Hey everyone, I’m having trouble with my PHP project in XAMPP. When I try to run it, I keep getting this error:
Warning: require failed to open stream: No such file or directory
Fatal error: Failed opening required 'vendor/autoload.php'
It’s happening in my bootstrap.php file, where I have this line:
require VENDOR . 'autoload.php';
I’ve double-checked, and the path seems correct. The project is in my htdocs folder. Any ideas what might be causing this? I’m pretty new to PHP and Composer, so I might be missing something obvious. Thanks for any help!
I encountered a similar issue when setting up a PHP project with Composer. First, ensure you’ve actually run ‘composer install’ in your project root. This command generates the vendor directory and autoload.php file.
If that doesn’t resolve it, double-check your VENDOR constant definition. It should point to the correct absolute path of your vendor folder. Sometimes, relative paths can cause issues depending on where the script is executed from.
Lastly, verify your composer.json file is properly configured with the correct autoload settings. This file dictates how Composer generates the autoloader.
If none of these solve the problem, consider sharing more details about your project structure and Composer configuration for further assistance.
hey wittycodr99, ive seen this b4. make sure u ran ‘composer update’ in ur project folder. sometimes it fixes weird autoload issues. also check if ur bootstrap.php is in the right spot. if thats not it, maybe ur composer.json needs tweaking. lmk if u need more help!
Hey there WittyCodr99! That error can be pretty frustrating, especially when you’re just getting started. Have you run ‘composer install’ in your project directory? Sometimes the vendor folder doesn’t get created automatically. Also, where exactly is your bootstrap.php file located in relation to the vendor folder? Maybe the path needs tweaking a bit.
Oh, and just curious - what kind of project are you working on? It’s always fun to hear what other devs are building! 
Let me know if you’ve tried these things already or if you need any more help troubleshooting. We’ve all been there with tricky setup issues!