README

Build PHP applications and database-backed APIs with Phalcon. PhalconKit adds REST controllers, model scaffolding, relationships, authentication, permissions, and shared HTTP, CLI, and WebSocket infrastructure to your application.

Get started · Build your first API · REST reference · All guides

What You Can Build

CRUD APIs with explicit rules for readable, writable, searchable, and sortable fields.
Search screens with nested filters, pagination, counts, and related records.
Applications with authenticated users, roles, and row-level access rules.
Database-backed workflows with model validation, nested saves, and soft deletion.
Background commands and optional WebSocket services sharing your application's configuration.

Your application owns its schema, business logic, controllers, and response policies. You continue to use Phalcon's models, routing, dependency injection, and events.

Start An Application

Install PHP 8.5+, the Phalcon extension satisfying ^5.22.0, and Composer 2, then run:

composer create-project phalcon-kit/app my-api
cd my-api
cp .env.example .env
php -S 127.0.0.1:8080 -t public public/index.php

In another terminal:

curl --include http://127.0.0.1:8080/api

The skeleton includes HTTP routes, a CLI entrypoint, application configuration, and model-generation scripts. Its basic routes work before you configure a database. Follow Getting Started to connect your database and choose the features your application needs.

To add the library to your own project:

composer require phalcon-kit/core

Installing the library does not create an application bootstrap or database schema. Use the application integration guide to connect it to your project.

From A Table To An API

Create your application's tables and migrations.
Generate models with ./scripts/generate-models.sh in the App skeleton.
Add a resource controller with explicit field and access policies.
Call the endpoint from your frontend or another client.

For example, a configured project resource can return a page of matching rows and the total number of matches:

curl --get 'http://127.0.0.1:8080/api/project/find' \
  --data-urlencode 'filters[0][field]=status' \
  --data-urlencode 'filters[0][operator]==' \
  --data-urlencode 'filters[0][value]=active' \
  --data-urlencode 'order=id asc' \
  --data-urlencode 'limit=20' \
  --data-urlencode 'count=1'

An illustrative response, with the resource's exposed fields:

{
  "timestamp": "2026-09-29T12:00:00+00:00",
  "status": "OK",
  "code": 200,
  "response": true,
  "view": {
    "data": [{"id": 1, "label": "Customer portal", "status": "active"}],
    "count": 1
  }
}

The first resource tutorial supplies the schema, controller, access policy, and commands needed to run this example. The REST reference covers each built-in action and its results.

Find The Guide For Your Task

I want to…	Read
Install and run an application	Getting Started
Add PhalconKit to a project	Application Integration
Build a model-backed endpoint	First REST Resource
Send requests and handle responses	REST Requests And Responses
Search, filter, sort, and paginate	REST Filtering
Create, update, or save batches	REST Writes
Load and save related records	REST Relationships
Build counters, facets, and exports	REST Counts And Aggregates
Sign in users and restrict access	Authentication and Permissions
Configure services and modules	Configuration
Create tables and generate models	Migrations and Scaffolding
Write commands or serve WebSockets	CLI Tasks and Web Servers And WebSockets
Diagnose an unexpected result	Troubleshooting

For an existing application changing package, layout, or API contracts, use the migration guides.

Use the class reference when you need an exact method signature. The guides explain how to use those methods in an application. Optional AI-assisted development instructions cover the same conventions.

Project Information

PhalconKit is independently maintained and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the official Phalcon project. See the Phalcon documentation for native framework APIs.

Report an issue · Contributing · Security · Support · Changelog

Released under the BSD 3-Clause License.

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