Introduction

Lalaz is a modern PHP framework designed for building web applications and APIs with simplicity and performance in mind.

Requirements

• PHP 8.3 or higher
• Composer 2.x

Starters

Lalaz offers two starter templates to help you get started quickly:

API Starter (lalaz/api)

A minimal REST API starter for building JSON APIs. This starter uses only the lalaz/framework package and is ideal for:

• RESTful APIs
• Microservices
• Backend services
• Headless applications

What's included:

• HTTP routing with support for route groups and resource routes
• Request/Response handling with JSON support
• Configuration management via .env files
• Built-in development server
• CLI scaffolding commands

Get started with the API Starter →

Web Starter (lalaz/web)

A full-featured web application starter that includes the lalaz/framework and lalaz/web packages. This starter is ideal for:

• Traditional web applications
• Full-stack applications with views
• Applications requiring sessions and cookies
• CSRF-protected forms

What's included:

• Everything from the API starter
• Twig templating engine
• Session management
• Cookie handling
• CSRF protection

Get started with the Web Starter →

Project Structure

Both starters follow a similar directory structure:

my-app/
├── app/
│   └── Controllers/          # Your application controllers
├── config/
│   └── app.php               # Application configuration
├── public/
│   └── index.php             # Entry point
├── routes/
│   └── api.php               # Route definitions
├── storage/                  # Logs and cache (writable)
├── .env                      # Environment variables
├── .env.example              # Example environment file
├── composer.json
└── lalaz                     # CLI binary

Next Steps

Choose your path:

• Building an API? Start with the API Quickstart
• Building a web app with views? Start with the Web Quickstart

Or dive into the essentials:

• Configuration - Environment variables and config files
• Routing - Define your application routes
• Controllers - Handle HTTP requests
• CLI Commands - Use the Lalaz command-line tools