README

The official application starter skeleton for the Ace PHP MVC Framework. Ace provides a modern, fast, and structured foundation for building web applications and REST APIs in PHP 8.2+ without bloated dependencies.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Create a New Project

You can scaffold a new project using Composer:

composer create-project acex/ace-framework my-app
cd my-app

Or clone this repository directly:

git clone https://github.com/themavericknatti/ace-framework.git my-app
cd my-app
composer install

2. Configure Environment

Copy the example environment configuration (automatically handled when using composer create-project):

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and set your database credentials:

APP_NAME="Ace Application"
APP_ENV=development
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL="http://localhost:8000"

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=ace_db
DB_USER=root
DB_PASS=

3. Run Database Migrations

Apply the initial schema:

php ace migrate

4. Start the Development Server

Launch the built-in development server:

php ace serve

Your application is now running at http://localhost:8000!

📁 Directory Structure

ace-framework/
├── app/
│   ├── Controllers/       # HTTP Controllers (e.g. HomeController.php)
│   ├── Jobs/              # Asynchronous / Queued background jobs
│   ├── Middlewares/       # HTTP & Route Middlewares
│   ├── Models/            # Active Record database models (e.g. User.php)
│   ├── Repositories/      # Data access layer
│   ├── Requests/          # FormRequest validation classes
│   └── Services/          # Domain business logic layer
├── config/
│   ├── app.php            # Core application configuration
│   ├── cors.php           # CORS middleware settings (React, Vue, mobile apps)
│   ├── database.php       # PDO connection & database configuration
│   ├── payment.php        # Unified payment gateway configurations
│   ├── settings.json      # Dynamic settings
│   └── templates.php      # Multi-template engine configuration
├── migrations/            # Version-controlled database migrations
├── public/                # Public web document root (pointed to by web servers)
│   ├── index.php          # Front Controller (Application entry point)
│   ├── .htaccess          # Apache rewrite rules
│   └── uploads/           # User file upload directory
├── routes/
│   ├── web.php            # Web routes (sessions, CSRF, template rendering)
│   └── api.php            # RESTful API routes (stateless, CORS, API Key / Bearer auth)
├── seeds/                 # Database seeders
├── storage/               # Application runtime storage
│   ├── cache/             # Rate-limiter & response cache
│   ├── framework/         # Maintenance down status & temp files
│   ├── logs/              # Application error & audit logs
│   └── views/             # Compiled template cache
├── tests/                 # Automated test suite
│   ├── Feature/           # Feature & integration tests
│   └── Unit/              # Unit tests
├── views/                 # Presentation layer (layouts, templates, errors)
├── .env.example           # Example environment file
├── .gitignore             # Standard git ignore definitions
├── .htaccess              # Root security and rewrite rules for shared hosting
├── ace                    # Ace CLI Command Runner executable
├── composer.json          # Project Composer manifest
└── GUIDE.md               # Comprehensive architecture & developer guide

🛠️ Ace CLI Commands

The included ace executable provides helpful CLI commands for development:

Command	Description
`php ace serve`	Start local PHP development server at localhost:8000
`php ace migrate`	Execute pending database migrations
`php ace migrate:rollback`	Roll back the most recent migration batch
`php ace migrate:status`	Check status of all migrations
`php ace db:seed`	Run database seeders
`php ace make:controller <Name>`	Generate a new Controller class
`php ace make:model <Name> -m`	Generate a new Model and migration
`php ace make:migration <name>`	Generate a new migration file
`php ace make:seeder <Name>`	Generate a new seeder class
`php ace make:middleware <Name>`	Generate a custom HTTP middleware
`php ace make:job <Name>`	Generate a new queued background job
`php ace make:request <Name>`	Generate a FormRequest validation class
`php ace make:repository <Name>`	Generate a Repository class
`php ace make:service <Name>`	Generate a Service business logic class
`php ace queue:work`	Run the background queue worker process
`php ace tinker`	Start interactive CLI console shell
`php ace down` / `php ace up`	Put application into or out of maintenance mode

🧪 Testing

Run automated tests using PHPUnit:

composer test
# or
vendor/bin/phpunit

📖 Developer Documentation

For complete framework documentation, coding standards, layer responsibilities, and architecture guidelines, please consult:

GUIDE.md — Comprehensive Ace Framework Architecture & Developer Guide
how-to-upload.md — Shared Hosting & cPanel Deployment Guide

📦 Core Engine & Ecosystem

Framework Core: acex/core
Application Skeleton: acex/ace-framework

📄 License

The Ace PHP MVC Framework is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.

acex / ace-framework

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