Current PHP RFCs in Voting Phase (March 2026)
The PHP community has five current PHP RFCs in Voting Phase. The PHP community is actively voting on features that are shaping the future of the language. They range from new functions, code federation, development organisation and license aspects. The current, future and old ones are all available at http://wiki.php.net/.
Below is a summary of the five RFCs currently in the voting phase, along with links to their official pages for more details.
PHP License Update
Purpose
This RFC updates the PHP license to reflect modern legal standards and community expectations, ensuring clarity and compliance. The proposed license is a Modified BSD license, which combines the PHP License and Zend Engine Licence into one Open Source Licence.
The RFC lays out a roadmap to evolve the current license schemes to the new one.
Status
Discussion started in July 2025, now in voting phase, until on April 4, 2026.
Link
Exempt input type and value validation from BC Break policy
Purpose
This RFC proposes to exempt input type and value validation from the backward compatibility break policy, allowing more flexibility in handling edge cases without breaking existing code.
Status
Voting started on March 21, 2026, and ends on April 4th, 2026.
Link
Exempt input type and value validation from BC Break policy
enum SortDirection
Purpose
This RFC introduces a new SortDirection enum to standardize sorting direction handling across PHP’s sorting functions, improving consistency and type safety.
Status
In voting phase as of March 2026.
Link
DocComments For Function Parameters
Purpose
This RFC adds support for doc comments on function parameters, improving IDE support, static analysis, and documentation quality.
Status
In voting phase as of February 21, 2026, ends on March 31rst, 2026.
Link
DocComments For Function Parameters
array_only_keys() and array_except_keys()
Purpose
This RFC proposes two new utility functions, array_only_keys() and array_except_keys(), to filter array keys based on inclusion or exclusion criteria, simplifying common array operations.
Status
In voting phase as of February 20, 2026, ends on March 26th, 2026
Link
array_only_keys() and array_except_keys()
Keep up to date with the current PHP RFCs in Voting Phase
Everyone can keep up with the current discussions around RFCs with the PHP Wiki website.
People with a php.net account are eligible to vote.
It is also possible to create RFC for PHP.