README

A minimal API application starter powered by the Glueful framework.

Quick Start

# Install dependencies
composer install

# Initialize application (runs migrations, generates key)
php glueful install --quiet

# Start development server
php glueful serve

# Visit the API
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/welcome
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/health

Default Routes

Route	Method	Description
`/v1/welcome`	GET	Welcome JSON payload
`/v1/status`	GET	Lightweight status check
`/health`	GET	Framework health endpoint

Project Structure

api-skeleton/
├── app/                    # Application code
│   ├── Controllers/        # HTTP request handlers
│   ├── Models/             # ORM models
│   └── Providers/          # Service providers
├── bootstrap/app.php       # Framework initialization
├── config/                 # Configuration files
├── database/migrations/    # Database migrations
├── public/index.php        # HTTP entry point
├── routes/api.php          # API routes
├── storage/                # Runtime data (logs, cache, db)
└── tests/                  # PHPUnit tests

This skeleton uses a minimal starter structure. As your application grows, see docs/APPLICATION_ARCHITECTURE.md for guidance on scaling to standard and enterprise structures.

Architecture Guide

The skeleton follows a progressive complexity model:

Project Size	Structure
Starter (< 10 endpoints)	Controllers, Models, Providers
Standard (10-50 endpoints)	+ Actions, DTO, Events, Jobs, Policies
Enterprise (50+ endpoints)	+ Repositories, Services, Validators

Start minimal. Add complexity only when needed.

See the full guide: docs/APPLICATION_ARCHITECTURE.md

Controllers & Routing

Routes are defined explicitly in routes/api.php:

// Simple version prefix (customize as needed)
$router->group(['prefix' => 'v1'], function (Router $router) {
    $router->get('/welcome', [WelcomeController::class, 'index']);
    $router->get('/status', [WelcomeController::class, 'status']);
});

// Other prefix options:
// - 'v1'                 → /v1/...
// - '/api/v1'            → /api/v1/...
// - api_prefix($context) → uses config/api.php settings

The framework also supports attribute-based routing:

#[Controller(prefix: '/api/v1')]
class UserController extends BaseController
{
    #[Get('/users/{id}')]
    public function show(int $id): Response { }
}

Configuration

Key configuration files in config/:

File	Purpose
`app.php`	Application settings, paths, URLs
`database.php`	Database connections (SQLite default)
`security.php`	CORS, CSRF, headers, rate limiting
`api.php`	API versioning, field selection

Environment variables in .env override config values.

CLI Commands

# Development
php glueful serve                    # Start dev server
php glueful serve --watch            # Auto-restart on changes

# Database
php glueful migrate:run              # Run migrations
php glueful migrate:status           # Check migration status

# Code Generation
php glueful scaffold:controller UserController
php glueful scaffold:model User --migration
php glueful scaffold:request CreateUserRequest

# Utilities
php glueful generate:key             # Generate APP_KEY
php glueful cache:clear              # Clear cache
php glueful generate:openapi         # Generate API docs

Testing

# Run all tests
composer test

# Run specific suites
composer test:unit
composer test:integration

Base test case at tests/TestCase.php provides framework integration.

Notes

Database: SQLite at storage/database/glueful.sqlite (zero config)
Queue: sync driver for immediate execution (change to redis or database in .env)
Docs: API documentation at /docs when API_DOCS_ENABLED=true

glueful / api-skeleton

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