PHP

The PHP SDK for SurrealDB lets you connect to a database and query it from your application. This guide covers connecting, authenticating, and running your first queries.

1. Install the SDK

Follow the installation guide to add the SDK to your project. Once installed, include the autoloader and import the Surreal class.

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

use Surreal\Surreal;

$db = new Surreal();

2. Connect to SurrealDB

Use connect() to open a connection, then use() to select the namespace and database you want to work with, and signin() to authenticate. Most operations require both.

Supported connection protocols include:

• •

  WebSocket (ws://, wss://) for long-lived stateful connections

• •

  HTTP (http://, https://) for short-lived stateless connections

$db->connect("ws://127.0.0.1:8000/rpc");

$db->use([
    "namespace" => "surrealdb",
    "database" => "docs",
]);

$token = $db->signin([
    "username" => "root",
    "password" => "root",
]);

3. Inserting data into SurrealDB

Once connected, use create() to create records. Pass a record ID such as person:tobie to specify the identifier explicitly, or a table name to generate a random ID.

$person = $db->create("person:tobie", [
    "name" => "Tobie",
    "age" => 32,
]);

4. Retrieving data from SurrealDB

Selecting records

The select() method retrieves all records from a table, or a single record by its ID.

$everyone = $db->select("person");

Running SurrealQL queries

For more advanced use cases, use query() to run SurrealQL statements directly. Use parameters to safely pass dynamic values.

$result = $db->query(
    'SELECT * FROM person WHERE age > $min',
    ["min" => 18]
);

5. Closing the connection

Always close the connection when you are done to release resources.

$db->close();

Next steps

You have learned how to install the SDK, connect to SurrealDB, create records, and retrieve data. There is a lot more you can do with the SDK, including updating and deleting records, authentication, live queries, and transactions.