PHP Backend Setup for Split Cash

🛠️ Local Development Setup

1. Install PHP and Composer

Windows (using Chocolatey):

# Install Chocolatey if not installed
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

# Install PHP
choco install php

# Install Composer
choco install composer

# Verify installations
php -v
composer -v

Or Download Manually:

• PHP: https://windows.php.net/download/ (Download PHP 8.x Thread Safe ZIP)
• Composer: https://getcomposer.org/download/

2. Install MySQL/MariaDB

# Using XAMPP (includes PHP, MySQL, Apache)
choco install xampp

# Or standalone MySQL
choco install mysql

3. Install PHP Dependencies

cd server-php
composer install

This will install:

• firebase/php-jwt - JWT authentication
• google/apiclient - Google OAuth verification

4. Configure Environment

Create .env file in server-php directory:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=split_cash
DB_USER=root
DB_PASS=

JWT_SECRET=985e52ac9742bf4c64089fab4b59b1fbbac208300ec827c3f05de6e966285c85ba219339d7e107438536bc4e22713d671c7de22e1e4569cb25c70bd0fefbb7b6

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=961328387938-mrob7sroupab8kk14kk1g0io1pa2b5ri.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET

EMAIL_HOST=shivarya.dev
EMAIL_PORT=465
EMAIL_USER=[email protected]
EMAIL_PASS=YOUR_EMAIL_PASSWORD

FRONTEND_URL=https://shivarya.github.io/split-cash

5. Setup Database

Import the SQL schema (same as Node.js version):

mysql -u root -p split_cash < database.sql

6. Test Locally

Option A: PHP Built-in Server

cd server-php
php -S localhost:3000 index.php

Option B: XAMPP

1. Copy server-php folder to C:\xampp\htdocs\
2. Start XAMPP Apache and MySQL
3. Access: http://localhost/server-php/

Option C: Using WAMP/MAMP

Similar to XAMPP setup

7. Test API

# Health check
curl http://localhost:3000/health

# Expected response:
# {"success":true,"data":{"status":"healthy","database":"connected","timestamp":"2025-11-25T..."}}

---

🚀 cPanel Deployment

1. Prepare Files

# Compress PHP files
Compress-Archive -Path .\server-php\* -DestinationPath server-php.zip

2. Upload to cPanel

1. Login to cPanel: https://shivarya.dev:2083
2. File Manager → Navigate to public_html/api/
3. Upload server-php.zip
4. Extract the ZIP file
5. Move contents from server-php folder to api folder

Final structure:

public_html/
  └── api/
      ├── index.php
      ├── config/
      ├── controllers/
      ├── utils/
      ├── vendor/
      └── .htaccess

3. Install Composer Dependencies on cPanel

Method 1: SSH (if available)

ssh [email protected]
cd public_html/api
composer install

Method 2: Upload vendor folder

# On local machine after composer install
cd server-php
Compress-Archive -Path .\vendor\* -DestinationPath vendor.zip

# Upload vendor.zip to cPanel and extract

4. Create .htaccess for Clean URLs

Create public_html/api/.htaccess:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /api/
    
    # Handle CORS preflight
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} OPTIONS
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1 [R=200,L]
    
    # Route all requests to index.php
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [QSA,L]
</IfModule>

# Enable CORS
Header always set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
Header always set Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS"
Header always set Access-Control-Allow-Headers "Content-Type, Authorization"

5. Configure PHP Settings

Create public_html/api/.user.ini:

upload_max_filesize = 50M
post_max_size = 50M
memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 300
display_errors = Off
log_errors = On
error_log = /home/username/public_html/api/php_errors.log

6. Setup Environment Variables

Create public_html/api/.env:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=username_split_cash
DB_USER=username_split_cash
DB_PASS=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD

JWT_SECRET=985e52ac9742bf4c64089fab4b59b1fbbac208300ec827c3f05de6e966285c85ba219339d7e107438536bc4e22713d671c7de22e1e4569cb25c70bd0fefbb7b6

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=961328387938-mrob7sroupab8kk14kk1g0io1pa2b5ri.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=YOUR_SECRET

EMAIL_HOST=shivarya.dev
EMAIL_PORT=465
EMAIL_USER=[email protected]
EMAIL_PASS=YOUR_PASSWORD

FRONTEND_URL=https://shivarya.github.io/split-cash

Load .env in config/config.php:

<?php
// Load .env file
$envFile = __DIR__ . '/../.env';
if (file_exists($envFile)) {
    $lines = file($envFile, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
    foreach ($lines as $line) {
        if (strpos($line, '=') !== false && strpos($line, '#') !== 0) {
            list($name, $value) = explode('=', $line, 2);
            $_ENV[trim($name)] = trim($value);
            putenv(trim($name) . '=' . trim($value));
        }
    }
}

7. Create MySQL Database

1. cPanel → MySQL Databases
2. Create Database: username_split_cash
3. Create User: username_split_cash
4. Grant All Privileges to user on database
5. Import SQL: Use phpMyAdmin to import database.sql

8. Update Mobile App API URL

Update mobile/.env:

API_URL=https://shivarya.dev/api
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=961328387938-mrob7sroupab8kk14kk1g0io1pa2b5ri.apps.googleusercontent.com

9. Test Production API

curl https://shivarya.dev/api/health

---

📝 API Endpoints

All endpoints remain the same as Node.js version:

• POST /api/auth/google - Google OAuth login
• GET /api/auth/profile - Get user profile
• PUT /api/auth/profile - Update user profile
• POST /api/groups - Create group
• GET /api/groups - Get user's groups
• GET /api/groups/:id - Get group details
• POST /api/expenses/:groupId - Add expense
• GET /api/expenses/:groupId - Get group expenses
• GET /api/balances/:groupId - Get group balances
• GET /api/balances/my-balances - Get user's all balances

---

🔧 Troubleshooting

PHP Extensions Required

Enable in php.ini:

extension=mysqli
extension=pdo_mysql
extension=openssl
extension=curl
extension=mbstring
extension=json

Common Issues

1. 500 Internal Server Error

   • Check php_errors.log
   • Verify file permissions: chmod 755 on directories, 644 on files

2. Database Connection Failed

   • Verify database credentials in .env
   • Check MySQL is running
   • Ensure user has privileges

3. Composer autoload not found

   • Run composer install in server-php directory
   • Or upload pre-installed vendor folder

4. .htaccess not working

   • Enable mod_rewrite in Apache
   • Check AllowOverride is set to All

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✅ Verification Checklist

• PHP 7.4+ installed
• Composer dependencies installed
• MySQL database created and imported
• .env file configured
• .htaccess created
• /health endpoint returns success
• Google OAuth working
• Mobile app connects to API

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API URL: https://shivarya.dev/api Health Check: https://shivarya.dev/api/health