infra/ai-memory/feedback_php_ob_export.md

name, description, metadata

name	description	metadata
feedback-php-ob-export	PHP file export/AJAX handlers that run after ob_start()+header.php must call ob_end_clean() before sending headers	type originSessionId feedback 002fe81e-7e03-414d-b842-1f94f1390a22

When a PHP admin page uses the pattern ob_start() + require_once header.php at the top, any handler that sends a non-HTML response (CSV download, JSON AJAX, redirect) must call ob_end_clean() before setting Content-Type headers and outputting content.

Why: ob_start() buffers everything. require_once header.php fills the buffer with a full HTML page before any request-type checks run. Without ob_end_clean(), the browser receives the full HTML page followed by the CSV/JSON body — the export appears to download the entire rendered page instead of the file.

How to apply: Any time I add a file export or AJAX handler to an admin page that uses this pattern:

// ✅ correct
if (isset($_GET['export'])) {
    ob_end_clean(); // discard buffered HTML from header.php
    header('Content-Type: text/csv; charset=UTF-8');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="export.csv"');
    // ... output CSV ...
    exit;
}

// ✅ correct for AJAX
if ($action === 'inline_edit') {
    ob_end_clean();
    header('Content-Type: application/json');
    echo json_encode(['ok' => true]);
    exit;
}

First discovered and fixed in admin/import-export.php on tomsjavajive.com (2026-05-22).