phar-io/manifest · error · ManifestDocumentException

Not a phar.io manifest document

Error message

Not a phar.io manifest document

What it means

ManifestDocument::ensureCorrectDocumentType validates that the parsed document's root element has localName 'phar' and the expected phar.io namespace (self::XMLNS). If not, it throws ManifestDocumentException('Not a phar.io manifest document'). The XML may be perfectly well-formed — it just isn't a phar.io manifest.

Solutions

1. Check the file being loaded is actually a phar.io manifest XML
2. Ensure the root element is <phar xmlns="https://phar.io/manifest"> (the library's expected XMLNS)
3. Regenerate the manifest with the original build tool instead of hand-editing
4. Inspect the root element: $dom->documentElement->localName / namespaceURI

Example fix

// before (manifest.xml)
<manifest>...</manifest>
// after
<phar xmlns="https://phar.io/manifest">...</phar>

$dom = new DOMDocument(); $dom->loadXML($xml); $root = $dom->documentElement; if ($root->localName !== 'phar' || $root->namespaceURI !== 'https://phar.io/manifest') { throw new RuntimeException('Not a phar.io manifest'); }

function isPharManifest(DOMDocument $dom): bool { $r = $dom->documentElement; return $r !== null && $r->localName === 'phar' && $r->namespaceURI === 'https://phar.io/manifest'; }

try { $doc = ManifestDocument::fromFile($path); } catch (ManifestDocumentException $e) { if (str_contains($e->getMessage(), 'Not a phar.io manifest')) { /* wrong file type handling */ } throw $e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ManifestDocument::fromString()/fromFile() on XML whose root element is not <phar> in the phar.io namespace — e.g. wrong root name, missing xmlns, or a completely different XML file (composer.json-style XML, arbitrary config).

Common situations: Pointing phar.io tooling (e.g. phpab, phive) at the wrong file; a manifest saved without the xmlns="https://phar.io/..." attribute; hand-edited manifest with renamed root element.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Processing string failed
• $t->getMessage()
• Element missing
• Attribute not set on element
• Element missing

AI-assisted analysis of phar-io/manifest@c581d4941e (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ad141b80570b4c7b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/xml/ManifestDocument.php:100

            $this->fetchElementByName('requires')
        );
    }

    public function hasBundlesElement(): bool {
        return $this->dom->getElementsByTagNameNS(self::XMLNS, 'bundles')->length === 1;
    }

    public function getBundlesElement(): BundlesElement {
        return new BundlesElement(
            $this->fetchElementByName('bundles')
        );
    }

    private function ensureCorrectDocumentType(DOMDocument $dom): void {
        $root = $dom->documentElement;

        if ($root->localName !== 'phar' || $root->namespaceURI !== self::XMLNS) {
            throw new ManifestDocumentException('Not a phar.io manifest document');
        }
    }

    private function fetchElementByName(string $elementName): DOMElement {
        $element = $this->dom->getElementsByTagNameNS(self::XMLNS, $elementName)->item(0);

        if (!$element instanceof DOMElement) {
            throw new ManifestDocumentException(
                sprintf('Element %s missing', $elementName)
            );
        }

        return $element;
    }
}

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