Download the PHP package simsoft/fliq without Composer

FLIQ

Fast, Lightweight, Independent Query Builder

[]()

A high-performance Active Record / ORM for MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Zero framework dependencies, minimal footprint, maximum speed.

📖 Documentation · GitHub

Why FLIQ?

The name says it all — Fast, Lightweight, Independent Query Builder.

• Fast — Two objects per query however many conditions you add, prepared statement caching, no intermediate node tree.
• Lightweight — ~650KB of source, zero runtime dependencies. No service containers, no config files, no boot process.
• Independent — Standalone library with no framework coupling. One composer require, one Connection::add() call, done.
• Query Builder — Fluent, expressive API that compiles directly to optimized SQL without intermediate object layers.

When NOT to Choose FLIQ

• You need MSSQL or Oracle support
• You need schema migrations (use Phinx or doctrine/migrations)
• You need a Data Mapper pattern (use Doctrine or Cycle ORM)
• You need a massive ecosystem of community packages (use Eloquent)

For a detailed feature-by-feature comparison with Eloquent, Doctrine, Yii3, Cycle ORM, and Propel, see the Comparison Guide.

Requirements

• PHP 8.4+
• MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+ / PostgreSQL 12+ / SQLite 3.39+
• ext-pdo (required) or ext-mysqli (optional alternative for MySQL)

Install

Quick Start

1. Configure Connection

2. Define a Model

3. Use It

Features

• Flat Query Building
• Nested Eager Loading
• Conditional Queries
• JSON Column Queries
• Multi-Column Conditions
• Row-Level Locking
• Transactions
• Soft Deletes & Timestamps
• Model Events
• Query Result Caching
• Read/Write Connection Splitting
• Development Tools

Flat Query Building

The most common query patterns (where, in, like, between, orderBy, select) build SQL strings directly without creating intermediate objects. A built query holds two objects — the ActiveQuery and its grammar — and stays at two however many conditions you add, rather than growing a node tree.

Nested Eager Loading

Conditional Queries

JSON Column Queries

Multi-Column Conditions

Transactions

Row-Level Locking

Available: forUpdate(), forShare(), forUpdateNoWait(), forUpdateSkipLocked()

Soft Deletes & Timestamps

Model Events

Query Result Caching

Read/Write Connection Splitting

Development Tools

Model Generator

Generate Model files directly from your database schema — no boilerplate by hand:

Or use it in PHP code:

The generator introspects your tables and creates models with $connection, $table, $fillable, $casts, PHPDoc properties, and auto-detected traits ( SoftDeletes, Timestamps).

Observer Generator

Generate Observer classes to organize your model lifecycle logic:

Or use it in PHP code:

The observer validates that the Model exists before generating, and creates method stubs for events like creating, updated, deleting, etc.

Documentation

📖 Read the full documentation

1. Getting Started — Connections, drivers, raw queries, DB facade, monitoring
2. Query Builder — Fluent API, conditions, joins, JSON, aggregation, scopes, unions
3. Active Record — Models, CRUD, casting, hooks, events, soft deletes, timestamps
4. Relations — hasOne, hasMany, via, viaTable, eager loading, whereHas
5. Advanced Features — Caching, pagination, global scopes, batch operations, read/write split
6. Collections — Lazy iteration, filter, map, reduce, indexBy, groupBy, batch processing
7. Comparison — Feature comparison with Eloquent, Doctrine, Yii3, Cycle, Propel
8. Cheatsheet — Quick reference for all common operations
9. PostgreSQL Guide — PG-specific features, production guidance, PgBouncer
10. Model Generator — CLI tool to scaffold models from database tables
11. Observer Generator — CLI tool to scaffold observer classes for models

License

FLIQ is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.