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Restler v6

Write your API logic in PHP. Get routing, validation, and OpenAPI docs—automatically.

Production-ready since 2010. Battle-tested. Now rebuilt for modern PHP 8+ with async superpowers.

That's it. You just created a REST API that:

• ✅ Automatically validates $id as an integer
• ✅ Returns JSON by default
• ✅ Handles routing (GET /products/123)
• ✅ Generates OpenAPI/Swagger docs
• ✅ Provides proper HTTP status codes
• ✅ Supports content negotiation (configure other formats as needed)

No controllers. No routing files. No configuration. Just PHP.

Why Restler in 2025?

🎯 Zero Boilerplate

While other frameworks make you write controllers, routes, DTOs, validation rules, and transformers—Restler uses PHP reflection to do it all automatically. Write business logic, not plumbing.

⚡ Async Performance

Run on Swoole/OpenSwoole for 10-20x throughput vs traditional PHP-FPM. Or use ReactPHP for true async I/O. Deploy to AWS Lambda for serverless scale.

🌐 Multi-Format Output

JSON is the default format. Configure additional formats (XML, CSV, Excel, HTML) via Routes::setOverridingResponseMediaTypes(). Perfect for:

• Mobile apps → JSON (default)
• Legacy systems → XML
• Data exports → CSV/Excel
• Admin panels → HTML with Blade/Twig

🚀 Modern PHP 8+

Built for PHP 8 with attributes, union types, named arguments, and strict typing. PSR-7 and PSR-11 compliant.

📚 Auto-Generated Docs

OpenAPI 3.0 (Swagger) docs generated from your PHPDoc comments. Interactive API explorer included.

Real-World Use Cases

🏢 Internal APIs & Microservices

Perfect for building internal APIs that need to integrate with various systems. Multi-format support means you can serve JSON to your React app and XML to that ancient CRM system—from the same endpoint.

📱 Mobile Backend

Low latency on Swoole, automatic validation, built-in rate limiting, and OAuth2 support. Everything you need for a production mobile backend.

📊 Data Export APIs

Built-in CSV and Excel streaming support. Export millions of rows without running out of memory using generators.

🔗 Legacy System Integration

Need to modernize an old PHP app? Add Restler to get a REST API instantly. Works alongside existing code—no rewrite needed.

Quick Start

Install

Create Your First API (3 files)

1. API Class (api/Hello.php)

2. Gateway (public/index.php)

3. URL Rewriting (.htaccess or nginx.conf)

Test It

That's it! You have a working REST API with automatic routing, validation, and multi-format support.

Production Deployment

Traditional (Apache/Nginx + PHP-FPM)

Standard deployment. Works everywhere. ~1,000-2,000 req/sec depending on hardware.

High Performance (Swoole/OpenSwoole)

10-20x faster than PHP-FPM. Persistent connections, coroutines, built-in HTTP server.

Benchmarks: 15,000+ req/sec on modest hardware (vs ~1,000 for PHP-FPM)

Async I/O (ReactPHP)

True non-blocking async operations. Perfect for I/O-heavy workloads (database, HTTP calls, etc.).

Serverless (AWS Lambda)

Zero-downtime deploys, automatic scaling, pay-per-request pricing.

See public/index_lambda.php for complete example.

Event-Driven (Workerman)

Alternative to Swoole with pure PHP implementation (no extension required).

What's New in v6

🔥 Breaking Changes from v5

• PHP 8.0+ required (was PHP 7.4)
• PSR-7 HTTP messages (modern request/response objects)
• PSR-11 Container (standard dependency injection)
• Stricter typing (full PHP 8 type hints)

Migration Guide →

✨ New Features

Modern PHP 8 Support

• ✅ Attributes (#[Get], #[Post], etc.)
• ✅ Union types (string|int, User|null)
• ✅ Named arguments
• ✅ Constructor property promotion
• ✅ Match expressions
• ✅ Enums

Async & Performance

• ✅ Swoole/OpenSwoole integration (10-20x faster)
• ✅ ReactPHP async server
• ✅ Workerman event-driven server
• ✅ AWS Lambda serverless support
• ✅ Generator streaming for large datasets (CSV, Excel)
• ✅ Route caching & opcode optimization

Enhanced Security

• ✅ Secure session serialization (JSON, not unserialize())
• ✅ JSONP callback validation (XSS prevention)
• ✅ Template injection protection
• ✅ Configurable CORS with proper defaults
• ✅ Built-in rate limiting
• ✅ OAuth 2.0 server support

Developer Experience

• ✅ GraphQL support
• ✅ Excel export (XLSX streaming)
• ✅ OpenAPI 3.0 spec generation
• ✅ Interactive API Explorer (Swagger UI)
• ✅ Better error messages
• ✅ Blade, Twig, Mustache template engines
• ✅ Modern DI container with auto-wiring

Multi-Format Support

All formats work automatically—just add file extension to URL:

• JSON (default)
• XML
• YAML
• CSV (with streaming)
• Excel (XLSX)
• HTML (with templates)
• AMF (Flash/Flex)
• Plist (iOS/macOS)

Advanced Examples

API Versioning

Usage:

Authentication & Rate Limiting

Database Integration

Automatic REST endpoints:

• GET /products → index()
• POST /products → post()
• GET /products/123 → (auto-routes to index with $id)
• PUT /products/123 → put()
• DELETE /products/123 → delete()

File Uploads

Streaming Large Datasets

Custom Routing

GraphQL Support

CORS Configuration

Interactive API Explorer

Restler includes a built-in Swagger UI explorer:

Visit http://localhost:8080/explorer to:

• Browse all endpoints
• See request/response schemas
• Test APIs interactively
• Download OpenAPI spec

The explorer is auto-generated from your PHPDoc comments—no manual work needed.

Testing

Restler includes 18+ working examples and a full Behat test suite.

Run Built-in Tests

Results: 310/310 scenarios passing ✅

Write Your Own Tests

Example Projects

Try the included examples:

• _001_helloworld - Minimal API
• _003_multiformat - JSON, XML, YAML, CSV
• _005_protected_api - Authentication
• _007_crud - Full CRUD with database
• _009_rate_limiting - Rate limiting
• _011_versioning - API versioning
• _013_html - HTML responses with templates
• _015_oauth2_server - OAuth 2.0 server
• _018_graphql - GraphQL integration

Performance Tips

1. Enable Production Mode

2. Use Swoole/OpenSwoole

10-20x performance improvement over PHP-FPM. Same code, no changes needed.

3. Use Generators for Large Datasets

4. Cache Expensive Operations

5. Optimize Database Queries

Framework Comparison

Restler Philosophy: Write business logic. Get the REST for free.

Migration from v5

Upgrading from Restler v5? Most code works unchanged. Key changes:

Requirements

• PHP 8.0+ (was 7.4+)
• Add PSR-7 and PSR-11 to composer.json (auto-installed)

Type Hints (Recommended)

Breaking Changes

• Removed deprecated reflection methods (internal only)
• Session serialization now uses JSON (more secure)
• Some internal class reorganization

Full migration guide: MIGRATION.md

Documentation

• Annotations Reference - All PHPDoc annotations (@url, @param, etc.)
• Parameter Handling - Request parameter mapping
• Request Lifecycle - How Restler processes requests
• Forms - HTML form handling
• Composer Integration - Advanced setup
• Security Guide - Best practices
• Migration Guide - Upgrading from v5
• Changelog - Version history

FAQ

When should I use Restler?

✅ Great for:

• Internal APIs and microservices
• Mobile app backends
• Data export APIs (CSV, Excel)
• Rapid prototyping
• Modernizing legacy PHP apps
• APIs that need multiple formats (JSON + XML + CSV)
• High-performance requirements (with Swoole)

❌ Not ideal for:

• Full-stack web apps with server-side rendering (use Laravel/Symfony)
• GraphQL-first APIs (though GraphQL support is included)
• Non-PHP environments

How is this different from Laravel/Symfony?

Restler is laser-focused on APIs. Laravel and Symfony are full-stack frameworks that can build APIs, but require significantly more boilerplate. Restler uses reflection to eliminate boilerplate entirely.

Example: A CRUD API in Laravel requires routes, controllers, form requests, and resources (~100 lines). In Restler it's ~20 lines.

Is Swoole support production-ready?

Yes! Swoole has been production-ready since 2018. Used by companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu. OpenSwoole is a fork with the same stability. Both work identically with Restler.

Does it work with [my favorite ORM/database]?

Yes! Restler is database-agnostic. Use Eloquent, Doctrine, RedBeanPHP, PDO, or anything else. Examples included for all major ORMs.

Can I use it with Docker/Kubernetes?

Absolutely. Dockerfile examples included. Works great in containers, especially with Swoole for high performance.

Is it really production-ready?

Yes! Restler has been used in production since 2010. v6 is a complete rewrite for modern PHP 8+ with security improvements and async support. Currently powers APIs handling millions of requests daily.

What's the performance like?

• PHP-FPM: ~1,000-2,000 req/sec (typical)
• Swoole/OpenSwoole: ~15,000-20,000 req/sec (same hardware)
• AWS Lambda: Automatic scaling, cold start ~100ms

Actual numbers depend on your application logic and hardware.

Support & Community

• 📖 Documentation: Full docs
• 🐛 Bug Reports: GitHub Issues
• 🔒 Security: SECURITY.md
• 🌟 Star us on GitHub if you find Restler useful!

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Whether it's:

• 🐛 Bug fixes
• ✨ New features
• 📖 Documentation improvements
• 🧪 Test coverage
• 💡 Ideas and suggestions

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Development Setup

License

Restler is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.

Free for commercial and personal use.

Credits

Created and maintained by Luracast

Special thanks to all contributors who have helped make Restler better over the years!