LighthouseAn Educational PHP Framework

Learn how modern frameworks work by building one from scratch

Get Started

View on GitHub

📚

Built for Learning

Every component is designed to be read and understood. No magic, no hidden complexity.

🧩

Component-Based

Seven independent packages that work together. Use them all or pick what you need.

🎯

PSR Compliant

Built on PHP standards — PSR-7, PSR-11, PSR-15. Learn patterns used by Laravel and Symfony.

⚡

Modern PHP

Strict types, named arguments, attributes. PHP 8.2+ best practices throughout.

Quick Start

bash

composer create-project lighthouse/skeleton my-app
cd my-app
composer start

Then visit http://localhost:8000

Why Lighthouse?

Most PHP developers use frameworks without understanding how they work internally. Lighthouse exists to change that.

This isn't another framework competing with Laravel or Symfony. It's an educational accelerator designed to make those frameworks understandable.

After working through Lighthouse, you'll:

Understand the HTTP request lifecycle
Know how dependency injection really works
See why middleware is powerful
Feel confident reading framework source code

The Packages

Package	Description
lighthouse/http	PSR-7 HTTP messages
lighthouse/container	PSR-11 dependency injection
lighthouse/middleware	PSR-15 middleware pipeline
lighthouse/router	HTTP routing with parameters
lighthouse/view	PHP template engine
lighthouse/error-handler	Error and exception handling
lighthouse/framework	The application kernel