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Exponential Layouts UI API

General description

Exponential Layouts UI API (explayouts_ui_api) is the JSON HTTP API and SPA shell for the Exponential Layouts admin UI on Exponential 6 / Exponential Legacy. It serves the built layouts admin app assets from design/standard and exposes the JSON API the app expects under /explayouts_ui_api/app/api/..., replacing the Symfony backend of the upstream stack with plain Exponential Legacy module views and the explayouts_core services.

It is an Exponential Legacy port inspired by the netgen/layouts-ui package (and the app endpoints of netgen/layouts-core).

This extension provides the following capabilities:

• SPA shell - Bootstraps the layouts admin app at /explayouts_ui_api/app (optionally /app/<locale>), including the meta tags the JavaScript reads and the bundled CSS/JS.
• JSON API - A single dispatcher routing config, layouts, blocks, rules, mappings, transfer, collections, forms, parameters, versions and share resources under /explayouts_ui_api/app/api/....
• Layout lifecycle over HTTP - Create draft layouts, publish them, delete drafts, list versions and manage share tokens.
• Block editing over HTTP - Create, load and update blocks (name, view type, position, parameters) per layout and locale, plus HTML form fragments for the block edit sidebar.
• Rules and mappings - List layout mapping rules with targets and conditions, and rule counts per layout.
• CSRF-protected writes - All modifying requests validate the eZ form token via the ezformtoken extension.
• Standalone JSON views - Simple read-only module views for layouts, rules and blocks outside the SPA dispatcher.

Features

The following features are provided by the Exponential Layouts UI API extension:

• Central dispatcher - expLayoutsUIApplicationApi (classes/explayoutsuiapplicationapi.php) routes every /app/api/<resource> request via handle( $parts ); all responses are application/json, debug output is disabled in the dispatcher so responses stay clean, and list responses use the values / total shape the app expects.
• App shell module - modules/explayouts_ui_api/app.php serves the SPA shell, the API entry, the layout preview (/explayouts_ui_api/app/preview/<layout_id>) and the HTML block-edit form fragments.
• Bootstrap template - design/standard/templates/explayouts_ui_api/app.tpl renders the meta tags the JavaScript reads: nglayouts-route-prefix (set to /explayouts_ui_api), nglayouts-base-path, ngcb-base-path and ezxform-token.
• Configuration endpoints - GET /app/api/config (including the current CSRF token), GET /app/api/config/layout_types (layout types and their zones from explayouts.ini) and GET /app/api/config/block_types (block types grouped as block_types and block_type_groups).
• Layout endpoints - GET/POST /app/api/layouts, GET /app/api/layouts/<id>, POST /app/api/layouts/<id>/publish and DELETE /app/api/layouts/<id>/draft. Created layouts are drafts (status=1) with zones created from the layout type definition; the identifier is generated from the name if not provided.
• Block endpoints - GET /app/api/<locale>/layouts/<layout_id>/blocks, GET/POST/PUT/PATCH /app/api/<locale>/blocks/<id> and POST /app/api/<locale>/blocks. Updates accept name, view_type, position and parameters (object keyed by parameter name).
• Rule and mapping endpoints - GET /app/api/rules, GET /app/api/rules/<id> and GET /app/api/mappings (rule counts per layout_id).
• Collection endpoints - /app/api/collections/... manage collections and collection items for blocks with collections (backed by expLayoutsCoreCollectionService).
• Transfer, forms, parameters, versions, share - /app/api/transfer/... (import/export via expLayoutsImporter / expLayoutsExporter), /app/api/forms/... and /app/api/parameters/... (form/parameter metadata for the block edit UI), GET /app/api/versions/<layout_id> (draft and published versions) and GET|POST /app/api/share/<layout_id> (share tokens, stored in the explayouts_share table, created on demand).
• HTML form fragments - GET /explayouts_ui_api/app/<locale>/blocks/<id>/edit (wrapper, form_block_edit.tpl) and .../form (the <form>, form_block_fields.tpl); the form submits to POST /explayouts_ui_api/app/api/<locale>/blocks/<id> and returns the updated block as JSON.
• CSRF protection - POST, PUT, PATCH and DELETE requests must carry the eZ form token, either as an X-CSRF-Token HTTP header or an ezxform_token form field; the current token is available from GET /app/api/config.
• Flexible request bodies - POST bodies may be application/x-www-form-urlencoded or application/json; requestData() in expLayoutsUIApplicationApi falls back to php://input when $_POST is empty.
• Standalone JSON module views - /explayouts_ui_api/layouts/(LayoutID)/<id>, /explayouts_ui_api/rules/(RuleID)/<id> and /explayouts_ui_api/blocks/(ZoneID)/<id> are simple read-only views built on the explayouts_core services.

Version

• The current version of Exponential Layouts UI API is 1.0.0
• Last Major update: July 30, 2026

Copyright

• Exponential Layouts UI API is copyright 1998 - 2026 7x
• See: LICENSE.md for more information on the terms of the copyright and license

License

Exponential Layouts UI API is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

The complete license agreement is included in the LICENSE.md file.

Exponential Layouts UI API is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License or at your option a later version.

Exponential Layouts UI API is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

The GNU GPL gives you the right to use, modify and redistribute Exponential Layouts UI API under certain conditions. The GNU GPL license is distributed with the software, see the file LICENSE.md.

It is also available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with Exponential Layouts UI API in LICENSE.md. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Using Exponential Layouts UI API under the terms of the GNU GPL is free (as in freedom).

For more information or questions please contact [email protected]

Requirements

The following requirements exists for using the Exponential Layouts UI API extension:

Exponential version

• Make sure you use Exponential 6 / eZ Publish Legacy (required) or higher.

PHP version

• Make sure you have PHP 8.1 or higher.

Sibling extensions

• extension/explayouts — value objects, explayouts_* tables, explayouts.ini block/layout type definitions.
• extension/explayouts_core — service classes the API handlers call.
• extension/ezformtoken — CSRF token validation for modifying requests.

Siteaccess

• Activate the extension for the admin siteaccess — the app runs inside the authenticated admin session.

Installation

In short: place the extension in extension/explayouts_ui_api, activate it after its dependencies (explayouts, explayouts_core) via site.ini [ExtensionSettings] ActiveExtensions[] (or per siteaccess via ActiveAccessExtensions[]) for the admin siteaccess, then regenerate autoloads and clear all caches. Verify by opening /explayouts_ui_api/app in the admin siteaccess — the layouts app shell should load, and GET /explayouts_ui_api/app/api/config returns JSON including the current form token. The companion extension explayouts_ui adds the "Exponential Layouts UI" admin menu whose "Edit in modern editor" links open this app.

See INSTALL.md for the full step-by-step installation instructions, including the settings shipped with the extension (module.ini with views app, layouts, rules, blocks; design.ini for the SPA assets).

Usage

Key classes and views:

Endpoint overview (all under /explayouts_ui_api, responses are application/json):

Creating a layout:

Modifying requests must carry the eZ form token, either as an X-CSRF-Token HTTP header or an ezxform_token form field; fetch the current token from GET /app/api/config. Use placeholder credentials in examples — never commit real credentials.

See doc/USAGE.md for exhaustive scenarios: every endpoint with request/response bodies, a complete curl session, the HTML form fragment flow, implementation notes, and the full customization guide covering the settings layer (INI cascade — everything the API exposes is defined in explayouts.ini and overridable without code changes; access control via module policies), the template layer (design override cascade for app.tpl and the form templates — the supported way to swap CSS/JS bundles) and the PHP layer (building against the JSON contract, adding block parameters via handlers, custom read-only JSON views).

Documentation

Troubleshooting

Read the FAQ

• Some problems are more common than others. The most common ones are listed in doc/FAQ.md.

Use our support systems

• If you have questions not handled by this document or the FAQ, you can reach us via 7x : se7enx.com.
• If you find a bug or defect, please report it to the Exponential Layouts UI API: Issue Tracker.