README

AST-based template engine for PHP. Compiler-grade templating with zero regex parsing.

LTE can be used independently of the Luany framework — drop it into any PHP project.

Why LTE?

Most PHP template engines compile templates using regex. LTE uses a real Parser → AST → Compiler pipeline:

Predictable, deterministic output
Zero regex in the entire pipeline — character-by-character parsing throughout
Integrated asset lifecycle — styles and scripts as first-class template citizens
Automatic CSS/JS deduplication — include a component 10× and its assets appear once
Cache-aware compilation
First-class tooling support (VS Code extension available)
Truly standalone — zero external dependencies, works in any PHP 8.1+ project

Installation

composer require luany/lte

Basic Usage

use Luany\Lte\Engine;

$engine = new Engine(
    viewsPath:  '/path/to/views',
    cachePath:  '/path/to/cache',
    autoReload: true
);

echo $engine->render('pages.dashboard', ['user' => $user]);

Template Syntax

Output

{{ $variable }}       {{-- escaped output --}}
{!! $variable !!}     {{-- raw output --}}
{{-- comment --}}     {{-- never rendered --}}

Conditionals

@if($condition)
    ...
@elseif($other)
    ...
@else
    ...
@endif

@unless($condition)
    ...
@endunless

Loops

@foreach($items as $item)
    <li>{{ $item }}</li>
@endforeach

@forelse($items as $item)
    <li>{{ $item }}</li>
@empty
    <p>No items found.</p>
@endforelse

@for($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++)
    {{ $i }}
@endfor

Layout System

{{-- child view --}}
@extends('layouts.main')

@section('title', 'My Page')

@section('content')
    <h1>Hello World</h1>
@endsection

{{-- layouts/main.lte --}}
<html>
<head>
    <title>@yield('title', 'Default')</title>
</head>
<body>
    @yield('content')
</body>
</html>

Include

@include('components.navbar')
@include('components.card', ['title' => 'Hello', 'body' => 'World'])

Security

@csrf
@method('PUT')

Auth Guards

@auth
    <a href="/dashboard">Dashboard</a>
@endauth

@guest
    <a href="/auth">Login</a>
@endguest

Asset Directives (v0.2)

LTE treats inline CSS and JS as first-class template citizens.
Styles and scripts defined anywhere in views or components are automatically accumulated, deduplicated, and rendered at the correct position in the layout.

How it works

View / Component render:
  @style   → captured by AssetStack
  @script  → captured by AssetStack

Layout render:
  @styles  → outputs all captured <style> blocks  (place in <head>)
  @scripts → outputs all captured <script> blocks (place before </body>)

Deduplication is automatic. If the same component is @include'd 10 times, its @style and @script blocks appear exactly once in the final HTML — deduplicated by content hash.

@style / @endstyle

@style
    .card {
        padding: 1rem;
        border-radius: .5rem;
    }
@endstyle

@script / @endscript

@script(defer)
    document.querySelectorAll('.card').forEach(c => {
        c.addEventListener('click', () => console.log('clicked'));
    });
@endscript

Supported option: defer

@styles and @scripts in layout

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/css/app.css">
    @styles      {{-- all accumulated <style> blocks render here --}}
    @stack('head')
</head>
<body>
    @yield('content')
    <script src="/assets/js/app.js"></script>
    @scripts     {{-- all accumulated <script> blocks render here --}}
    @stack('scripts')
</body>

Stack Directives (v0.2)

Push content into named stacks from page views. Multiple pushes to the same stack accumulate — they never overwrite each other.

Important: @push has no deduplication — if used inside a component that is @include'd multiple times, the content will appear multiple times. Use @style / @script inside components instead — they deduplicate automatically.

{{-- in a page view --}}
@push('head')
    <meta name="description" content="My page">
@endpush

{{-- in the layout --}}
@stack('head')

Render Flow

How LTE assembles the final HTML — validated by real test output:

Component (card.lte, alert.lte, ...)
  │  @style   ──────────────────────────► AssetStack (styles[])
  │  @script  ──────────────────────────► AssetStack (scripts[])
  │  HTML     ──────────────────────────► rendered inline
  │
  ▼ @include
Page View (pages/dashboard.lte)
  │  @push('head') ────────────────────► SectionStack (stacks['head'])
  │  @style        ────────────────────► AssetStack (styles[])
  │  @section('content') ──────────────► SectionStack (sections['content'])
  │  @script       ────────────────────► AssetStack (scripts[])
  │
  ▼ @extends
Layout (layouts/main.lte)
  │  @styles       ◄───── AssetStack::renderStyles()   → <style> in <head>
  │  @stack('head')◄───── SectionStack::getStack()     → <meta>, links in <head>
  │  @yield('content')◄── SectionStack::get()          → HTML in <main>
  │  @scripts      ◄───── AssetStack::renderScripts()  → <script> before </body>

Deduplication proof — from the real render test:

Component	Included	CSS rendered	JS rendered
`card.lte`	3×	1×	1×
`alert.lte`	2×	1×	—
`dashboard.lte` (page)	1×	1×	1×

Official View Structure (v0.2)

@extends('layouts.main')               ← layout base

@section('title', 'Page Title')        ← page title

@push('head')                          ← head metadata (SEO, external links)
    <meta name="description" content="...">
@endpush

@style                                 ← page-level CSS (outside @section)
    .hero { padding: 4rem 0; }
@endstyle

@section('content')                    ← visible HTML content
    <h1>Hello</h1>
    @include('components.card', [...])
@endsection

@script(defer)                         ← page-level JS (outside @section)
    console.log('ready');
@endscript

Page view vs Component

Context	Pattern
Page view	`@style` and `@script` outside `@section`, at view level
Component	`@style` and `@script` collocated with the component HTML

Component example — self-contained, owns its own CSS and JS:

{{-- components/card.lte --}}
@style
    .lte-card { border-radius: .75rem; padding: 1.5rem; }
@endstyle

<div class="lte-card">
    <h3>{{ $title }}</h3>
    <p>{{ $body }}</p>
</div>

@script(defer)
    document.querySelectorAll('.lte-card').forEach(c => {
        c.addEventListener('click', () => c.style.borderColor = '#6366f1');
    });
@endscript

Directive Reference

Directive	Description
`{{ $var }}`	Echo escaped
`{!! $var !!}`	Echo raw
`{{-- ... --}}`	Template comment
`@extends`	Inherit layout
`@section` / `@endsection`	Define section
`@yield`	Output section
`@include`	Include partial
`@if` / `@elseif` / `@else` / `@endif`	Conditionals
`@unless` / `@endunless`	Negated conditional
`@foreach` / `@endforeach`	Loop
`@forelse` / `@empty` / `@endforelse`	Loop with empty state
`@for` / `@endfor`	For loop
`@while` / `@endwhile`	While loop
`@php` / `@endphp`	Raw PHP block
`@csrf`	CSRF token field
`@method`	HTTP method override
`@auth` / `@endauth`	Auth guard
`@guest` / `@endguest`	Guest guard
`@style` / `@endstyle`	Inline CSS block (v0.2)
`@script` / `@endscript`	Inline JS block — option: `defer` (v0.2)
`@styles`	Render accumulated styles (v0.2)
`@scripts`	Render accumulated scripts (v0.2)
`@push` / `@endpush`	Push to named stack (v0.2)
`@stack`	Render named stack (v0.2)
`@dump($var)`	Debug — var_dump (v0.2.2)
`@dd($var)`	Debug — var_dump + die (v0.2.2)
`@isset($var)` / `@endisset`	Conditional on isset() (v0.2.2)
`@ifempty($var)` / `@endifempty`	Conditional on empty() (v0.2.2)

Custom Directives

$engine->getCompiler()->directive('datetime', function ($args) {
    return "<?php echo date('d/m/Y H:i', strtotime({$args})); ?>";
});

@datetime($post->created_at)

VS Code Extension

First-class .lte file support on the VS Code Marketplace.

Changelog

v0.2.2

@php block now treats content as opaque raw PHP — LTE directives, {{ }}, and {!! !!} are never parsed inside @php / @endphp blocks
Parser exceptions changed from \Exception to \RuntimeException
@dump($var) — compiles to var_dump($var)
@dd($var) — compiles to var_dump($var); die
@isset($var) / @endisset — conditional on isset()
@ifempty($var) / @endifempty — conditional on empty(), no conflict with @forelse @empty
108 tests, 170 assertions

v0.2.1

@forelse / @empty / @endforelse — loop with empty state (was documented but not implemented)
Scope isolation in Engine::evaluate() — $path and $data no longer leak into included views
ob_get_level() safety in SectionStack — prevents buffer corruption on orphan @endsection
96 unit tests — ParserTest, CompilerTest, EngineTest covering the full pipeline
phpunit.xml configuration added

v0.2.0

AssetStack — inline CSS/JS with automatic deduplication by content hash
@style / @endstyle — inline style blocks (page-level and component-level)
@script / @endscript — inline script blocks (supports defer)
@styles / @scripts — render accumulated assets in layout
@push / @endpush / @stack — named accumulative stacks
parseArgs — robust argument parser (handles quoted strings with commas)
Zero external dependencies — {{ $var }} compiles to htmlspecialchars(), @include uses $__engine->render(), no framework helpers required
Standalone confirmed — tested and validated independently of the Luany framework

v0.1.0

Initial release — Parser → AST → Compiler pipeline
Layout system (@extends, @section, @yield)
Full directive set (loops, conditionals, auth guards, CSRF)
Cache-aware compilation with autoReload

Requirements

PHP 8.1+

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.

luany / lte

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

Why LTE?

Installation

Basic Usage

Template Syntax

Output

Conditionals

Loops

Layout System

Include

Security

Auth Guards

Asset Directives (v0.2)

How it works

@style / @endstyle

@script / @endscript

@styles and @scripts in layout

Stack Directives (v0.2)

Render Flow

Official View Structure (v0.2)

Page view vs Component

Directive Reference

Custom Directives

VS Code Extension

Changelog

v0.2.2

v0.2.1

v0.2.0

v0.1.0

Requirements

License