nextcloud/server

Useless ext-json requirement

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#58354 opened on Feb 16, 2026

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 (1 comment) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)PHP (34,953 stars) (4,865 forks)batch import
1. to developenhancementgood first issue

Description

By requiring PHP ^8.2, the JSON extension is bundled (it has been since PHP 8.0), so the ext-json line should be removed from the composer.json file.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
refactor
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
1
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
PHP 8.2+Basic Composer knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
95
Research direction
The issue points out that the ext json requirement in composer.json is unnecessary because PHP 8.2+ includes the JSON extension by default. The fix is to remove the line '"ext json": "*"' from the 'require' section of composer.json in the root of the Nextcloud server repository. No other changes are needed. This is a safe, isolated change that reduces dependency noise.