Neuron-PHP MVC

A lightweight MVC (Model-View-Controller) framework component for PHP 8.4+ that provides core MVC functionality including controllers, views, routing integration, request handling, and a powerful view caching system.

Installation

Requirements

PHP 8.4 or higher
Composer

Install via Composer

Install php composer from https://getcomposer.org/

Install the neuron MVC component:

composer require neuron-php/mvc

Quick Start

1. Create the Front Controller

Create a public/index.php file:

<?php
require_once '../vendor/autoload.php';

// Bootstrap the application
$app = boot('../config');

// Dispatch the current request
dispatch($app);

2. Configure Apache (.htaccess)

Create a public/.htaccess file to route all requests through the front controller:

IndexIgnore *

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on

# Redirect all requests to index.php
# except for actual files and directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?route=$1 [L,QSA]

For Nginx

If using Nginx, add this to your server configuration:

location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?route=$uri&$args;
}

3. Minimal Configuration

Create a config/config.yaml file:

system:
  base_path: .
  routes_path: config

views:
  path: resources/views

Create a config/routes.yaml file:

routes:
  home:
    route: /
    method: GET
    controller: App\Controllers\HomeController@index

Core Components

Application

The main application class (Neuron\Mvc\Application) handles:

Route configuration loading from YAML files
Request routing and controller execution
Event dispatching for HTTP errors
Output capture for testing
Cache management

Controllers

Controllers handle incoming requests and return responses. All controllers should extend Neuron\Mvc\Controllers\Base and implement the IController interface.

namespace App\Controllers;

use Neuron\Mvc\Controllers\Base;
use Neuron\Mvc\Responses\HttpResponseStatus;

class HomeController extends Base
{
    public function index(): string
    {
        return $this->renderHtml(
            HttpResponseStatus::OK,
            ['title' => 'Welcome'],
            'index',  // view file
            'default' // layout file
        );
    }
}

Available render methods:

renderHtml() - Render HTML views with layouts
renderJson() - Return JSON responses
renderXml() - Return XML responses
renderMarkdown() - Render Markdown content with CommonMark

Views

Views support multiple formats and are stored in the configured views directory:

HTML Views

// resources/views/home/index.php
<h1><?php echo $title; ?></h1>

Layouts

// resources/views/layouts/default.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title><?php echo $title ?? 'My App'; ?></title>
</head>
<body>
    <?php echo $Content; ?>
</body>
</html>

Routing

Routes are defined in YAML files and support various HTTP methods:

routes:
  user_profile:
    route: /user/{id}
    method: GET
    controller: App\Controllers\UserController@profile
    request: user_profile  # optional request validation
    
  api_users:
    route: /api/users
    method: POST
    controller: App\Controllers\Api\UserController@create

Request Handling

Create request parameter definitions for validation:

# config/requests/user_profile.yaml
parameters:
  id:
    type: integer
    required: true
    min_value: 1

Access parameters in controllers:

public function profile(Request $request): string
{
    $userId = $request->getParam('id')->getValue();
    // ...
}

URL Helpers

The framework provides Rails-style URL helpers for generating URLs from named routes. This makes it easy to generate consistent URLs throughout your application.

Route Naming

Routes are automatically named based on their configuration key in the YAML file:

routes:
  user_profile:  # This becomes the route name
    route: /users/{id}
    method: GET
    controller: App\Controllers\UserController@profile
    
  admin_user_posts:
    route: /admin/users/{user_id}/posts/{post_id}
    method: GET
    controller: App\Controllers\AdminController@userPosts

Using URL Helpers in Controllers

Controllers can use URL helpers directly via magic methods:

class UserController extends Base
{
    public function show($id): string
    {
        $user = User::find($id);
        
        // Magic methods for URL generation
        $editUrl = $this->userEditPath(['id' => $id]);
        $absoluteUrl = $this->userProfileUrl(['id' => $id]);
        
        // Use in redirects
        if (!$user) {
            return redirect($this->userIndexPath());
        }
        
        return $this->renderHtml(HttpResponseStatus::OK, [
            'user' => $user,
            'edit_url' => $editUrl
        ]);
    }
    
    public function create(): string
    {
        // After creating user, redirect using magic method
        $user = new User($request->all());
        $user->save();
        
        return redirect($this->userProfilePath(['id' => $user->id]));
    }
}

Direct URL Helper Methods

Controllers also provide direct helper methods:

// Generate relative URLs
$profileUrl = $this->urlFor('user_profile', ['id' => 123]);

// Generate absolute URLs  
$absoluteUrl = $this->urlForAbsolute('user_profile', ['id' => 123]);

// Check if route exists
if ($this->routeExists('user_profile')) {
    // Route is available
}

// Get UrlHelper instance for advanced usage
$urlHelper = $this->urlHelper();

Using URL Helpers in Views

URL helpers are automatically available in all views through the injected $urlHelper variable:

<!-- resources/views/user/profile.php -->
<div class="user-profile">
    <h1><?= $user->name ?></h1>
    
    <!-- Magic methods in views -->
    <a href="<?= $urlHelper->userEditPath(['id' => $user->id]) ?>" class="btn">Edit</a>
    <a href="<?= $urlHelper->userPostsPath(['user_id' => $user->id]) ?>" class="btn">View Posts</a>
    
    <!-- Complex routes work too -->
    <a href="<?= $urlHelper->adminUserReportsPath(['id' => $user->id, 'year' => date('Y')]) ?>">
        Admin Reports
    </a>
    
    <!-- Direct method calls -->
    <a href="<?= $urlHelper->routePath('user_profile', ['id' => $user->id]) ?>">Profile</a>
    <a href="<?= $urlHelper->routeUrl('user_profile', ['id' => $user->id]) ?>">Share Link</a>
</div>

Magic Method Conventions

The magic methods follow Rails naming conventions:

Route Name in YAML	Magic Method (Relative)	Magic Method (Absolute)	Generated URL
`user_profile`	`userProfilePath()`	`userProfileUrl()`	`/users/123`
`user_edit`	`userEditPath()`	`userEditUrl()`	`/users/123/edit`
`admin_user_posts`	`adminUserPostsPath()`	`adminUserPostsUrl()`	`/admin/users/1/posts/2`
`blog_category`	`blogCategoryPath()`	`blogCategoryUrl()`	`/blog/category/tech`

URL Helper Methods

Method	Description	Example
`routePath($name, $params)`	Generate relative URL	`$urlHelper->routePath('user_profile', ['id' => 123])`
`routeUrl($name, $params)`	Generate absolute URL	`$urlHelper->routeUrl('user_profile', ['id' => 123])`
`routeExists($name)`	Check if route exists	`$urlHelper->routeExists('user_profile')`
`getAvailableRoutes()`	List all named routes	`$urlHelper->getAvailableRoutes()`
`{routeName}Path($params)`	Magic method for relative URL	`$urlHelper->userProfilePath(['id' => 123])`
`{routeName}Url($params)`	Magic method for absolute URL	`$urlHelper->userProfileUrl(['id' => 123])`

Error Handling

URL helpers gracefully handle missing routes:

// Returns null if route doesn't exist
$url = $urlHelper->nonExistentRoutePath(['id' => 123]);

if ($url === null) {
    // Handle missing route
    $url = $urlHelper->userIndexPath(); // fallback
}

Advanced Usage

// Get all available routes for debugging
$routes = $urlHelper->getAvailableRoutes();
foreach ($routes as $route) {
    echo "Route: {$route['name']} -> {$route['method']} {$route['path']}\n";
}

// Custom UrlHelper instance
$customHelper = new UrlHelper($customRouter);

Configuration

All YAML config file parameters can be overridden by environment variables in the form of <CATEGORY>_<KEY>, e.g. SYSTEM_BASE_PATH.

Main Configuration (config.yaml)

# System settings
system:
  timezone: US/Eastern
  base_path: .
  routes_path: config

# View settings
views:
  path: resources/views

# Logging
logging:
  destination: \Neuron\Log\Destination\File
  format: \Neuron\Log\Format\PlainText
  file: app.log
  level: debug

# Cache configuration
cache:
  enabled: true
  storage: file
  path: cache/views
  ttl: 3600  # Default TTL in seconds
  html: true      # Enable HTML view caching
  markdown: true  # Enable Markdown view caching
  json: false     # Disable JSON response caching
  xml: false      # Disable XML response caching
  # Garbage collection settings (optional)
  gc_probability: 0.01  # 1% chance to run GC on cache write
  gc_divisor: 100      # Fine-tune probability calculation

Cache Configuration Options

Option	Description	Default
`enabled`	Enable/disable caching globally	`true`
`storage`	Storage type (currently only 'file')	`file`
`path`	Directory for cache files	`cache/views`
`ttl`	Default time-to-live in seconds	`3600`
`views.*`	Enable caching per view type	varies
`gc_probability`	Probability of running garbage collection	`0.01`
`gc_divisor`	Divisor for probability calculation	`100`

Usage Examples

Creating a Controller

namespace App\Controllers;

use Neuron\Mvc\Controllers\Base;
use Neuron\Mvc\Requests\Request;
use Neuron\Mvc\Responses\HttpResponseStatus;

class ProductController extends Base
{
    public function list(): string
    {
        $products = $this->getProducts();
        
        return $this->renderHtml(
            HttpResponseStatus::OK,
            ['products' => $products],
            'list',
            'default'
        );
    }
    
    public function apiList(): string
    {
        $products = $this->getProducts();
        
        return $this->renderJson(
            HttpResponseStatus::OK,
            ['products' => $products]
        );
    }
    
    public function details(Request $request): string
    {
        $id = $request->getParam('id')->getValue();
        $product = $this->getProduct($id);
        
        if (!$product) {
            return $this->renderHtml(
                HttpResponseStatus::NOT_FOUND,
                ['message' => 'Product not found'],
                'error',
                'default'
            );
        }
        
        return $this->renderHtml(
            HttpResponseStatus::OK,
            ['product' => $product],
            'details',
            'default'
        );
    }
}

Request Parameter Validation

Define parameters in YAML:

# config/requests/product_create.yaml
parameters:
  name:
    type: string
    required: true
    min_length: 3
    max_length: 100
    
  price:
    type: currency
    required: true
    min_value: 0
    
  category_id:
    type: integer
    required: true
    
  description:
    type: string
    required: false
    max_length: 1000

Available parameter types:

string, integer, float, boolean
email, url, uuid
date, datetime
currency, phone_number
array, object

Error Handling

The framework automatically handles 404 errors:

// Custom 404 handler
class NotFoundController extends HttpCodes
{
    public function render404(): string
    {
        return $this->renderHtml(
            HttpResponseStatus::NOT_FOUND,
            ['message' => 'Page not found'],
            '404',
            'error'
        );
    }
}

Advanced Features

View Caching

The framework includes a sophisticated view caching system with multiple storage backends:

Storage Backends

File Storage (Default): Uses the local filesystem for cache storage
Redis Storage: High-performance in-memory caching with Redis

Features

Automatic Cache Key Generation: Based on controller, view, and data
Selective Caching: Enable/disable per view type
TTL Support: Configure expiration times
Garbage Collection: Automatic cleanup of expired entries
Multiple Storage Backends: Choose between file or Redis storage

Configuration

File Storage Configuration

cache:
  enabled: true
  storage: file
  path: cache/views
  ttl: 3600
  views:
    html: true
    markdown: true
    json: false
    xml: false

Redis Storage Configuration

cache:
  enabled: true
  storage: redis          # Use Redis instead of file storage
  ttl: 3600
  # Redis configuration (flat structure for env variable compatibility)
  redis_host: 127.0.0.1
  redis_port: 6379
  redis_database: 0
  redis_prefix: neuron_cache_
  redis_timeout: 2.0
  redis_auth: null       # Optional: Redis password
  redis_persistent: false # Optional: Use persistent connections
  # View-specific cache settings
  html: true
  markdown: true
  json: false
  xml: false

This flat structure ensures compatibility with environment variables:

CACHE_STORAGE=redis
CACHE_REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
CACHE_REDIS_PORT=6379
etc.

Programmatic Usage

// Cache is automatically used when enabled
$html = $this->renderHtml(
    HttpResponseStatus::OK,
    $data,
    'cached-view',
    'layout'
);

Manual Cache Management

// Clear all expired cache entries (file storage only)
$removed = ClearExpiredCache($app);
echo "Removed $removed expired cache entries";

// Clear all cache
$app->getViewCache()->clear();

Using CacheStorageFactory

use Neuron\Mvc\Cache\Storage\CacheStorageFactory;

// Create storage based on configuration
$storage = CacheStorageFactory::create([
    'storage' => 'redis',
    'redis_host' => 'localhost',
    'redis_port' => 6379,
    'redis_database' => 0,
    'redis_prefix' => 'neuron_cache_'
]);

// Auto-detect best available storage
$storage = CacheStorageFactory::createAutoDetect();

// Check storage availability
if (CacheStorageFactory::isAvailable('redis')) {
    echo "Redis cache is available";
}

You can also manage cache using the CLI commands. See CLI Commands section for details.

Custom View Implementations

Create custom view types by implementing IView:

namespace App\Views;

use Neuron\Mvc\Views\IView;

class PdfView implements IView
{
    public function render(array $Data): string
    {
        // Generate PDF content
        return $pdfContent;
    }
}

Event System

Listen for HTTP events:

# config/events.yaml
listeners:
  http_404:
    class: App\Listeners\NotFoundLogger
    method: logNotFound

CLI Commands

The MVC component includes several CLI commands for managing cache and routes. These commands are available when using the Neuron CLI tool.

Cache Management Commands

mvc:cache:clear

Clear view cache entries.

Options:

--type, -t VALUE - Clear specific cache type (html, json, xml, markdown)
--expired, -e - Only clear expired entries
--force, -f - Clear without confirmation
--config, -c PATH - Path to configuration directory

Examples:

# Clear all cache entries (with confirmation)
neuron mvc:cache:clear

# Clear only expired entries
neuron mvc:cache:clear --expired

# Clear specific cache type
neuron mvc:cache:clear --type=html

# Force clear without confirmation
neuron mvc:cache:clear --force

# Specify custom config path
neuron mvc:cache:clear --config=/path/to/config

mvc:cache:stats

Display comprehensive cache statistics.

Options:

--config, -c PATH - Path to configuration directory
--json, -j - Output statistics in JSON format
--detailed, -d - Show detailed breakdown by view type

Examples:

# Display cache statistics
neuron mvc:cache:stats

# Show detailed statistics with view type breakdown
neuron mvc:cache:stats --detailed

# Output as JSON for scripting
neuron mvc:cache:stats --json

# Detailed JSON output
neuron mvc:cache:stats --detailed --json

Sample Output:

MVC View Cache Statistics
==================================================
Configuration:
Cache Path: /path/to/cache/views
Cache Enabled: Yes
Default TTL: 3600 seconds (1 hour)

Overall Statistics:
Total Cache Entries: 247
Valid Entries: 189
Expired Entries: 58
Total Cache Size: 2.4 MB
Average Entry Size: 10.2 KB
Oldest Entry: 2025-08-10 14:23:15
Newest Entry: 2025-08-13 09:45:32

Recommendations:
- 58 expired entries can be cleared (saving ~580 KB)
  Run: neuron mvc:cache:clear --expired

Rate Limiting

The MVC component includes integrated rate limiting support through the routing component. Rate limiting helps protect your application from abuse and ensures fair resource usage.

Configuration

Rate limiting is configured in your config.yaml file using two categories:

Standard Rate Limiting

rate_limit:
  enabled: false          # Enable/disable rate limiting
  global: false          # Apply to all routes globally
  storage: file          # Storage backend: file, redis, memory (testing only)
  requests: 100          # Maximum requests per window
  window: 3600           # Time window in seconds (1 hour)
  file_path: cache/rate_limits
  # Redis configuration (if storage: redis)
  # redis_host: 127.0.0.1
  # redis_port: 6379

API Rate Limiting (Higher Limits)

api_limit:
  enabled: false
  storage: file
  requests: 1000         # 1000 requests per hour
  window: 3600
  file_path: cache/api_limits

Environment Variables

Configuration maps to environment variables using the {category}_{name} pattern:

RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_STORAGE=redis
RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS=100
API_LIMIT_ENABLED=true
API_LIMIT_REQUESTS=1000

Usage in Routes

Global Application

Set global: true in configuration to apply rate limiting to all routes:

rate_limit:
  enabled: true
  global: true
  requests: 100
  window: 3600

Per-Route Application

Apply rate limiting to specific routes using the filter parameter in routes.yaml:

routes:
  # Public page - no rate limiting
  - name: home
    method: GET
    route: /
    controller: HomeController@index

  # Standard protected route with rate limiting
  - name: user_profile
    method: GET
    route: /user/profile
    controller: UserController@profile
    filter: rate_limit      # Apply rate_limit (100/hour)

  # API endpoint with higher limits
  - name: api_users
    method: GET
    route: /api/users
    controller: ApiController@users
    filter: api_limit       # Apply api_limit (1000/hour)

Storage Backends

File Storage (Default)

Best for single-server deployments:

rate_limit:
  storage: file
  file_path: cache/rate_limits  # Directory for rate limit files

Redis Storage (Recommended for Production)

Best for distributed systems and high traffic:

rate_limit:
  storage: redis
  redis_host: 127.0.0.1
  redis_port: 6379
  redis_database: 0
  redis_prefix: rate_limit_
  redis_auth: password     # Optional
  redis_persistent: true   # Use persistent connections

Memory Storage (Testing Only)

For unit tests and development. Data is lost when PHP process ends:

rate_limit:
  storage: memory

Rate Limit Headers

When rate limiting is active, the following headers are included in responses:

X-RateLimit-Limit: Maximum requests allowed
X-RateLimit-Remaining: Requests remaining in current window
X-RateLimit-Reset: Unix timestamp when limit resets

When limit is exceeded (HTTP 429):

Retry-After: Seconds until retry is allowed

Example Implementation

Enable rate limiting in config.yaml:

rate_limit:
  enabled: true
  global: false
  storage: redis
  requests: 100
  window: 3600
  redis_host: 127.0.0.1

api_limit:
  enabled: true
  storage: redis
  requests: 1000
  window: 3600
  redis_host: 127.0.0.1

Apply to routes in routes.yaml:

routes:
  - name: login
    method: POST
    route: /auth/login
    controller: AuthController@login
    filter: rate_limit    # Strict limit for login attempts

  - name: api_data
    method: GET
    route: /api/data
    controller: ApiController@getData
    filter: api_limit     # Higher limit for API access

Customization

For advanced use cases, you can extend the rate limiting system by creating custom filters in your application. The rate limiting system automatically detects if the routing component version supports it and gracefully degrades if not available.

Route Management Commands

mvc:routes:list

List all registered routes with filtering options.

Options:

--config, -c PATH - Path to configuration directory
--controller VALUE - Filter by controller name
--method, -m VALUE - Filter by HTTP method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.)
--pattern, -p VALUE - Search routes by pattern
--json, -j - Output routes in JSON format

Examples:

# List all routes
neuron mvc:routes:list

# Filter by controller
neuron mvc:routes:list --controller=UserController

# Filter by HTTP method
neuron mvc:routes:list --method=POST

# Search by pattern
neuron mvc:routes:list --pattern=/api/

# Combine filters
neuron mvc:routes:list --controller=Api --method=GET

# Output as JSON for processing
neuron mvc:routes:list --json

Sample Output:

MVC Routes
======================================================================================
Name                    | Pattern              | Method | Controller         | Action
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
home                    | /                    | GET    | HomeController     | index
user_profile            | /user/{id}           | GET    | UserController     | profile
api_users_list          | /api/users           | GET    | Api\UserController | list
api_users_create        | /api/users           | POST   | Api\UserController | create
products_list           | /products            | GET    | ProductController  | list
product_details         | /products/{id}       | GET    | ProductController  | details

Total routes: 6
Named routes: 6
Methods: GET: 4, POST: 2

API Reference

Bootstrap Functions

Boot(string $ConfigPath): Application

Initialize the application with configuration.

$app = Boot('/path/to/config');

Dispatch(Application $App): void

Process the current HTTP request.

Dispatch($app);

ClearExpiredCache(Application $App): int

Remove expired cache entries.

$removed = ClearExpiredCache($app);

Key Interfaces

IController

All controllers must implement this interface:

renderHtml() - Render HTML with layout
renderJson() - Render JSON response
renderXml() - Render XML response

IView

Views must implement:

render(array $Data): string - Render the view

ICacheStorage

Cache storage implementations must provide:

read(), write(), exists(), delete()
clear() - Clear all entries
isExpired() - Check expiration
gc() - Garbage collection

Testing

Run the test suite:

# Run all tests
vendor/bin/phpunit -c tests/phpunit.xml

# Run with coverage
vendor/bin/phpunit -c tests/phpunit.xml --coverage-html coverage

# Run specific test file
vendor/bin/phpunit -c tests/phpunit.xml tests/Mvc/ApplicationTest.php

More Information

You can read more about the Neuron components at neuronphp.com

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 330 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
examples		examples
resources/views		resources/views
src		src
tests		tests
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitignore		.gitignore
.version.json		.version.json
composer.json		composer.json
readme.md		readme.md
versionlog.md		versionlog.md

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Neuron-PHP MVC

Table of Contents

Installation

Requirements

Install via Composer

Quick Start

1. Create the Front Controller

2. Configure Apache (.htaccess)

For Nginx

3. Minimal Configuration

Core Components

Application

Controllers

Views

HTML Views

Layouts

Routing

Request Handling

URL Helpers

Route Naming

Using URL Helpers in Controllers

Direct URL Helper Methods

Using URL Helpers in Views

Magic Method Conventions

URL Helper Methods

Error Handling

Advanced Usage

Configuration

Main Configuration (config.yaml)

Cache Configuration Options

Usage Examples

Creating a Controller

Request Parameter Validation

Error Handling

Advanced Features

View Caching

Storage Backends

Features

Configuration

File Storage Configuration

Redis Storage Configuration

Programmatic Usage

Manual Cache Management

Using CacheStorageFactory

Custom View Implementations

Event System

CLI Commands

Cache Management Commands

mvc:cache:clear

mvc:cache:stats

Rate Limiting

Configuration

Standard Rate Limiting

API Rate Limiting (Higher Limits)

Environment Variables

Usage in Routes

Global Application

Per-Route Application

Storage Backends

File Storage (Default)

Redis Storage (Recommended for Production)

Memory Storage (Testing Only)

Rate Limit Headers

Example Implementation

Customization

Route Management Commands

mvc:routes:list

API Reference

Bootstrap Functions

Boot(string $ConfigPath): Application

Dispatch(Application $App): void

ClearExpiredCache(Application $App): int

Key Interfaces

IController

IView

Packages