Laika Framework Documentation
Laika is a lightweight MMC framework (Model-Middleware-Controller) for PHP 8.1+. This documentation covers everything needed to build an application with it — from installing the framework to deploying a background job worker.
If you’re new here, read the guides in order. If you already know what you’re looking for, jump straight to the relevant section.
Getting Started
Core Concepts
| Guide |
Description |
| Routing |
Routes, HTTP methods, parameters, groups, named routes |
| Controllers |
Writing controllers, method injection, returning views |
| Pipelines |
Middleware that runs before the controller |
| Filters |
Middleware that runs after the controller |
| Models & Database |
Query builder, schema builder, migrations |
| Templates |
Twig-based view rendering |
| Services & Relay |
The service container / static proxy pattern |
| Hooks |
Event-style hook system (add_hook / apply_hook) |
Application Services
| Guide |
Description |
| Authentication |
Session/cookie/token guards, OAuth |
| Security (Shield) |
Firewall middleware — rate limiting, IP/country blocking, SQLi/XSS detection |
| Sessions |
File/MySQL/Model/Redis/Memcached session backends |
| Queue |
Background jobs and the worker process |
Operations
| Guide |
Description |
| Deployment |
Apache/nginx, entry points, running the queue worker in production |
Package Reference
Laika is composed of independently versioned packages under vendor/laikait/. These docs explain how they fit together inside an application; each package’s own README.md is the authoritative API reference:
Getting Help