I’m not sure, here’s what ChatGPT suggests in case it’s helpful:
This issue is most likely due to Composer caching the old PHP version or not using the correct PHP binary when you run it.
Here’s how you can troubleshoot and fix the issue:
Checklist to Resolve PHP Version Error in Composer
1. Confirm PHP CLI version
Make sure that your terminal is using PHP 8.3:
php -v
If it still shows PHP 8.1, you may need to switch versions using update-alternatives
:
sudo update-alternatives --config php
Choose the PHP 8.3 option from the list.
2. Clear Composer cache
Sometimes Composer caches platform info. Clear it:
composer clear-cache
3. Regenerate the autoload and lock files
If composer.lock
still references the old PHP version, regenerate dependencies:
composer update --ignore-platform-reqs
Use --ignore-platform-reqs
only temporarily to regenerate composer.lock
, then rerun without it to validate.
4. Check PHP path used by Composer
Ensure Composer is using the correct PHP version:
which php
composer -vvv about
Look for lines like:
Running 1.10.x with PHP 8.1.x
If it’s showing the wrong PHP version, you may need to call Composer explicitly with PHP 8.3:
php8.3 /usr/local/bin/composer update
(adjust the path to your PHP 8.3 binary and Composer binary)
5. Restart services (optional)
If you’re running through web server (Apache/Nginx + PHP-FPM), restart the PHP service:
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm