[laravel-5.5] PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '?' in helpers.php 233

If you came across this error while using the command line its because you must be using php 7 to execute whatever it is you are trying to execute. What happened is that the code is trying to use an operator thats only available in php7+ and is causing a syntax error.

If you already have php 7+ on your computer try pointing the command line to the higher version of php you want to use.

export PATH=/usr/local/[php-7-folder]/bin/:$PATH

Here is the exact location that worked based off of my setup for reference:

export PATH=/usr/local/php5-7.1.4-20170506-100436/bin/:$PATH

The operator thats actually caused the break is the "null coalesce operator" you can read more about it here:

php7 New Operators