# symfony/polyfill-mbstring

Symfony polyfill for the Mbstring extension

Repository: https://github.com/symfony/polyfill-mbstring
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/polyfill-mbstring
Homepage: https://symfony.com/polyfill-mbstring
Language: PHP
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: symfony, polyfill, component, symfony-component, compatibility, javascript, mbstring, portable, shim, symfony-polyfill
Last push: 2026-06-09T06:07:17+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 86, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3968, "days_push": 85, "days_rel": 85, "gap_med": 6.5, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7817, forks 39 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:05.252649+00:00)

## What it is
A Symfony component that provides a native PHP implementation of the Mbstring extension's functions for environments where the extension is not installed. It allows code relying on multibyte string functions like mb_strlen and mb_substr to run on any PHP setup.

## Use cases
- use mb_* string functions without the mbstring extension installed
- make a PHP library portable across hosts lacking mbstring
- ensure consistent multibyte string handling in a PHP package
- add mbstring compatibility shim to a legacy PHP application
- avoid hard dependency on PHP extensions in a composer package

## When to choose
- you are writing a reusable PHP library that should work without the mbstring extension
- your deployment environment may lack the mbstring PHP extension
- you already use Symfony components and want consistent polyfills

## When to avoid
- the mbstring extension is already installed and guaranteed on your target servers
- you need a full, high-performance implementation of all mbstring functions
- you are not working in PHP

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, web-development
- platform: php, cross-platform
- tags: polyfill, mbstring, shim, compatibility, string-handling, multibyte, symfony-component, localization

## Member repositories
- symfony/polyfill-mbstring (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:05.252649+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:34:10.055739+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/symfony/polyfill-mbstring (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:05.252649+00:00, sha 7686ab9250b9)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.