pn-php-scaffolding

PHP backend scaffolding

When to use

• Starting a new PHP API project (Laravel API or Slim Framework).
• Adding a new controller, route, or domain service.
• Establishing typed, modern PHP patterns from scratch.

Laravel API scaffold

# New Laravel API project
composer create-project laravel/laravel my-api
cd my-api

# Install common packages
composer require spatie/laravel-permission   # RBAC
composer require tymon/jwt-auth              # JWT auth
composer require spatie/laravel-query-builder # filterable queries
composer require --dev squizlabs/php_codesniffer  # linting

Project structure

app/
  Http/
    Controllers/
      Api/
        V1/
          UserController.php     # Thin: validate, delegate, respond
          Controller.php
    Requests/
      CreateUserRequest.php      # Form Request validation
      UpdateUserRequest.php
    Resources/
      UserResource.php           # API resource (output shaping)
      UserCollection.php
  Services/
    UserService.php              # Business logic
  Repositories/
    UserRepository.php           # DB queries (optional layer)
  Models/
    User.php
routes/
  api.php                        # Route definitions
config/
  services.php                   # Third-party service keys (never raw env())

Controller scaffold

<?php
// app/Http/Controllers/Api/V1/UserController.php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api\V1;

use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use App\Http\Requests\CreateUserRequest;
use App\Http\Resources\UserResource;
use App\Services\UserService;
use Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class UserController extends Controller
{
    public function __construct(private readonly UserService $userService) {}

    public function index(Request $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $users = $this->userService->list(
            page: (int) $request->query('page', 1),
            perPage: (int) $request->query('per_page', 20),
        );
        return response()->json(['data' => UserResource::collection($users)]);
    }

    public function store(CreateUserRequest $request): JsonResponse
    {
        $user = $this->userService->create($request->validated());
        return response()->json(['data' => new UserResource($user)], 201);
    }

    public function show(int $id): JsonResponse
    {
        $user = $this->userService->findOrFail($id);
        return response()->json(['data' => new UserResource($user)]);
    }
}