[Bug]: Herd PHP binary hardcodes APP_ENV=local via getenv(), breaking PHPUnit CSRF bypass

[dillingham]

Platform

macOS

Operating system version

macOS Sequoia 15.2 (24C101)

System architecture

ARM64 (M1, M2, etc)

Herd Version

1.26.0

PHP Version

8.5.1

Bug description

The bug: Herd's PHP binary hardcodes APP_ENV=local via putenv() at startup. This prevents PHPUnit's <env name="APP_ENV" value="testing"/> from working because the dotenv immutable repository reads getenv() first and finds local.

The fix for Herd: Don't set APP_ENV in the CLI binary at all (it's only useful for FPM/web context), or set it only when running under FPM, not CLI.

The workaround : Add <server name="APP_ENV" value="testing" force="true"/> to phpunit.xml, which overrides $_SERVER and gets picked up before the PutenvAdapter.

Steps to reproduce

 test('getenv APP_ENV should not be set by the PHP binary itself', function () {
      // Herd's PHP binary injects APP_ENV=local into getenv() before any code runs.
      // This prevents PHPUnit's <env> from taking effect because dotenv's
      // immutable repository reads getenv() first and locks in 'local'.
      expect(getenv('APP_ENV'))->toBe('testing');
  });                                       

Adding <server name="APP_ENV" value="testing" force="true"/> to phpunit.xml makes the test pass

1. Create any Laravel project served by Herd
2. Run php -r "echo getenv('APP_ENV');" — outputs local
3. Run env -i HOME=$HOME PATH=$PATH php -r "echo getenv('APP_ENV') ?: 'not set';" — outputs not set (proving it's not in the shell environment)
4. Run Herd's PHP with no ini files: "/Users/brian/Library/ApplicationSupport/Herd/bin/php" -n -r "echo getenv('APP_ENV') ?: 'not set';" — still outputs local
5. Run php artisan test — all POST-based feature tests fail with 419 (CSRF token mismatch)

Relevant log output

[dillingham]

@mechelon am I doing something wrong? Adding this to my phpunit.xml stops a consistent issue I have of 419s in tests

<server name="APP_ENV" value="testing" force="true"/>