PHP Result

A Result type implementation for PHP inspired by Rust's Result<T, E> type.

This library provides a robust way to handle operations that might fail, without relying on exceptions. It encourages explicit error handling by making the error case part of the return type, so failures are visible in function signatures instead of being hidden control flow.

Installation

composer require valbeat/result

Requirements

• PHP 8.3 or higher (tested on PHP 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5)
• Composer

Basic Usage

use Valbeat\Result\Ok;
use Valbeat\Result\Err;

// Creating Results
$success = new Ok(42);
$failure = new Err("Something went wrong");

// Pattern matching with the match() method
$message = $success->match(
    ok: fn($value) => "Success: $value",
    err: fn($error) => "Error: $error"
);
echo $message; // "Success: 42"

// Checking if a Result is Ok or Err
if ($success->isOk()) {
    echo "Operation succeeded!";
}

if ($failure->isErr()) {
    echo "Operation failed!";
}

// Unwrapping values (throws exception on error)
$value = $success->unwrap(); // 42
// $failure->unwrap(); // throws UnwrapException

// Safe unwrapping with default values
$value = $failure->unwrapOr(0); // 0
$value = $failure->unwrapOrElse(fn($err) => strlen($err)); // 20

Advanced Usage

Transforming Results

// Map over success values
$result = (new Ok(5))
    ->map(fn($x) => $x * 2)
    ->map(fn($x) => $x + 1);
echo $result->unwrap(); // 11

// Map over error values
$result = (new Err("error"))
    ->mapErr(fn($e) => strtoupper($e));
echo $result->unwrapErr(); // "ERROR"

Chaining Operations

// Chain operations that might fail
$result = (new Ok(10))
    ->andThen(fn($x) => $x > 5 ? new Ok($x * 2) : new Err("Too small"))
    ->andThen(fn($x) => new Ok($x + 5));
echo $result->unwrap(); // 25

// Short-circuit on first error
$result = (new Ok(2))
    ->andThen(fn($x) => $x > 5 ? new Ok($x * 2) : new Err("Too small"));
echo $result->unwrapErr(); // "Too small"

Each step in a chain may fail with a different error type. The error types are composed into a union, so PHPStan tracks every error the chain can produce:

final class ValidationError {}
final class NotFoundError {}

/** @return Result<int, ValidationError> */
function validateUserId(string $raw): Result
{
    return ctype_digit($raw) ? new Ok((int) $raw) : new Err(new ValidationError());
}

/** @return Result<string, NotFoundError> */
function findUserNameById(int $id): Result
{
    return $id === 42 ? new Ok('Alice') : new Err(new NotFoundError());
}

// PHPStan infers Result<string, ValidationError|NotFoundError>
$userName = validateUserId('42')->andThen(findUserNameById(...));
echo $userName->unwrap(); // "Alice"

Combining Results

// Use first Ok value
$result = (new Err("first error"))
    ->or(new Err("second error"))
    ->or(new Ok(42));
echo $result->unwrap(); // 42

// Use first Ok or call function
$result = (new Err("error"))
    ->orElse(fn($e) => new Ok(strlen($e)));
echo $result->unwrap(); // 5

Side Effects

// Inspect values without consuming the Result
$result = (new Ok(42))
    ->inspect(fn($x) => print("Value is: $x\n"))
    ->map(fn($x) => $x * 2);

// Inspect errors
$result = (new Err("oops"))
    ->inspectErr(fn($e) => error_log("Error occurred: $e"));

Helpers (Results class)

use Valbeat\Result\Results;

// Wrap exception-throwing code: Ok on success, Err<Throwable> on throw
$result = Results::try(fn() => json_decode($raw, flags: JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR));

// Combine many Results: Ok with all values, or the first Err
$result = Results::combine([new Ok(1), new Ok(2), new Ok(3)]);
echo implode(',', $result->unwrap()); // "1,2,3"

// Flatten a nested Result<Result<T, E2>, E1> into Result<T, E1|E2>
$result = Results::flatten(new Ok(new Ok(42)));
echo $result->unwrap(); // 42

Type Safety

This library is designed to be used with PHPStan at level max and leans on several of its generics features:

• Sealed interface — Result is annotated with @phpstan-sealed Ok|Err, so PHPStan knows Ok and Err are the only implementations. A match (true) over instanceof checks is recognized as exhaustive, and the else branch of an instanceof Ok check narrows to Err. Note that instanceof narrowing loses the type arguments (a known PHPStan limitation: Result<int, E> narrows to plain Ok, so unwrap() becomes mixed), so use instanceof in a match (true) purely for exhaustiveness. When you also need the values, the match() method handles both cases and keeps T/E (it requires both an ok and an err arm), or narrow with isOk()/isErr(). These two goals are a trade-off in PHPStan 2.2.2: enforced exhaustiveness — where adding a new Result variant would turn every unhandled site into an analysis error — comes only from instanceof in a match (true), which is exactly the form that drops the type arguments. The match() method and isOk()/isErr() keep the generics but are not checked against variant additions (isOk()/isErr() arms in a match (true) also need a default). So per call site you currently pick one: enforced exhaustiveness or preserved generics. (In practice Result is fixed at Ok|Err, so the match() method covering both is total for all real cases.)
• Covariant type parameters — T and E are declared @template-covariant, so Ok<T> (which is Result<T, never>) and Err<E> (which is Result<never, E>) are assignable to any Result<T, E>. A function declared to return Result<User, DbError> can simply return new Ok($user);.
• Error-type composition — andThen()/and() widen the error channel to E|F and orElse()/or() widen the success channel to T|U, so chains that mix failure types stay precisely typed. (This deliberately diverges from Rust, whose and/or family keeps the other channel's type fixed.)
• Type narrowing — isOk()/isErr() narrow $result to Ok<T>/Err<E> via @phpstan-assert-if-true; unwrap()/unwrapErr() use conditional return types (never on the impossible side), and unwrapOr()/unwrapOrElse() resolve to T on Ok and to the default's type on Err.
• Exhaustive error matching — when the error type E is a native enum or a @phpstan-sealed union, the error value can be matched exhaustively (over the enum cases, or instanceof arms for a sealed union) and PHPStan enforces it — a missing case becomes an analysis error. Reach the error through isErr() + unwrapErr(), or the match() method's err arm; narrowing with instanceof Err drops E to mixed and loses the enum/sealed type (the same instanceof limitation as above). As long as the error classes are themselves non-generic, their own instanceof checks have no type arguments to lose (unlike the generic Ok/Err).
• Precise concrete receivers — when the receiver is statically Ok<T> or Err<E>, no-op methods keep their exact type ($ok->orElse(...) stays Ok<T>, $err->andThen(...) stays Err<E>) instead of widening to a union.

Note: because the templates are covariant, PHPStan preserves constant value types (new Ok(10) is Ok<10>, not Ok<int>). Type a variable or parameter as int if you want the widened type.

API Reference

Result Methods

All Result types (both Ok and Err) implement these methods:

Type Checking

• isOk(): bool - Returns true if the Result is Ok
• isOkAnd(callable $fn): bool - Returns true if the Result is Ok and the predicate returns true
• isErr(): bool - Returns true if the Result is Err
• isErrAnd(callable $fn): bool - Returns true if the Result is Err and the predicate returns true

Value Extraction

• unwrap(): mixed - Returns the success value or throws UnwrapException (extends LogicException)
• unwrapErr(): mixed - Returns the error value or throws UnwrapException (extends LogicException)
• expect(string $message): mixed - Returns the success value or throws UnwrapException with the given message and a summary of the error value
• expectErr(string $message): mixed - Returns the error value or throws UnwrapException with the given message and a summary of the success value
• unwrapOr(mixed $default): mixed - Returns the success value or a default
• unwrapOrElse(callable $fn): mixed - Returns the success value or computes it from the error

Transformation

• map(callable $fn): Result - Maps a Result<T, E> to Result<U, E> by applying a function to the success value
• mapErr(callable $fn): Result - Maps a Result<T, E> to Result<T, F> by applying a function to the error value
• mapOr(mixed $default, callable $fn): mixed - Maps the success value or returns a default
• mapOrElse(callable $defaultFn, callable $fn): mixed - Maps the success value or computes a default from the error

Combination

• and(Result $res): Result - Returns the second Result if the first is Ok, otherwise returns the first Err
• andThen(callable $fn): Result - Chains another operation that returns a Result
• or(Result $res): Result - Returns the first Ok or the second Result if the first is Err
• orElse(callable $fn): Result - Returns the first Ok or calls a function with the error to produce a Result

Side Effects

• inspect(callable $fn): Result - Calls a function with the success value if Ok
• inspectErr(callable $fn): Result - Calls a function with the error value if Err

Pattern Matching

• match(callable $ok, callable $err): mixed - Pattern match on the Result

Results Helpers (static)

• Results::try(callable $fn): Result - Runs a callable and wraps the outcome: Ok with the return value, or Err with the thrown Throwable
• Results::combine(iterable $results): Result - Combines iterable<Result<T, E>> into Result<list<T>, E>, short-circuiting on the first Err
• Results::flatten(Result $result): Result - Flattens Result<Result<T, E2>, E1> into Result<T, E1|E2>

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.