A zero-boilerplate REST API framework for PHP 8+ that auto-generates routes, validation, and OpenAPI documentation.
Restler is a production-ready REST API framework for PHP that uses reflection to automatically generate routing, validation, and OpenAPI documentation from PHP method signatures and PHPDoc comments. It eliminates boilerplate code, allowing developers to focus on writing business logic while providing a full-featured, high-performance API layer.
PHP developers building REST APIs, particularly those working on internal APIs, microservices, mobile backends, or data export services who want to reduce boilerplate and leverage modern PHP 8+ features. It is also suitable for teams modernizing legacy PHP applications or requiring multi-format output (JSON, XML, CSV, Excel).
Developers choose Restler for its zero-boilerplate approach, where automatic routing and validation from code reflection significantly reduce development time compared to traditional frameworks. Its unique selling points include built-in multi-format response support, seamless integration with high-performance async runtimes like Swoole for 10-20x throughput, and auto-generated OpenAPI documentation without extra configuration.
Zero-boilerplate REST API framework for PHP 8+. Auto-generates routes, docs, validation.
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Uses PHP reflection to generate REST endpoints and validate parameters directly from method signatures and PHPDoc, eliminating manual routing files and validation rules as shown in the minimal CRUD example.
Built-in handling for JSON, XML, CSV, Excel, and HTML responses from the same endpoint via URL extensions (e.g., .xml or .csv), enabling seamless integration with diverse clients without extra code.
Integrates with Swoole/OpenSwoole for 10-20x throughput over PHP-FPM, and supports ReactPHP and Workerman, allowing significant performance gains without modifying business logic.
Built for PHP 8+ with attributes, union types, and strict typing, compliant with PSR-7 and PSR-11 standards, and includes security features like JSON session serialization and built-in rate limiting.
Heavy reliance on PHP reflection for auto-routing can make debugging and understanding request flow opaque, especially when errors occur in automatically generated parts of the API.
As a specialized framework, it lacks the extensive third-party packages, tutorials, and community support of full-stack alternatives like Laravel, which can hinder integration and problem-solving.
Achieving high performance requires installing and managing PHP extensions like Swoole, which adds deployment complexity and may not be feasible in all hosting environments.