PHP Tick-Based Timeout Wrapper (No pcntl Required)

TimeoutGuard.php

<?php
/**
 * TimeoutGuard — A lightweight timeout wrapper using PHP ticks.
 *
 * This lets you interrupt execution of any callable if it exceeds a time limit.
 * Works even on Windows (unlike pcntl).
 *
 * ⚠️ Requires `declare(ticks=1);`
 */

declare(ticks=1);

class TimeoutException extends \Exception {}

class TimeoutGuard
{
    public static function run(callable $callback, float $seconds)
    {
        $start = microtime(true);

        // Tick handler to interrupt if time exceeded
        $watchdog = function () use ($start, $seconds) {
            if ((microtime(true) - $start) > $seconds) {
                throw new TimeoutException("Execution interrupted: timeout of {$seconds}s exceeded");
            }
        };

        register_tick_function($watchdog);

        try {
            return $callback();
        } finally {
            unregister_tick_function($watchdog);
        }
    }
}

// Example usage
try {
    TimeoutGuard::run(function () {
        // Simulated heavy task
        for ($i = 0; $i < 1e7; $i++) {
            sqrt($i);
        }
        echo "✅ Task finished in time.\n";
    }, 0.5); // Timeout after 0.5 seconds
} catch (TimeoutException $e) {
    echo "⚠️ Timeout: " . $e->getMessage() . "\n";
}