Xdebug Update: January 2026
In this update I explain what happened with Xdebug development in the last month.
In the last month, I spent only around 9 hours on Xdebug, with 24 hours funded. The rest of the time, I spend on building out Xdebug Cloud version 2.
Xdebug 3.5
Most of this month I spent on a few bug and performance reports from the Xdebug 3.5 release — most notable a performance degradation on Windows due to the new experimental control sockets.
I also spent time on my large better code coverage patch, which still isn't quite as performant as the current feature; although it does give more precise results.
Native Path Mapping
Fabian Potencier, from Symfony fame, has created an exploratory patch for Twig to make use of Xdebug's new Native Path Mapping functionality.
From the initial patch, it became clear that a few things need to be improved on the Xdebug side for this to be a complete feature. For that reason, I have created a few issues to work on:
My PhpStorm issue to allow for the setting of breakpoints in template file has now been merged, and is scheduled for 2026.1 EAP 2. At the time of writing this isn't quite out yet, so I will keep you posted.
Xdebug Videos
I have created one new videos in the last month:
All Xdebug videos are now available on the phpc.tv PeerTube instance. This will be the primary location for new videos, although I also still post them to my YouTube channel.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to reach out to me on Mastodon or via email.
Xdebug Cloud
I am currently reworking Xdebug Cloud, the Proxy As A Service platform to allow for debugging in complex networking scenarios.
The new version will allow for automatic subscriptions.
Packages will start at £16/month for one-developer companies.
If you want to be kept up to date with Xdebug Cloud, please sign up to the mailing list, which I will use to send out an update not more than once a month.
Life Line
Updated a restaurant
Updated a restaurant
Updated a restaurant
I walked 5.5km in 56m26s
Created an entrance
I walked 5.7km in 1h20m50s
Updated a fitness_centre; Confirmed a charging_station
I walked 4.0km in 47m13s
I walked 1.1km in 9m32s
Also, whatnow‽
`GET /icons/blank.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 398 "https://downloads.php.net/~windows/pecl/releases/?utm_source=chatgpt.com`
WTF does that need an `utm_source` for?
I sometimes wish cache expiries could be fuzzy, like 900±15 seconds. Y'know, to prevent the thundering herd effect.
Created a chemist shop
I walked 8.1km in 1h24m38s
Updated a bar
Created an entrance and a main entrance
I walked 5.8km in 1h30m43s
Merge branch 'xdebug_3_5'
Back to -dev
Go with 3.5.3
Go with 3.5.2
I walked 7.3km in 1h22m26s
Merge branch 'xdebug_3_5'
Merged pull request #1089
Fixed issue #2424: Control-socket with invalid commands crashes
Merge branch 'xdebug_3_5'

Shortlink
This article has a short URL available: https://drck.me/xdebug-25oct-k48