diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 77373025f9..f1c2f7e1e7 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ $paths = new Config\Paths();
 
 // Location of the framework bootstrap file.
 $bootstrap = rtrim($paths->systemDirectory, '\\/ ') . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'bootstrap.php';
-$app       = require realpath($bootstrap) ?: $bootstrap;
+/** @var CodeIgniter\CodeIgniter $app */
+$app     = require realpath($bootstrap) ?: $bootstrap;
+$context = is_cli() ? 'php-cli' : 'web';
+$app->setContext($context);
 
 /*
  *---------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/spark b/spark
index c8b1991ce4..7d8b8eb645 100755
--- a/spark
+++ b/spark
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@
  * this class mainly acts as a passthru to the framework itself.
  */
 
+/**
+ * @var bool
+ *
+ * @deprecated No longer in use. `CodeIgniter` has `$context` property.
+ */
 define('SPARKED', true);
 
 /*
@@ -51,7 +56,9 @@ $paths = new Config\Paths();
 chdir(FCPATH);
 
 $bootstrap = rtrim($paths->systemDirectory, '\\/ ') . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'bootstrap.php';
-$app       = require realpath($bootstrap) ?: $bootstrap;
+/** @var CodeIgniter\CodeIgniter $app */
+$app = require realpath($bootstrap) ?: $bootstrap;
+$app->setContext('spark');
 
 // Grab our Console
 $console = new CodeIgniter\CLI\Console($app);
diff --git a/system/CodeIgniter.php b/system/CodeIgniter.php
index 4cc1978a96..094c2faa29 100644
--- a/system/CodeIgniter.php
+++ b/system/CodeIgniter.php
@@ -141,6 +141,11 @@ class CodeIgniter
      */
     protected $useSafeOutput = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Context: 'web', 'php-cli', 'spark'
+     */
+    protected string $context;
+
     /**
      * Constructor.
      */
@@ -294,6 +299,8 @@ class CodeIgniter
      */
     public function run(?RouteCollectionInterface $routes = null, bool $returnResponse = false)
     {
+        assert($this->context !== null, 'Context must be set before run() is called');
+
         $this->startBenchmark();
 
         $this->getRequestObject();
@@ -321,7 +328,7 @@ class CodeIgniter
         }
 
         // spark command has nothing to do with HTTP redirect and 404
-        if (defined('SPARKED')) {
+        if ($this->isSparked()) {
             return $this->handleRequest($routes, $cacheConfig, $returnResponse);
         }
 
@@ -358,6 +365,30 @@ class CodeIgniter
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Invoked via spark command?
+     */
+    private function isSparked(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->context === 'spark';
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Invoked via php-cli command?
+     */
+    private function isPhpCli(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->context === 'php-cli';
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Web access?
+     */
+    private function isWeb(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->context === 'web';
+    }
+
     /**
      * Handles the main request logic and fires the controller.
      *
@@ -389,7 +420,7 @@ class CodeIgniter
         }
 
         // Never run filters when running through Spark cli
-        if (! defined('SPARKED')) {
+        if (! $this->isSparked()) {
             // Run "before" filters
             $this->benchmark->start('before_filters');
             $possibleResponse = $filters->run($uri, 'before');
@@ -430,7 +461,7 @@ class CodeIgniter
         $this->gatherOutput($cacheConfig, $returned);
 
         // Never run filters when running through Spark cli
-        if (! defined('SPARKED')) {
+        if (! $this->isSparked()) {
             $filters->setResponse($this->response);
 
             // Run "after" filters
@@ -548,10 +579,8 @@ class CodeIgniter
             return;
         }
 
-        if (is_cli() && ENVIRONMENT !== 'testing') {
-            // @codeCoverageIgnoreStart
+        if ($this->isSparked() || $this->isPhpCli()) {
             $this->request = Services::clirequest($this->config);
-        // @codeCoverageIgnoreEnd
         } else {
             $this->request = Services::request($this->config);
             // guess at protocol if needed
@@ -567,7 +596,7 @@ class CodeIgniter
     {
         $this->response = Services::response($this->config);
 
-        if (! is_cli() || ENVIRONMENT === 'testing') {
+        if ($this->isWeb()) {
             $this->response->setProtocolVersion($this->request->getProtocolVersion());
         }
 
@@ -826,7 +855,7 @@ class CodeIgniter
     protected function runController($class)
     {
         // If this is a console request then use the input segments as parameters
-        $params = defined('SPARKED') ? $this->request->getSegments() : $this->router->params();
+        $params = $this->isSparked() ? $this->request->getSegments() : $this->router->params();
 
         if (method_exists($class, '_remap')) {
             $output = $class->_remap($this->method, ...$params);
@@ -884,7 +913,9 @@ class CodeIgniter
             ob_end_flush(); // @codeCoverageIgnore
         }
 
-        throw PageNotFoundException::forPageNotFound(ENVIRONMENT !== 'production' || is_cli() ? $e->getMessage() : '');
+        throw PageNotFoundException::forPageNotFound(
+            ENVIRONMENT !== 'production' || ! $this->isWeb() ? $e->getMessage() : ''
+        );
     }
 
     /**
@@ -950,8 +981,8 @@ class CodeIgniter
     public function storePreviousURL($uri)
     {
         // Ignore CLI requests
-        if (is_cli() && ENVIRONMENT !== 'testing') {
-            return; // @codeCoverageIgnore
+        if (! $this->isWeb()) {
+            return;
         }
         // Ignore AJAX requests
         if (method_exists($this->request, 'isAJAX') && $this->request->isAJAX()) {
@@ -1015,4 +1046,16 @@ class CodeIgniter
     {
         exit($code); // @codeCoverageIgnore
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the app context.
+     *
+     * @return $this
+     */
+    public function setContext(string $context)
+    {
+        $this->context = $context;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/system/Test/FeatureTestCase.php b/system/Test/FeatureTestCase.php
index b89ad5fb2f..dc0c65b4a8 100644
--- a/system/Test/FeatureTestCase.php
+++ b/system/Test/FeatureTestCase.php
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ class FeatureTestCase extends CIUnitTestCase
         Services::injectMock('filters', Services::filters(null, false));
 
         $response = $this->app
+            ->setContext('web')
             ->setRequest($request)
             ->run($routes, true);
 
diff --git a/system/Test/FeatureTestTrait.php b/system/Test/FeatureTestTrait.php
index a31852daf2..790de784e2 100644
--- a/system/Test/FeatureTestTrait.php
+++ b/system/Test/FeatureTestTrait.php
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ trait FeatureTestTrait
         Services::injectMock('filters', Services::filters(null, false));
 
         $response = $this->app
+            ->setContext('web')
             ->setRequest($request)
             ->run($routes, true);
 
diff --git a/tests/system/CLI/ConsoleTest.php b/tests/system/CLI/ConsoleTest.php
index 087c28c120..61905e71c6 100644
--- a/tests/system/CLI/ConsoleTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/CLI/ConsoleTest.php
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ final class ConsoleTest extends CIUnitTestCase
         CLI::init();
 
         $this->app = new MockCodeIgniter(new MockCLIConfig());
+        $this->app->setContext('spark');
     }
 
     protected function tearDown(): void
diff --git a/tests/system/CodeIgniterTest.php b/tests/system/CodeIgniterTest.php
index a34664d9c9..124ce3fdbc 100644
--- a/tests/system/CodeIgniterTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/CodeIgniterTest.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ final class CodeIgniterTest extends CIUnitTestCase
         $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL'] = 'HTTP/1.1';
 
         $this->codeigniter = new MockCodeIgniter(new App());
+        $this->codeigniter->setContext('web');
     }
 
     protected function tearDown(): void
@@ -257,6 +258,7 @@ final class CodeIgniterTest extends CIUnitTestCase
         $config->forceGlobalSecureRequests = true;
 
         $codeigniter = new MockCodeIgniter($config);
+        $codeigniter->setContext('web');
 
         $this->getPrivateMethodInvoker($codeigniter, 'getRequestObject')();
         $this->getPrivateMethodInvoker($codeigniter, 'getResponseObject')();
diff --git a/tests/system/ControllerTest.php b/tests/system/ControllerTest.php
index d4be0c503b..59546ab260 100644
--- a/tests/system/ControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/ControllerTest.php
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ final class ControllerTest extends CIUnitTestCase
         $this->response    = new Response($this->config);
         $this->logger      = \Config\Services::logger();
         $this->codeigniter = new MockCodeIgniter($this->config);
+        $this->codeigniter->setContext('web');
     }
 
     public function testConstructor()
diff --git a/tests/system/RESTful/ResourceControllerTest.php b/tests/system/RESTful/ResourceControllerTest.php
index e6098527d0..93554ee3c1 100644
--- a/tests/system/RESTful/ResourceControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/RESTful/ResourceControllerTest.php
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ final class ResourceControllerTest extends CIUnitTestCase
 
         $config            = new App();
         $this->codeigniter = new MockCodeIgniter($config);
+        $this->codeigniter->setContext('web');
     }
 
     protected function tearDown(): void
diff --git a/tests/system/RESTful/ResourcePresenterTest.php b/tests/system/RESTful/ResourcePresenterTest.php
index 26ea1084b1..8176cc92bd 100644
--- a/tests/system/RESTful/ResourcePresenterTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/RESTful/ResourcePresenterTest.php
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ final class ResourcePresenterTest extends CIUnitTestCase
 
         $config            = new App();
         $this->codeigniter = new MockCodeIgniter($config);
+        $this->codeigniter->setContext('web');
     }
 
     protected function tearDown(): void