Anchor is a modular, high-performance PHP framework built on a philosophy of self-reliance. It provides a full-featured, zero-bloat toolkit for modern applications, minimizing external dependencies in favor of integrated excellence.
Just as an anchor provides stability to a ship, the Anchor Framework gives you a solid, reliable foundation to build upon. It keeps your application grounded with robust architecture, proven patterns, and production-ready features.
In software development, we don't just deploy code, we ship it. Anchor is designed to help you confidently ship quality code to production. Every feature, from the ORM to the queue system, is built with production readiness in mind.
- Module-Based Architecture: Organize code by feature, not just file type.
- Lightweight Core: Fast request lifecycle with minimal overhead.
- Powerful ORM: Eloquent-like syntax for database interactions.
- Convention over Configuration: Sensible defaults to get you started quickly.
- Built-in Tools: CLI, Migrations, Queues, Mailer, and more.
- Zero-Bloat: Minimized external dependencies in favor of integrated, optimized solutions.
Anchor is designed for modern PHP environments. Ensure your system meets these requirements:
- PHP: >= 8.2
- Database: SQLite (default), MySQL 8.0+, or PostgreSQL 15+
- Extensions: PDO, Mbstring, OpenSSL, Ctype, JSON, BCMath, cURL, ZipArchive, Tokenizer, fileinfo
- Composer: Dependency Manager (for Managed Mode)
Anchor provides two ways to build your application: Managed (via Composer) and Standalone (Portable).
The recommended way to start is with the Anchor Skeleton:
# Create project from skeleton
composer create-project beniyke/anchor-skeleton my-app
# Initialize the framework
cd my-app
php dockChoosing the "Managed" option in the dock tool will provision the latest version of the framework.
Copy the example environment file and configure your settings:
cp .env.example .envRun the migrations to create your core application tables:
# Run database migrations
php dock migration:runKeep your framework core up to date with a single command:
php dock anchor:updateIt intelligently handles both Managed (Composer) and Standalone (Hydrated) installations.
Full documentation is available in the docs/ directory.
- Installation - Managed vs Standalone setups
- Introduction - Core philosophy and metaphors
- Architecture - How Anchor works under the hood
- Package Management - Extending the framework
The Anchor Framework is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.