miniPHP/README.md

miniPHP

A tiny PHP starter project for small websites and personal projects.

The goal is simple:

• Clone
• Change git remote
• Start building

No framework. No Composer. No external dependencies. No ORM. No dependency injection. No magic.

Just PHP.

---

Features

• Zero dependencies
• No Composer required
• Simple config-based router
• Page and API endpoints
• SQLite support via PDO
• Shared partials
• Secure path traversal protection
• Helper functions
• Development server script

---

Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• SQLite extension (optional)

Check installed extensions:

php -m

---

Project Structure

config/
├── database.php
└── routes.php

public/
├── css/
│   └── app.css
└── js/
    └── app.js

src/
├── api/
├── views/
│   ├── pages/
│   └── partials/
├── bootstrap.php
├── database.php
├── helpers.php
└── router.php

storage/
└── database.sqlite

index.php
server.sh

---

Running

Start the development server:

./server.sh

Default URL:

http://127.0.0.1:3333

---

Routes

Routes are defined in:

config/routes.php

Example:

return [
    'GET' => [
        '/'          => 'home.php',
        '/about'     => 'about.php',
        '/api/test'  => 'api/example.php',
    ],
];

Route Prefixes

Routes can be mapped to different source directories using prefixes.

By default:

src/views/pages/

is used for normal pages.

The router also supports configurable route prefixes:

$route_bases = [
    'api/' => ROOT . '/src/api',
];

Example:

'/api/users' => 'api/users.php',

loads:

src/api/users.php

while:

'/about' => 'about.php',

loads:

src/views/pages/about.php

Adding A New Route Type

Create a new directory:

src/docs/

Then add a prefix:

$route_bases = [
    'api/'  => ROOT . '/src/api',
    'docs/' => ROOT . '/src/docs',
];

Now:

'/docs/getting-started' => 'docs/getting-started.php',

will load:

src/docs/getting-started.php

No router changes required.

---

Adding A New Page

1. Create the page

Create:

src/views/pages/contact.php

Example:

<?php partial('head', ['title' => 'Contact']); ?>

<h1>Contact</h1>

<p>Get in touch.</p>

<?php

partial('footer');

2. Add the route

Edit:

config/routes.php

Add:

'GET' => [
    '/contact' => 'contact.php',
],

Visit:

http://localhost:3333/contact

---

Adding An API Endpoint

1. Create the endpoint

Create:

src/api/contact.php

Example:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

header('Content-Type: application/json');

echo json_encode(['success' => true]);

2. Add the route

'GET' => [
    '/api/contact' => 'api/contact.php',
],

Visit:

http://localhost:8000/api/contact

---

SQLite

Database configuration:

config/database.php

Usage:

$db = db();

$rows = $db->query('SELECT * FROM users')->fetchAll();

---

Helpers

Available helpers:

escape_string()
debug()
debugx()
get_config()
partial()

---

Philosophy

miniPHP intentionally avoids framework features.

If a feature can be implemented with plain PHP and a few lines of code, prefer that approach.

The goal is to remain small, understandable, and easy to clone for future projects.

---

License

MIT