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Laravel integration for the Askr application server. It wires Askr's in-binary, shared-memory services into Laravel's driver system, so a single-box app needs no Redis:

Driver	What it replaces
`SESSION_DRIVER=askr`	Redis / DB / `file` sessions
`CACHE_STORE=askr`	Redis cache, counters, rate limiting, `Cache::lock()`
`QUEUE_CONNECTION=askr`	Redis / DB queues
`BROADCAST_CONNECTION=askr`	Redis pub/sub + a WebSocket server (Laravel Echo)

Durable, replicated (multi-box)

The drivers above are unchanged whether the server uses the L1 shared-memory tier (single box, ephemeral) or the durable, replicated L2 SQL Anywhere tier. Run the server built with --features sql-backend and set ASKR_QUEUE_DB / ASKR_CACHE_DB / ASKR_BROADCAST_DB to a database path (an embedded file, an embedded replica, or a sqld-managed database) to get durable jobs, a shared/edge cache, and cross-node broadcasting — no app changes.

Why the session driver matters

Running Laravel in a long-lived worker (Octane-style, which is how Askr serves) exposes a real trap: SESSION_DRIVER=array leaks — the array handler keeps every session in the PHP heap until it hits memory_limit. The alternatives each give something up. Askr's shared-memory driver gives up nothing:

`SESSION_DRIVER`	Fast?	No heap leak?	No lock?	No extra server?
`array`	✅	❌ (OOMs)	✅	✅
`file`	❌	✅	✅	✅
`database` (SQLite)	❌	✅	❌	✅
`redis`	✅	✅	✅	❌
`askr`	✅	✅	✅	✅

Measured: ~11–15k req/s with flat 8 MB per worker (sessions live in shared memory, not the heap), persisting across every worker process.

Install

composer require kwhorne/askr-laravel

The service provider is auto-discovered — no manual registration.

Configure

SESSION_DRIVER=askr
CACHE_STORE=askr
QUEUE_CONNECTION=askr

Add the cache/queue store definitions (or rely on the defaults):

// config/cache.php → 'stores'
'askr' => ['driver' => 'askr'],

// config/queue.php → 'connections'
'askr' => ['driver' => 'askr', 'queue' => 'default', 'retry_after' => 90],

Run

Start Askr with the matching shared-memory regions enabled:

askr serve \
  --root public --worker-script vendor/askr/worker.php \
  --workers auto \
  --cache-slots 16384 --cache-large-slots 4096 \
  --queue-slots 8192

--cache-slots — the small region (≤ 4 KB values: counters, locks, cache).
--cache-large-slots — the large region (up to 64 KB: sessions, fragments).
--queue-slots — the job queue.

Run queue workers in the same binary:

askr serve … --queue 4 --queue-script vendor/laravel/framework/… # or artisan queue:work

Notes

These drivers call Askr's askr_cache_* / askr_queue_* builtins, which exist only when the app is served by Askr with the regions enabled. Under a plain php artisan invocation the session driver degrades to a no-op; don't point a non-Askr process at these drivers for real work.
The shared-memory regions are sized at startup and evict oldest-first when full — size --cache-large-slots for your peak concurrent session count.

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