Getting Started

Install

composer require shikiphp/shikiphp

shikiphp needs PHP 8.2 or later with ext-json and ext-mbstring — both of which are enabled in nearly every PHP build. Nothing else: no Node, no native Oniguruma binding, no extra extensions.

Your first block

The static Shikiphp facade is the quickest way in. Pass your code, a language id, and a theme id:

use Shikiphp\Shikiphp;

$html = Shikiphp::codeToHtml(<<<'PHP'
<?php
function greet(string $name): string {
    return "Hello, {$name}!";
}
PHP, [
    'lang'  => 'php',
    'theme' => 'github-dark',
]);

echo $html;

codeToHtml returns a complete, self-styled <pre class="shiki …"> block. The foreground and background colors are written inline on the <pre>, so it renders correctly without any extra stylesheet.

Dual themes (light and dark)

Instead of a single theme, pass a themes map. shikiphp emits CSS variables (like Shiki) so a single rendered block adapts to light and dark mode:

echo Shikiphp::codeToHtml($code, [
    'lang'   => 'ts',
    'themes' => ['light' => 'github-light', 'dark' => 'github-dark'],
]);

By default the light theme's colors are the inline defaults and dark is exposed through --shiki-dark variables. Activate the dark theme with a small amount of CSS — the same snippet Shiki documents:

html.dark .shiki,
html.dark .shiki span {
  color: var(--shiki-dark) !important;
  background-color: var(--shiki-dark-bg) !important;
  /* and font styles */
  font-style: var(--shiki-dark-font-style) !important;
  font-weight: var(--shiki-dark-font-weight) !important;
  text-decoration: var(--shiki-dark-text-decoration) !important;
}

You can choose which theme is the inline default with the defaultColor option, or set defaultColor: false to emit only variables.

Language ids and aliases

Languages are referenced by their Shiki id or alias — php, ts, js, rust, python, html, and so on. See Languages for how to list everything that ships, and Themes for the theme ids.

Reusing the highlighter

The facade lazily creates and caches a bundled Highlighter, so repeated calls to Shikiphp::codeToHtml reuse the same grammar and theme caches. If you need the richer API (HAST output, custom grammars, token grids), grab the instance directly:

use Shikiphp\Shikiphp;

$highlighter = Shikiphp::highlighter();
$hast = $highlighter->codeToHast($code, ['lang' => 'rust', 'theme' => 'nord']);

See the API for the full surface.