Commands in pfSsh.php don't work (manual php scripts do)

deet

Trying to automate some things. Looking at the PHP developer shell:

https://pfsense-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/development/using-the-php-pfsense-shell.html

If I log in as any user and, from the menu, either run 12 or run 8 and then execute pfSsh.php, I can't get anything to run except the help command.

In other words, while I can run the help command, I can't run anything help suggests and get any results.

Example:

Starting the pfSense developer shell....

Welcome to the pfSense developer shell

Type "help" to show common usage scenarios.

Available playback commands:
     changepassword disablecarp disablecarpmaint disabledhcpd disablereferercheck enableallowallwan enablecarp enablecarpmaint enablesshd externalconfiglocator gatewaystatus generateguicert gitsync installpkg listpkg pfanchordrill pftabledrill removepkgconfig removeshaper resetwebgui restartdhcpd restartipsec svc uninstallpkg 

pfSense shell: help

	Enter a series of commands and then execute the set with "exec".

	For example:
	echo "foo"; // php command
	echo "foo2"; // php command
	! echo "heh" # shell command
	exec

	Example commands:

	record <recordingfilename>
	stoprecording
	showrecordings

	parse_config(true);  # reloads the $config array

	$temp = print_r($config, true);
	more($temp);

	/* to output a configuration array */
	print_r($config);

(snip)

pfSense shell: parse_config(true);
pfSense shell: print_r($config);
pfSense shell:

The output is nothing.

However, if I do it manually through the php interactive shell, it seems to work:

php -a -d display_errors=true

require_once("globals.inc");
require_once("functions.inc"); 
require_once("config.inc");
require_once("util.inc");

parse_config(true);

print_r($config);

(The config tree prints).

Am I wrong to expect the php developer shell pfSsh.php to work the same as php -a?

I'm fine with writing my own php if that's the preferred method, but I was thinking it would be better to run it through the provided shell script. Am I maybe overlooking something about how to do that?

Thanks very much.