PHP/Laravel deploy DX: deploy --version, public/ docroot, fpm user vs file owner, env survives git deploy

[vikasiwp]

Context

Deployed a Laravel 13 + Vue/Vite app (a Postman-style tool) to a PHP pod via deploy --repo. It worked, but I hit four framework-deploy papercuts that each cost a debugging cycle. Filing together since they're all "PHP-framework DX".

1. deploy has no --version, so deploy --repo can't pick the PHP version

pods create has -v/--version (8.2/8.3/8.4), but deploy does not. A repo whose composer.lock needs PHP 8.4 fails on the 8.3 default with no way to override — I had to pods delete and pods create --version 8.4 first, then connect git. Please add --version to deploy.

2. PHP preset sets nginx docroot to the repo root, not public/

Deploy logs even say Detected php (artisan), but nginx root is /home/instapod/app, so a fresh Laravel app returns 403 until you hand-edit the vhost to .../public. When artisan/public/index.php is detected, docroot should default to public/.

3. php-fpm runs as www-data, but deployed files are owned by the deploy user (instapod)

storage/ and bootstrap/cache/ are owned by instapod (0775), so the www-data fpm worker can't write them → tempnam(): file created in the system's temporary directory → 500 on any page that touches the session/cache/views. Fix by either running fpm as the app user or making those dirs writable by the fpm user during build.

4. Managed env (env set) does not survive a git deploy

instapods env set writes .env, but a git deploy regenerates .env from .env.example, wiping it — so DB creds / APP_KEY set via env set are lost on every deploy, and migrate falls back to the sqlite default. I worked around it with a persistent overlay file outside the checkout that the build merges in, but there's no first-class persistent env / secrets store that survives redeploys. This is important for any framework app.

Minor

• No domains / pods domain command — custom domains seem web-UI-only; a CLI equivalent would help automation.
• services UX: services add NAME -s mysql works but services NAME add mysql is shown in one help path; creds output suggests --service while a positional is also accepted. Slightly confusing.

Each of these is individually small but together they make first-time framework deploys rough. Happy to help test fixes.

[vikasiwp]

Additional: TLS-terminating edge breaks HTTPS-aware frameworks (blank SPA)

The InstaPods edge terminates TLS and proxies to the pod as plain HTTP, but doesn't pass a proxy signal the pod's nginx/PHP acts on. So a Laravel (or any Request::isSecure()-aware) app generates http:// absolute asset URLs on an https:// page → browsers block them as mixed content → the SPA never mounts → blank page (HTTP 200, but nothing renders).

Repro: deploy any Laravel + Vite/Inertia app, open it over the pod's https URL → blank; view-source shows <script src="http://<pod>/build/...">.

Workaround I used: add fastcgi_param HTTPS on; (and fastcgi_param HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO https;) to the PHP location in the pod nginx config.

Suggested fix: the PHP preset's nginx should set fastcgi_param HTTPS on; when the edge forwarded https (or always, since the edge only serves https), and/or forward X-Forwarded-Proto so framework "trusted proxy" handling works out of the box. This affects every HTTPS-aware framework, not just Laravel.