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Make sure you’ve completed the installation before proceeding with this guide.

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Understanding the request flow

When a user visits your S-PHP application, the request flows through several components:
  1. Entry Point (public/index.php) - Handles autoloading and routes to web/API handlers
  2. Router - Matches the URL to a route definition
  3. Middleware - Checks permissions and authentication (optional)
  4. Controller - Processes the request and prepares data
  5. View - Renders the response to the user

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Your first route

Routes are defined in app/router/web.php. Here’s a simple example from the source:
app/router/web.php
<?php

use App\Controllers\HomeController;
use Sphp\Core\Router;

$router = new Router();

// Define a GET route
$router->get('/', HomeController::class, 'index');

$router->dispatch();

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Your first controller

Controllers live in app/Controllers/. Here’s a basic controller:
app/Controllers/HomeController.php
<?php

namespace App\Controllers;

use Sphp\Core\Controller;
use Sphp\Core\View;

class HomeController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return View::render('welcome.php', [
            'title' => 'Welcome to S-PHP',
            'version' => '2.0'
        ]);
    }
}

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Dynamic routes

S-PHP supports dynamic parameters in routes using {parameter} syntax: 
$router->get('/user/{id}', HomeController::class, 'showUser');
The controller method receives the parameter as an argument: 
public function showUser($id)
{
    // $id contains the value from the URL
    $user = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?", [$id]);
    
    return View::render('user.php', ['user' => $user]);
}

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Building a simple page

Let’s build a complete feature from scratch.
1

Create a route

Add a new route in app/router/web.php:
$router->get('/about', HomeController::class, 'about');
2

Add controller method

Add the about method to HomeController:
public function about()
{
    return View::render('about.php', [
        'title' => 'About Us',
        'description' => 'Learn more about our framework'
    ]);
}
3

Create the view

Create app/views/about.php:
@layout('main', ['title' => $title])

<div class="container">
    <h1><?= $title ?></h1>
    <p><?= $description ?></p>
</div>
4

Test it

Start the development server:
php do up
Visit http://localhost:8000/about in your browser.

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Working with databases

S-PHP provides a simple database interface through the controller’s $db property: 
public function users()
{
    // Query the database
    $users = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE active = ?", [1]);
    
    return View::render('users.php', ['users' => $users]);
}

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Using middleware

Protect routes with middleware by adding it as the 4th parameter: 
use App\Middleware\VerifiedUser;

$router->get('/dashboard', HomeController::class, 'dashboard', VerifiedUser::class);
The middleware checks if the user is authenticated before allowing access:
app/Middleware/VerifiedUser.php
<?php

namespace App\Middleware;

use Sphp\Services\Auth;

class VerifiedUser extends Middleware
{
    public function handle()
    {
        if (Auth::check()) {
            return true; // Allow access
        }
        
        redirect('/login'); // Redirect to login
    }
}

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Handling POST requests

Add a POST route for form submissions: 
$router->post('/contact', HomeController::class, 'submitContact');
Access form data in the controller: 
use Sphp\Core\Request;

public function submitContact()
{
    $data = Request::request();
    
    $name = $data['name'];
    $email = $data['email'];
    $message = $data['message'];
    
    // Process the form data
    $this->db->query(
        "INSERT INTO contacts (name, email, message) VALUES (?, ?, ?)",
        [$name, $email, $message]
    );
    
    redirect('/thank-you');
}

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CLI commands

S-PHP includes a powerful CLI tool for common tasks: 
# Start development server
php do up

# Create a new controller
php do controller UserController

# Create a new model
php do model User

# Create a new view
php do views user/profile

# Run database migrations
php do migrate

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Next steps

Now that you’ve built your first route, explore more features:

Controllers

Learn about controllers and request handling

Models

Work with the database using models

Views

Create dynamic templates with layouts

Authentication

Add user authentication with JWT

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