laika-framework

Controllers

Controllers live in lf-app/Controller/, namespace App\Controller. A controller is a plain class — there’s no base class to extend.

php laika controller:make UserController --method=index

Basic Controller

namespace App\Controller;

use App\Model\UsersModel;
use Laika\Engine\App\Template;

class UserController
{
    public function show(string $id): string
    {
        $user = (new UsersModel())->find($id);

        $tpl = new Template();
        $tpl->assign('user', $user);
        return $tpl->view('users/show'); // template/users/show.twig
    }
}

// lf-routes/web.php
Url::get('/users/{id}', 'UserController@show')->name('users.show');

Return Values

A controller method must return a string or null. Whatever it returns is passed through the filters and then sent.

Return	Result
string	Sent, rendered according to the response content type (HTML by default)
null / ''	Nothing is sent — not even headers or a status set on Response
array, int, object	TypeError

Returning JSON, setting a status, redirecting and downloading files are all covered in Responses:

use Laika\Engine\Services\Response;

public function status(): string
{
    Response::setContentType('application/json');
    return json_encode(['status' => 'ok']);
}

A bare json_encode() without setContentType() is sent as text/html. And a bare http_response_code(404) is overwritten when the response is sent — use Response::setStatus(404).

Route Parameters

Parameters are passed by name, so the order of your method’s arguments doesn’t matter:

// Url::get('/posts/{year}/{slug}', 'PostController@show');
public function show(string $slug, string $year): string { /* ... */ }

Route values are always strings, and the router runs under strict_types, so int $id throws a TypeError. Type them string (or leave them untyped) and cast:

public function show(string $id): string
{
    $user = (new UsersModel())->find((int) $id);
    // ...
}

Pipeline args ('Role|role=admin') and anything a pipeline writes into $params are passed the same way, and override a route parameter of the same name. Filter args never reach the controller.

Dependency Injection

Controllers are built through the service container, so both the constructor and method parameters can ask for services by type:

namespace App\Controller;

use Laika\Engine\Auth\AuthManager;
use App\Service\Billing;

class InvoiceController
{
    public function __construct(private AuthManager $auth) {}

    public function show(string $id, Billing $billing): string
    {
        $user = $this->auth->guard('web')->user();
        // ...
    }
}

How each method parameter is filled, in order:

1. A route parameter (or pipeline value) with the same name.
2. A class or interface type — resolved from the container. Concrete classes are built automatically; interfaces must be bound in a relay provider.
3. The parameter’s default value.
4. null, if the parameter is nullable.
5. Otherwise a RuntimeException (“Missing required parameter”).

Don’t type-hint relays or core classes. The framework’s own services are bound under keys ('response', 'request', …), not class names. Type-hinting Laika\Engine\Http\Response builds a new Response — setting its status changes nothing. Type-hinting a relay (Laika\Engine\Services\Request) gives you a proxy object whose instance methods don’t exist. Call relays statically instead: Request::input('email'), Response::setStatus(201).

Returning a View

use Laika\Engine\App\Template;

public function index(): string
{
    $tpl = new Template();
    $tpl->assign(['title' => 'Home', 'welcome' => 'Welcome to Laika!']);
    return $tpl->view('home'); // template/home.twig
}

See Templates.

Reading Input

use Laika\Engine\Services\{Request, Redirect};

public function store(): ?string
{
    if (!Request::validate(['email' => 'required|email', 'name' => 'required|max:100'])) {
        return $this->create(); // the form again; the template gets the `errors` variable
    }

    (new UsersModel())->insert(Request::only(['email', 'name']));

    Redirect::with('User created.', true)->to('users.index'); // exits
}

See Requests for input, files, headers and validation.

Using Models

use App\Model\UsersModel;

$user = (new UsersModel())->where(['id' => $id])->firstOrFail();

See Models & Database.

Using the Session

use Laika\Engine\Session\Session;

$userId = Session::get('user_id');

A session driver must be configured first — see Sessions.

Pairing With Middleware

Pipelines run before the controller and filters run after it — see Pipelines and Filters.

CLI Reference

Command	Description
php laika controller:make <name> [--method=index]	Create a controller, or add a method to an existing one
php laika controller:list	List controller classes
php laika controller:remove <name>	Delete a controller
php laika controller:rename --old=<name> --new=<name>	Rename a controller class and its file

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