laika-core

Getting Started

Installation

laika-core is installed as part of the Laika Framework, whose root package requires it:

composer require laikait/laika-core

That pulls in the rest of the framework: laika-auth, laika-cli, laika-model, laika-queue, laika-relay, laika-route, laika-session, laika-shield and laika-mailman, plus Twig, firebase/php-jwt, the AWS SDK and Whoops.

Requirements: PHP 8.1 or later and ext-openssl. Some classes need more:

Extension Needed by
bcmath Math
gd Image
zip Zip
fileinfo File::mime(), MimeType::fromContent(), upload MIME checks
redis / memcached The Redis and Memcached storage, session and queue drivers
pdo_* Database connections through laika-model
posix AsyncJob::isRunning() / stop() on Linux and macOS

What Happens at Boot

A web request enters at index.php:

require_once __DIR__ . '/lf-boot/app.php';
Url::dispatch();            // Laika\Route\Url

lf-boot/app.php then does the following, in order:

  1. Defines APP_PATH and DS, and requires lf-inc/const.php, which defines DEBUG, MEMORY_LIMIT and CLI_MEMORY_LIMIT.
  2. Requires vendor/autoload.php. Composer’s files autoload runs laika-core’s helpers/loader.php, which:
    1. Defines the remaining path constants, unless something already defined them.
    2. Creates the service container (RelayRegistry) and registers Laika\Relay\CoreProviders, which binds every core service. See Relays.
    3. Registers every relay provider it finds in the relays resource: package providers first, then the application’s lf-app/Relay providers, so the app can override a binding.
    4. Hands the container to the relays (Relay::setRegistry()) and to the router (Invoke::setResolver()). From here on, controllers, pipelines and filters are built through the container, with their constructor dependencies auto-wired.
    5. Boots the providers. CoreProviders::boot() sets the PHP timezone to UTC and registers the error handler.
  3. Requires every functions file, then every hooks file. That includes laika-core’s own helpers and your lf-hooks/*.php.

After that, Url::dispatch() hands the request to laika-route:

  1. It sends the CORS and security headers.
  2. It serves static files, or loads the route files and matches a route.
  3. It runs the pipelines, the controller and the filters.
  4. It writes the activity log.
  5. It renders the response.

Note: the timezone is forced to UTC at boot. Call Date::setAppTimezone('Asia/Dhaka') in a hook file if the application should run in another zone. See Date.

Note: define DEBUG in lf-inc/const.php before the autoloader runs. If it isn’t defined, helpers/loader.php defines it as true, which enables detailed error pages.

Path Constants

Constant Value
APP_PATH The project root
DS DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR
STORAGE_PATH APP_PATH/lf-storage
TEMPLATE_PATH APP_PATH/template
TEMPLATE_CACHE_PATH STORAGE_PATH/cache/template
CONFIG_PATH APP_PATH/lf-config
LANG_PATH APP_PATH/lf-lang
DEBUG From lf-inc/const.php; true if missing
MEMORY_LIMIT / CLI_MEMORY_LIMIT From lf-inc/const.php; see MemoryManager

The Resource Manifest

Controllers, models, schemas, routes, hooks and the rest are found by scanning directories, as described in Resources.

When DEBUG is false, the scan is skipped whenever lf-storage/cache/resources.php exists. That file is a compiled manifest written by php laika app:cache.

Note: a stale manifest hides changes. After adding or removing classes, or installing or updating packages, run php laika app:cache again. php laika app:sync clears the cache and rebuilds it.

A First Controller

Controllers use the relays directly:

namespace App\Controller;

use Laika\Core\App\Template;
use Laika\Service\{Request, Redirect};

class ContactController
{
    public function show(): string
    {
        $tpl = new Template();
        $tpl->assign('title', 'Contact');
        return $tpl->view('contact');           // template/contact.twig
    }

    public function send(): string
    {
        if (!Request::validate(['email' => 'required|email', 'message' => 'required|max:2000'])) {
            return $this->show();               // errors reach the view as `errors`
        }

        Redirect::with('Thanks, we will be in touch.', true)->to('contact');
    }
}

Next

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