda/
- ├── composer.json
- ├── serverless.yml
- ├── public/
- │ └── index.php # Lambda entry point
- ├── src/
- │ └── Kernel.php # Symfony Kernel
- ├── config/
- │ ├── bundles.php
- │ ├── routes.yaml
- │ └── services.yaml
- └── templates/
- Raw PHP Structure
- my-lambda-function/
- ├── public/
- │ └── index.php # Handler entry point
- ├── composer.json
- ├── serverless.yml
- └── src/
- └── Services/
- 3. Implementation Examples
- Symfony with Bref:
- // public/index.php
- use
- Bref
- \
- Symfony
- \
- Bref
- ;
- use
- App
- \
- Kernel
- ;
- use
- Symfony
- \
- Component
- \
- HttpFoundation
- \
- Request
- ;
- require
- DIR
- .
- '/../vendor/autoload.php'
- ;
- $kernel
- =
- new
- Kernel
- (
- $_SERVER
- [
- 'APP_ENV'
- ]
- ??
- 'dev'
- ,
- $_SERVER
- [
- 'APP_DEBUG'
- ]
- ??
- true
- )
- ;
- $kernel
- ->
- boot
- (
- )
- ;
- $bref
- =
- new
- Bref
- (
- $kernel
- )
- ;
- return
- $bref
- ->
- run
- (
- $event
- ,
- $context
- )
- ;
- Raw PHP Handler:
- // public/index.php
- use
- function
- Bref
- \
- Lambda
- \
- main
- ;
- main
- (
- function
- (
- $event
- )
- {
- $path
- =
- $event
- [
- 'path'
- ]
- ??
- '/'
- ;
- $method
- =
- $event
- [
- 'httpMethod'
- ]
- ??
- 'GET'
- ;
- return
- [
- 'statusCode'
- =>
- 200
- ,
- 'body'
- =>
- json_encode
- (
- [
- 'message'
- =>
- 'Hello from PHP Lambda!'
- ]
- )
- ]
- ;
- }
- )
- ;
- Core Concepts
- Cold Start Optimization
- PHP cold start depends on framework initialization. Key strategies:
- Lazy loading
- - Defer heavy services until needed
- Disable unused Symfony features
- - Turn off validation, annotations, etc.
- Optimize composer autoload
- - Use classmap for production
- Use Bref optimized runtime
- - Leverage PHP 8.x optimizations
- Connection Management
- // Cache AWS clients at function level
- use
- Aws
- \
- DynamoDb
- \
- DynamoDbClient
- ;
- class
- DatabaseService
- {
- private
- static
- ?
- DynamoDbClient
- $client
- =
- null
- ;
- public
- static
- function
- getClient
- (
- )
- :
- DynamoDbClient
- {
- if
- (
- self
- ::
- $client
- ===
- null
- )
- {
- self
- ::
- $client
- =
- new
- DynamoDbClient
- (
- [
- 'region'
- =>
- getenv
- (
- 'AWS_REGION'
- )
- ,
- 'version'
- =>
- 'latest'
- ]
- )
- ;
- }
- return
- self
- ::
- $client
- ;
- }
- }
- Environment Configuration
- // config/services.yaml
- parameters
- :
- env
- (
- DATABASE_URL
- )
- :
- null
- env
- (
- APP_ENV
- )
- :
- 'dev'
- services
- :
- App\Service\Configuration
- :
- arguments
- :
- $tableName
- :
- '%env(DATABASE_URL)%'
- Best Practices
- Memory and Timeout Configuration
- Memory
-
- Start with 512MB for Symfony, 256MB for raw PHP
- Timeout
- Set based on expected processing time Symfony: 10-30 seconds for cold start buffer Raw PHP: 3-10 seconds typically sufficient Dependencies Keep composer.json minimal: { "require" : { "php" : "^8.2" , "bref/bref" : "^2.0" , "symfony/framework-bundle" : "^6.0" } , "config" : { "optimize-autoloader" : true , "preferred-install" : "dist" } } Error Handling Return proper Lambda responses: try { $result = processRequest ( $event ) ; return [ 'statusCode' => 200 , 'body' => json_encode ( $result ) ] ; } catch ( ValidationException $e ) { return [ 'statusCode' => 400 , 'body' => json_encode ( [ 'error' => $e -> getMessage ( ) ] ) ] ; } catch ( Exception $e ) { error_log ( $e -> getMessage ( ) ) ; return [ 'statusCode' => 500 , 'body' => json_encode ( [ 'error' => 'Internal error' ] ) ] ; } Logging Use structured logging: error_log ( json_encode ( [ 'level' => 'info' , 'message' => 'Request processed' , 'request_id' => $context -> getAwsRequestId ( ) , 'path' => $event [ 'path' ] ?? '/' ] ) ) ; Deployment Options Quick Start Serverless Framework:
serverless.yml
service : symfony - lambda - api provider : name : aws runtime : php - 82 memorySize : 512 timeout : 20 package : individually : true exclude : - '/node_modules/' - '/.git/' functions : api : handler : public/index.php events : - http : path : / { proxy+ } method : ANY - http : path : / method : ANY Deploy with Bref: composer require bref/bref --dev vendor/bin/bref deploy Symfony Full Configuration
serverless.yml for Symfony
- service
- :
- symfony
- -
- lambda
- -
- api
- provider
- :
- name
- :
- aws
- runtime
- :
- php
- -
- 82
- stage
- :
- $
- {
- self
- :
- custom.stage
- }
- region
- :
- $
- {
- self
- :
- custom.region
- }
- environment
- :
- APP_ENV
- :
- $
- {
- self
- :
- custom.stage
- }
- APP_DEBUG
- :
- $
- {
- self
- :
- custom.isLocal
- }
- iam
- :
- role
- :
- statements
- :
- -
- Effect
- :
- Allow
- Action
- :
- -
- dynamodb
- :
- GetItem
- -
- dynamodb
- :
- PutItem
- Resource
- :
- '*'
- functions
- :
- web
- :
- handler
- :
- public/index.php
- timeout
- :
- 30
- memorySize
- :
- 1024
- events
- :
- -
- http
- :
- path
- :
- /
- {
- proxy+
- }
- method
- :
- ANY
- console
- :
- handler
- :
- bin/console
- timeout
- :
- 300
- events
- :
- -
- schedule
- :
- rate(1 day)
- plugins
- :
- -
- ./vendor/bref/bref
- custom
- :
- stage
- :
- dev
- region
- :
- us
- -
- east
- -
- 1
- isLocal
- :
- false
- Constraints and Warnings
- Lambda Limits
- Deployment package
-
- 250MB unzipped maximum (50MB zipped)
- Memory
-
- 128MB to 10GB
- Timeout
-
- 29 seconds (API Gateway), 15 minutes for async
- Concurrent executions
-
- 1000 default
- PHP-Specific Considerations
- Cold start
-
- PHP has moderate cold start; use Bref for optimized runtimes
- Dependencies
-
- Keep composer.json minimal; use Lambda Layers for shared deps
- PHP version
-
- Use PHP 8.2+ for best Lambda performance
- No local storage
- Lambda containers are ephemeral; use S3/DynamoDB for persistence Common Pitfalls Large vendor folder - Exclude dev dependencies; use --no-dev Session storage - Don't use local file storage; use DynamoDB Long-running processes - Not suitable for Lambda; use ECS instead Websockets - Use API Gateway WebSockets or AppSync instead Security Considerations Never hardcode credentials; use IAM roles and SSM Parameter Store Validate all input data Use least privilege IAM policies Enable CloudTrail for audit logging Set proper CORS headers References For detailed guidance on specific topics: Bref Lambda - Complete Bref setup, Symfony integration, routing Raw PHP Lambda - Minimal handler patterns, caching, packaging Serverless Deployment - Serverless Framework, SAM, CI/CD pipelines Testing Lambda - PHPUnit, SAM Local, integration testing Examples Example 1: Create a Symfony Lambda API Input: Create a Symfony Lambda REST API using Bref for a todo application Process: Initialize Symfony project with composer create-project Install Bref: composer require bref/bref Configure serverless.yml Set up routes in config/routes.yaml Configure deployment with vendor/bin/bref deploy Output: Complete Symfony project structure REST API with CRUD endpoints DynamoDB integration Deployment configuration Example 2: Optimize Cold Start for Symfony Input: My Symfony Lambda has 5 second cold start, how do I optimize it? Process: Analyze services loaded at startup Disable unused Symfony features (validation, annotations) Use lazy loading for heavy services Optimize composer autoload Consider using raw PHP if full framework not needed Output: Refactored Symfony configuration Optimized cold start < 2s Service analysis report Example 3: Deploy with GitHub Actions Input: Configure CI/CD for Symfony Lambda with Serverless Framework Process: Create GitHub Actions workflow Set up PHP environment with composer Run PHPUnit tests Deploy with Serverless Framework Configure environment protection for prod Output: Complete .github/workflows/deploy.yml Multi-stage pipeline Integrated test automation Version Version: 1.0.0