Fix: Composer command not found PHP error in terminal - Quick Solution

The ‘Composer command not found’ error occurs when the Composer executable is not properly installed or not added to the system’s PATH. This prevents you from running Composer commands in the terminal.

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How the Error Happens

❌ Error Scenario:

# ❌ This command fails
composer install
# Output: bash: composer: command not found

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✅ Quick Fix - Install and Configure Composer

Solution 1: Install Composer Globally (Windows)

# ✅ Download and install Composer on Windows
# Visit https://getcomposer.org/Download and run the installer
# Or use PowerShell:
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
choco install composer

Solution 2: Install Composer Globally (Mac/Linux)

# ✅ Download and install Composer
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/composer

Solution 3: Add Composer to PATH (Manual Method)

# ✅ Add Composer to PATH on Mac/Linux
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# ✅ Or for zsh users
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Solution 4: Verify Installation

# ✅ Check if Composer is properly installed
composer --version

# ✅ Update Composer if needed
composer self-update

Solution 5: Use Local Composer (Alternative)

# ✅ If global installation fails, use local Composer
php composer.phar install
php composer.phar update