@Nick-B php.validate.executablePath
kept recreating itself from settings.json
for anyone else that might have had the same bug, I finally fixed it by replacing the backslash
\
(that is automatically present when you copy the file path) with forward slash /
:
"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
},
"php.validate.executablePath": "…./Local/Programs/Local/resources/extraResources/lightning-services/php-8.1.23+0/bin/win64/php.exe"
}