diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 76e8cdd..c36fdaf 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ and the compatibility contract in [docs/STABILITY.md](docs/STABILITY.md).
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **Worker mode: a multipart form's `[]` and nested fields reach the app.** `$r['post']`
+  had each field's name as a key exactly as sent, so `tags[]` was a key of its own, a
+  second `tags[]` overwrote the first, and `user[name]` was never nested. Laravel saw
+  neither `tags` nor `user` — in any form with a file input, since those are the forms
+  that post multipart. `$r['post']` is now registered by PHP's own rules
+  (`php_register_variable_safe`), exactly as PHP builds `$_POST` from the same body —
+  checked against PHP itself in `a_worker_s_post_fields_are_shaped_as_php_shapes_post`,
+  which fails on the old code with `"tags[]":"b"`. `examples/laravel-worker.php` nests
+  the files the same way (`user[avatar]` reaches `$request->file('user.avatar')`; only
+  `name` and `name[]` worked before), and the Laravel smoke checks both. A worker script
+  that read raw names from `$r['post']` (`$r['post']['tags[]']`) gets PHP's shape now.
+
 ## 1.9.0 — 2026-10-25
 
 Worker mode now applies PHP's upload settings, as per-request mode has since 1.8.5:
diff --git a/crates/askr-php/csrc/shim.c b/crates/askr-php/csrc/shim.c
index 1924e43..a428735 100644
--- a/crates/askr-php/csrc/shim.c
+++ b/crates/askr-php/csrc/shim.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <zend_API.h>
 #include <zend_exceptions.h>
 #include <SAPI.h>
+#include <php_variables.h>
 
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
@@ -665,11 +666,33 @@ static PHP_FUNCTION(askr_handle_request) {
     add_assoc_zval(&request, "headers", &headers);
     add_assoc_stringl(&request, "body", w_body ? w_body : "", w_body_len);
 
-    /* Parsed multipart POST fields → $request['post']. */
+    /* Parsed multipart POST fields → $request['post'], registered as PHP registers $_POST
+     * from a multipart body (main/rfc1867.c): no more than max_input_vars of them, and by
+     * PHP's own rules for names — `tags[]` appends, `user[name]` nests, a repeated name
+     * keeps its last value, `.` and ` ` in a top-level name become `_`. Until 1.9.1 each
+     * name was a key as sent, so `tags[]` was a key of its own and the second `tags[]`
+     * overwrote the first.
+     *
+     * Not through sapi_module.input_filter, as rfc1867.c goes: ext/filter's filter
+     * registers a POST variable into the real $_POST and its own filter_input() store and
+     * returns 0 — in a worker, one PHP request that never ends, both would grow with every
+     * request and carry each one's fields into the next. What that skips is filter.default,
+     * which PHP has deprecated.
+     *
+     * The over-limit warning goes to stderr: raised here, inside askr_handle_request(), an
+     * app's error handler would turn it into an exception in the middle of the worker
+     * loop. */
     zval post;
     array_init(&post);
+    zend_long max_vars = PG(max_input_vars);
     for (int i = 0; i < w_npost; i++) {
-        add_assoc_string(&post, w_pnames[i], w_pvalues[i] ? w_pvalues[i] : "");
+        const char *v = w_pvalues[i] ? w_pvalues[i] : "";
+        if (i < max_vars) {
+            php_register_variable_safe(w_pnames[i], v, strlen(v), &post);
+        } else if (i == max_vars) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "askr: request has more than max_input_vars (" ZEND_LONG_FMT
+                    ") POST fields; the rest are dropped, as PHP drops them\n", max_vars);
+        }
     }
     add_assoc_zval(&request, "post", &post);
 
diff --git a/crates/askr/tests/e2e.rs b/crates/askr/tests/e2e.rs
index a2a38a3..040942f 100644
--- a/crates/askr/tests/e2e.rs
+++ b/crates/askr/tests/e2e.rs
@@ -2434,6 +2434,103 @@ root = "{ROOT}"
     );
 }
 
+/// In worker mode `$r['post']` is what PHP's `$_POST` would be for the same multipart body:
+/// `tags[]` appends, `user[name]` nests, a repeated name keeps its last value, `.` and ` `
+/// in a top-level name become `_`.
+///
+/// Until 1.9.1 each name was a key as sent: `tags[]` a key of its own, the second `tags[]`
+/// overwriting the first. Laravel then saw neither `tags` nor `user` in any form with a
+/// file input — those are the forms that post multipart. The oracle here is PHP itself:
+/// the same body, sent to a per-request server, where PHP's own parser builds `$_POST`.
+/// A second request shows nothing carries over, and that the worker's own `$_POST` is
+/// never written — ext/filter's input filter would write it, and keep every request's
+/// fields there for the next.
+#[test]
+fn a_worker_s_post_fields_are_shaped_as_php_shapes_post() {
+    let b = "----askr-e2e-boundary";
+    let field = |name: &str, value: &str| {
+        format!("--{b}\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name=\"{name}\"\r\n\r\n{value}\r\n")
+    };
+    let body = [
+        field("tags[]", "a"),
+        field("tags[]", "b"),
+        field("note", "hi"),
+        field("note", "again"),
+        field("user[name]", "kh"),
+        field("user[roles][]", "admin"),
+        field("a.b", "1"),
+        field("x y", "2"),
+        field("arr[k.l]", "3"),
+        format!(
+            "--{b}\r\nContent-Disposition: form-data; name=\"doc\"; filename=\"a.txt\"\r\n\
+             Content-Type: text/plain\r\n\r\nx\r\n--{b}--\r\n"
+        ),
+    ]
+    .concat();
+    let post = |port: u16, body: &str| {
+        let r = request_with_body(
+            port,
+            "POST",
+            "/",
+            &[(
+                "Content-Type",
+                &format!("multipart/form-data; boundary={b}"),
+            )],
+            body,
+        );
+        assert_eq!(r.status, 200, "{}", r.body);
+        r.body.trim().to_string()
+    };
+
+    // PHP's own answer.
+    let config = r#"
+[server]
+listen = "127.0.0.1:{PORT}"
+root = "{ROOT}"
+"#;
+    let php = Server::start_in(
+        unique_dir("post-shape-php"),
+        &[("index.php", "<?php echo json_encode($_POST);")],
+        config,
+    );
+    let want = post(php.port, &body);
+    assert!(want.contains(r#""tags":["a","b"]"#), "PHP's own: {want}");
+
+    let dir = unique_dir("post-shape-worker");
+    let worker = r#"<?php
+while (askr_handle_request(function ($r) {
+    echo json_encode($r['post']), '|', count($_POST);
+    return 200;
+})) {}
+"#;
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&dir).unwrap();
+    std::fs::write(dir.join("worker.php"), worker).unwrap();
+    let config = format!(
+        r#"
+[server]
+listen = "127.0.0.1:{{PORT}}"
+root = "{{ROOT}}"
+workers = "1"
+
+[worker]
+script = "{}"
+"#,
+        dir.join("worker.php").to_str().unwrap()
+    );
+    let w = Server::start_in(dir.clone(), &[("index.php", "<?php")], &config);
+    assert_eq!(
+        post(w.port, &body),
+        format!("{want}|0"),
+        "as PHP shapes $_POST"
+    );
+    let second = [field("only", "this"), format!("--{b}--\r\n")].concat();
+    assert_eq!(
+        post(w.port, &second),
+        r#"{"only":"this"}|0"#,
+        "nothing carries over to the next request"
+    );
+}
+
 /// In worker mode PHP's upload settings hold, as the app's php.ini sets them: a file over
 /// `upload_max_filesize` is UPLOAD_ERR_INI_SIZE, and files past `max_file_uploads` are
 /// dropped.
diff --git a/docs/WORKER_MODE.md b/docs/WORKER_MODE.md
index d173fb2..5c1165a 100644
--- a/docs/WORKER_MODE.md
+++ b/docs/WORKER_MODE.md
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ The `$request` array Askr passes the handler:
 | `query` | raw query string |
 | `headers` | the full CGI `$_SERVER` map (REQUEST_METHOD, HTTP_*, HTTPS, CONTENT_TYPE, …) |
 | `body` | raw request body |
-| `post` | a `multipart/form-data` body's fields, `name => value`, names as sent (`tags[]` is not nested, and a repeated name keeps its last value); empty for any other body, which stays in `body` |
-| `files` | a `multipart/form-data` body's files, a list of `field` (the form field's name, as sent), `name` (the file's basename, as PHP's `$_FILES` gives it), `full_path` (the filename as the client sent it, path included — never use it as a path), `type` (the part's Content-Type up to any `;`, empty if it had none), `tmp_name`, `size`, `error` (`UPLOAD_ERR_*`: a file refused by `upload_max_filesize` or `MAX_FILE_SIZE` is here with its error and no `tmp_name`, `size` or `type`). PHP's upload settings apply, as in PHP: see [File uploads](FEATURES.md#8-file-uploads-040-per-request-mode-185) |
+| `post` | a `multipart/form-data` body's fields, shaped as PHP shapes `$_POST` (from 1.9.1): `tags[]` appends, `user[name]` nests, a repeated name keeps its last value, `.` and ` ` in a top-level name become `_`, at most `max_input_vars` of them. Empty for any other body, which stays in `body` |
+| `files` | a `multipart/form-data` body's files, a flat list of `field` (the form field's name, as sent — `photos[]`, `user[avatar]`; nest it as PHP nests `$_FILES`, as `examples/laravel-worker.php` does with `parse_str()`), `name` (the file's basename, as PHP's `$_FILES` gives it), `full_path` (the filename as the client sent it, path included — never use it as a path), `type` (the part's Content-Type up to any `;`, empty if it had none), `tmp_name`, `size`, `error` (`UPLOAD_ERR_*`: a file refused by `upload_max_filesize` or `MAX_FILE_SIZE` is here with its error and no `tmp_name`, `size` or `type`). PHP's upload settings apply, as in PHP: see [File uploads](FEATURES.md#8-file-uploads-040-per-request-mode-185) |
 
 The handler produces its response the normal PHP way — `echo`/`print` for the
 body, `header()` for headers, `http_response_code()` for the status — all
diff --git a/examples/laravel-worker.php b/examples/laravel-worker.php
index 7f23dda..2a76b75 100644
--- a/examples/laravel-worker.php
+++ b/examples/laravel-worker.php
@@ -90,24 +90,26 @@
             parse_str($r['body'], $post);
         }
     }
-    $files = [];
-    foreach ($r['files'] ?? [] as $f) {
+    // Files, nested the way PHP nests $_FILES: one parse_str() of every field name, by
+    // PHP's own rules for brackets — `photos[]` appends, `user[avatar]` nests — with each
+    // file's index as its leaf, then the index swapped for the file.
+    $uploads = $names = [];
+    foreach ($r['files'] ?? [] as $i => $f) {
         // The name as sent, path included: Symfony keeps only its basename as the client's
         // name, and the whole of it for getClientOriginalPath() (folder uploads).
-        $uploaded = new Illuminate\Http\UploadedFile(
+        $uploads[$i] = new Illuminate\Http\UploadedFile(
             $f['tmp_name'],
             $f['full_path'] ?? $f['name'],
             $f['type'] ?: null,
             $f['error'] ?? 0,
             true // test mode
         );
-        $field = $f['field'];
-        if (str_ends_with($field, '[]')) {
-            $files[substr($field, 0, -2)][] = $uploaded;
-        } else {
-            $files[$field] = $uploaded;
-        }
+        $names[] = rawurlencode($f['field']) . '=' . $i;
     }
+    parse_str(implode('&', $names), $files);
+    array_walk_recursive($files, function (&$leaf) use ($uploads) {
+        $leaf = $uploads[(int) $leaf];
+    });
 
     $request = Illuminate\Http\Request::create(
         $r['uri'],
diff --git a/scripts/laravel-smoke.sh b/scripts/laravel-smoke.sh
index 83f8a82..d00c899 100755
--- a/scripts/laravel-smoke.sh
+++ b/scripts/laravel-smoke.sh
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route::post('/_askr_upload', fn (Illuminate\Http\Requ
         ? $r->file('doc')?->getClientOriginalPath() : 'n/a',
     'content' => $r->file('doc')?->isValid() ? $r->file('doc')->get() : null,
     'error' => $r->file('doc')?->getError(),
+    'tags' => $r->input('tags'),
+    'user' => $r->input('user'),
+    'avatar' => $r->file('user.avatar')?->getClientOriginalName(),
 ]))->withoutMiddleware([
     Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\PreventRequestForgery::class,
     Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ValidateCsrfToken::class,
@@ -213,6 +216,13 @@ n=$(echo "$j" | field name); pa=$(echo "$j" | field path)
 check "an upload reaches Laravel with its field and content" "$([ "$(echo "$j" | field note)" = hello ] && [ "$(echo "$j" | field content)" = "file body" ] && echo ok || echo "$j")"
 check "an upload's name is its basename, its path kept beside it" "$([ "$n" = a.txt ] && { [ "$pa" = photos/2024/a.txt ] || [ "$pa" = n/a ]; } && echo ok || echo "name = $n, path = $pa")"
 
+# A form with a file input posts multipart: its checkboxes (tags[]) and nested inputs
+# (user[name], user[avatar]) must reach Laravel as PHP shapes them, not as raw names.
+j=$(curl -s --http1.1 -F "tags[]=a" -F "tags[]=b" -F "user[name]=kh" \
+  -F "user[avatar]=@$WORK/upload.txt;filename=me.png" -F "doc=@$WORK/upload.txt" "$BASE/_askr_upload")
+got=$(echo "$j" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(json.dumps([d.get("tags"), d.get("user"), d.get("avatar")]))')
+check "a multipart form's [] and nested names reach Laravel as PHP shapes them" "$([ "$got" = '[["a", "b"], {"name": "kh"}, "me.png"]' ] && echo ok || echo "$got")"
+
 # PHP's upload_max_filesize holds in worker mode too (default 2M): a 3 MB file reaches
 # Laravel as UPLOAD_ERR_INI_SIZE, not as a file.
 head -c 3145728 /dev/zero > "$WORK/big.bin"
diff --git a/scripts/phpt-uploads.py b/scripts/phpt-uploads.py
index e03a3a9..ad9307c 100755
--- a/scripts/phpt-uploads.py
+++ b/scripts/phpt-uploads.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 `--POST_RAW--` is the header, the remaining lines are the body joined with "\\n", and
 `--INI--` is the php.ini. In per-request mode the output must match `--EXPECT--`, or
 `--EXPECTF--` with its placeholders. In worker mode the test script runs inside a worker
-that builds `$_POST` and `$_FILES` from `$r` with PHP's own variable parser, and its
+that takes `$_POST` from `$r` and builds `$_FILES` with PHP's own variable parser, and its
 output must match per-request mode's for the same request (see `run_one`).
 
 Known divergences are listed by name in `scripts/phpt-uploads.known` — a test there is
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@
 # bracket rules (parse_str), so a difference here is a difference in what Askr parsed.
 WORKER = r"""<?php
 $test = getenv('ASKR_PHPT_SCRIPT');
-// One query string per attribute, through PHP's own variable parser — `[]`, nesting and
-// name mangling then work exactly as when PHP registers `$_POST` and `$_FILES` itself.
+// `$r['post']` is registered by PHP's own rules already. The files are a flat list, so
+// they are nested here as PHP nests `$_FILES`: one query string per attribute, through
+// PHP's own variable parser — `[]`, nesting and name mangling work as in PHP.
 function askr_phpt_parse(array $pairs): array {
     $q = [];
     foreach ($pairs as [$k, $v]) {
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@
     return $out;
 }
 while (askr_handle_request(function (array $r) use ($test): int {
-    $_POST = askr_phpt_parse(array_map(null, array_keys($r['post'] ?? []), $r['post'] ?? []));
+    $_POST = $r['post'] ?? [];
     $_FILES = [];
     foreach (['name', 'full_path', 'type', 'tmp_name', 'error', 'size'] as $k) {
         $pairs = [];