YiiPress is written in PHP, but you can use it without installing PHP or Composer.
\nYou download one executable file. It contains PHP, the YiiPress code, and the extensions needed to build your site.
\nThe build produces static files that you can publish to a web host.
YiiPress still runs on the Zend Engine, the engine that executes PHP code.
\nThe packaging process does not convert PHP classes into machine code. It puts a PHP runtime and the application in one
\nfile. The runtime is the part that executes the PHP code.
static-php-cli builds PHP with the selected extensions.
\nIts micro SAPI runs PHP from a single executable.
\nIt provides a file called micro.sfx, which can be combined with PHP code or a PHAR archive.
\nA PHAR is an archive that holds a PHP application and its dependencies. It also contains a startup script called a stub.
The Linux build combines these parts:
\nflowchart TD\n app["YiiPress code, config, theme and runtime dependencies"] --> phar["yiipress.phar"]\n php["PHP sources and selected native extensions"] --> spc["static-php-cli"]\n spc --> micro["micro.sfx"]\n phar --> combine["spc micro:combine"]\n micro --> combine\n combine --> executable["yiipress executable"]\nWhen you run the executable, PHP runs the PHAR stub. The stub makes the archive's files available and loads the yii
\nscript inside it. That script starts the console application. You can then use commands such as yiipress build and
\nyiipress serve.
The macOS and Windows builds also combine micro and PHAR, but use separate build scripts.
\nEach executable runs on its target operating system and CPU architecture. A Linux executable cannot run on every platform.
YiiPress includes the files and extensions it needs to run. Development tools stay out of the package.
\nThe PHAR contains config/, src/, themes/, Composer runtime dependencies, and the yii script.
\nThe archive filter removes files such as dependency tests, examples, documentation, and development-tool settings.
\nThe build also strips comments, but keeps metadata that running code reads through reflection, PHP's way to inspect
\nclasses at runtime.
\nFiles inside the PHAR use gzip compression.
The PHP build includes selected extensions for tasks such as Markdown conversion, code highlighting, YAML parsing, and
\nXML output. It does not include every PHP extension. On Linux, the build uses musl to link libraries into the executable
\nand UPX to compress it. Other platforms use different packaging steps.
\nThe PHAR, the executable, and the compressed download are different files, so their sizes differ too.
The application also avoids parts it does not need. It uses plain PHP templates without a view or widget stack.
\nIts preview server uses ReactPHP streams. It does not need FPM or Apache to run yiipress serve.
Yii3 supplies dependency injection, console integration, routing, and middleware for the preview application.
\nYiiPress uses these services to connect its content models, index, processors, templates, and file writers.
Two text-processing tasks use native extensions, which run compiled code:
\next-mdparser, from iliaal/mdparser, converts Markdown to HTML with MD4C, a parser written in C.ext-highlighter, from yiipress/highlighter, highlights code with syntect, written in Rust.The build includes these extensions in the PHP runtime. Users do not need to install separate Markdown or highlighting
\nlibraries. PHP calls the extensions and controls the rest of the build.
The site build has four main steps:
\nIncremental builds reuse earlier results when the relevant inputs have not changed.
\nYiiPress uses source hashes, rendering settings, and output dependencies to decide what to rebuild.
\nNative extensions make text processing faster; the cache avoids repeating work.
YiiPress can render pages in parallel. Each worker is a separate process that handles rendering jobs.
\nStarting workers with a process fork caused a problem with PHAR files. A child process inherits the parent's open file
\nhandles. If both processes read the same PHAR handle, they share its read position. Concurrent class loading can then
\nread the wrong bytes and report an archive error, such as a CRC32 checksum mismatch.
The rendering pool uses proc_open() to start independent processes instead. Each worker opens its own package,
\nsets up the parts needed for rendering, receives a job, and writes separate output files.
\nThe workers do not share a PHAR read position. This approach also works on Windows.
Starting and setting up processes takes time. YiiPress therefore renders small batches sequentially when they fall below
\nits worker thresholds.
The embedded archive contains the engine. The user's website lives outside it.
\nYiiPress uses package paths to read its own files. It uses the project directory, where the command runs, to find site
\ncontent, local themes, and output paths.
A package may be installed in a directory where the user cannot write files.
\nFor PHAR and binary installations, YiiPress therefore stores its runtime cache and incremental build records in the
\noperating system's temporary directory. The cache location depends on the project path, so separate projects have
\nseparate caches. yiipress clean removes the project's build cache and the configured output directory.
The executable builds the site and runs a local preview. yiipress serve serves the generated files and reloads the
\nbrowser when they change. The published website does not need a PHP application server.
Run yiipress build, then publish the contents of output/ to a static host.
\nThose pages, feeds, styles, scripts, and assets are the website. Build again after changing content or templates.
\nSet base_url to the public site URL so canonical links and feeds use the correct address.
YiiPress also provides a Linux distroless container image for building sites.
\nThis is a small image containing the packaged executable, without a separate PHP or Composer installation.
\nEngine development uses a separate Docker environment with debugging and build tools.
This packaging approach lets users run a PHP application as a single command-line tool.
\nThe application keeps its PHP libraries and templates. Other PHP tools can use the same approach if their extensions,
\nfile access, and worker processes work inside such a package.
For more detail, see Engine and Binaries, PHAR, Docker.
\nTo build your own site, start with the Quickstart.