Is there a way to simulate a browser in PHP? What tools are required for this purpose?

To effectively simulate a browser, I will need to be able to emulate requests, load and execute JavaScript on pages, and have support for cookies. Additionally, it is important to be able to manage requests and received data on the server using PHP.

It would be ideal to have a solution that is similar in simplicity to Curl, but can handle JavaScript as well.

how to accomplish this task?

You don't have to suffer, just create a basic console program that utilizes the standard WebBrowser control on mono (when used with mono, firefox is utilized) and put all of your programming logic in javascript, launching it on the same page via onload (or the equivalent event for the control).

This approach is actually quite easy, and all of the programming logic can be contained in javascript using jquery (which can be loaded under an identifier other than '$'). Even better, this application can be launched on any low-cost linux VPS.

In my opinion, once you've mastered this program, you should be able to handle basic push ajax requests or websocket with ease.

To achieve a complete emulation that includes Ajax and other functionalities, you can make use of xvfb+firefox+mozrepl. Through this combination, you can also establish communication via php.

A daunting experience with Node.js:

1) Capturing the pages by running JS scripts and saving them as files.
2) Subsequently, processing the saved files using PHP or another programming language to perform necessary operations.

We can leverage the power of libraries such as Guzzle or Symfony Panther. Guzzle is a popular PHP HTTP client that allows us to send HTTP requests easily and efficiently. It supports features like handling cookies, following redirects, and sending various types of data. On the other hand, Symfony Panther provides a convenient way to control a real browser using the WebDriver protocol, which means it can handle JavaScript execution and interactions just like a real user would do.
We can also employ headless browsers such as Puppeteer, which is a Node library developed by Google. While Puppeteer itself is not written in PHP, we can use it in conjunction with libraries like V8Js to execute JavaScript on the server side. This approach allows us to load pages, execute JavaScript, and manipulate the DOM using PHP.

If we need to manage multiple requests and received data on the server, we can utilize asynchronous programming techniques provided by PHP frameworks like ReactPHP or Amp. These frameworks enable us to handle multiple concurrent requests without blocking, which is essential for efficiently simulating browser behavior.

Furthermore, we should keep in mind that simulating a browser comes with certain ethical and legal considerations, especially when it involves accessing third-party websites. It's important to respect the terms of service of the websites we are interacting with and to ensure that our actions comply with relevant laws and regulations.
By combining PHP HTTP clients, headless browsers, server-side JavaScript execution, and asynchronous programming, we can effectively simulate a browser in PHP, allowing us to interact with websites, execute JavaScript, and manage requests and data on the server side. However, it's crucial to approach this task responsibly and ethically.