# Stream Contexts

A `context` is a set of `parameters` and wrapper specific `options` which modify or enhance the behavior of a stream. `Contexts` are created using stream_context_create() and can be passed to most filesystem related stream creation functions (i.e. fopen(), file(), file_get_contents(), etc...).

`Options` can be specified when calling stream_context_create(), or later using stream_context_set_option(). A list of wrapper specific `options` can be found in the Context options and parameters chapter.

`Parameters` can be specified for `contexts` using the stream_context_set_params() function.