Backend Overview

handlr-backend (phillipsharring/handlr-backend, namespace Handlr\) is a lightweight, middleware-style PHP framework built around the Pipe + Handler pattern. It separates HTTP concerns from business logic, and makes object-level authorization structural rather than something you remember to check.

The design bias is explicit over magic: constructor injection everywhere, no static global state, small interfaces you can read top to bottom. It is not a framework pretending to be Laravel — there are no facades and nothing resolves out of a hidden global.

The core abstractions

• Pipe — onion middleware that sees Request/Response. Auth, validation, CORS, CSRF, resolution. Short-circuits by returning a Response instead of calling $next.
• Handler — pure business logic. Receives a typed HandlerInput, returns a HandlerResult. No HTTP awareness — the same handler serves an HTTP request and an event dispatch.
• HandlerInput — a validated, sanitized input object. Identical whether the input came from an HTTP request or an event.
• HandlerResult — a structured outcome: $this->result->ok($data) or $this->result->fail($errors). A value, never a thrown string.

Below the pipe layer, everything is Handler/HandlerInput.

The request path

Kernel  →  Router::dispatch()  →  request-scoped Container  →  Pipeline of Pipes  →  Handler

Two ideas hold it together:

• Laziness — route pipes and the handler are deferred, constructed only when the chain reaches them. An auth or policy short-circuit means the handler never exists.
• Scope binding — each request gets a throwaway child container. A pipe can bind a value into it (a resolved record); a downstream handler receives that value by type hint. No request bag, no string keys.

Read Core Concepts for the full flow.

Where to go next

Page	What it covers
Core Concepts	Pipe / Handler / Input / Result, the lifecycle, laziness
Container	DI and the request scope
Routing & Junctions	routes, groups, junctions, resolve/policy binding
Authorization	resolve → consult → bind: policies, resolution, invariants
Validation	the rule/sanitizer engine
Database	Table, Record, Db, Query, migrations
API Responses	the JSON envelope (Presenter)
Auth	session auth + coarse permissions
Events & Listeners	the synchronous event bus
Service Providers	how features register themselves
CLI & Makers	composer run make:*, migrate, seed

Install

composer require phillipsharring/handlr-backend

Or scaffold a full app (backend + frontend) with composer create-project phillipsharring/handlr-app my-project — see Installation.