Vökuró

Vökuró is the sample application for the Phalcon Framework. It showcases authentication, ACL-based permissions, user/profile management, forms, mailing and more.

It runs on Phalcon v5 (the C extension, default) and on Phalcon v6 (the phalcon/phalcon package, currently alpha) from the same source.

Requirements

• PHP 8.1 - 8.5
• MySQL 8.0 (provided by the Docker stack)
• Docker + Docker Compose (recommended), or a local PHP with the Phalcon extension (see docs/installation.md)

Quick start (Docker)

cp resources/.env.example .env
docker compose up -d --build

# Create and seed the database (migrations are not run on boot)
docker compose exec app composer migrate
docker compose exec app composer seed

Note: app is the Compose service name, used as-is by docker compose exec above. The running container, however, is named ${PROJECT_PREFIX}-app - vokuro-app by default, set via PROJECT_PREFIX in .env. If you address it with plain docker exec, type your container name instead, e.g. docker exec vokuro-app composer migrate (substitute your own prefix).

Then open:

• Application: http://localhost:8080
• Mailpit (captured e-mails): http://localhost:8025

The container waits for MySQL and serves the app; migrations are decoupled from boot - apply them with the commands above. Log in with one of the seeded accounts, e.g. [email protected] / password1.

Choosing the Phalcon version

docker compose up -d --build                      # v5 (C extension, default)
PHALCON_VARIANT=v6 docker compose up -d --build   # v6 (phalcon/phalcon, alpha)

The two are mutually exclusive: the v5 image installs the C extension, the v6 image installs the pure-PHP package instead.

Choosing the PHP version

The image is built for one PHP version at a time, selected with the PHP_VERSION build arg (default 8.5; supported 8.1-8.5):

docker compose up -d --build                  # PHP 8.5 (default)
PHP_VERSION=8.1 docker compose up -d --build  # PHP 8.1
PHP_VERSION=8.2 docker compose up -d --build  # PHP 8.2
PHP_VERSION=8.3 docker compose up -d --build  # PHP 8.3
PHP_VERSION=8.4 docker compose up -d --build  # PHP 8.4

PIE compiles the Phalcon C extension (and pcov) from source for the selected version. The container keeps the same name (vokuro-app), so each rebuild replaces the previous one. To run several versions side by side, give each its own Compose project and prefix:

PHP_VERSION=8.1 PROJECT_PREFIX=vokuro81 docker compose -p vokuro81 up -d --build
# then: docker exec -w /srv vokuro81-app composer test

Quick start (Composer)

Prefer a local PHP over Docker? Bootstrap a fresh copy straight from Packagist:

composer create-project phalcon/vokuro vokuro
cd vokuro

The post-create hook copies resources/.env.example to .env and prints the next steps; docs/installation.md has the full local walkthrough (environment, database, serving). Out of the box the app runs on the bundled phalcon/phalcon (v6) package - no extension needed. To run on the Phalcon v5 C extension instead, install it with PIE as described in step 1 of the local setup; once the extension is loaded, PHP prefers it automatically and the bundled v6 package is simply shadowed - it can stay installed.

Composer scripts

Run them inside the container, e.g. docker compose exec app composer cs:

Script	Description
composer cs	PHP_CodeSniffer (PSR-12)
composer cs-fix	Auto-fix coding standard issues (phpcbf)
composer cs-fixer	PHP CS Fixer (dry-run)
composer cs-fixer-fix	Apply PHP CS Fixer
composer analyze	PHPStan static analysis
composer test	PHPUnit suites (unit, functional, browser) via vendor/bin/talon
composer test-coverage	PHPUnit + Clover coverage (tests/_output/coverage.xml)
composer migrate	Run database migrations (Phinx)
composer seed	Seed the database

composer analyze resolves Phalcon classes from the phalcon/phalcon (v6) source, so run it where the v5 C extension is not loaded (the CI quality job, or a plain host). The coding-standard and test scripts are unaffected.

Debug Bar

Vökuró wires up the Phalcon debug bar. A single events manager is registered as a shared service (src/Providers/EventsManagerProvider.php) and handed to the database, view, router, and dispatcher providers; src/Providers/DebugBarProvider.php then boots the bar against the application. Once the app is running, a status bar appears at the bottom of every HTML page with per-request diagnostics - timing, the matched route, database queries and their bound parameters, rendered views, and the session, config, and request data.

The bar runs in development only. It is gated by APP_ENV, which resources/.env.example sets to development; it does not boot when APP_ENV is production or prod. See the debug bar package for configuration and the full list of collectors.

Running the tests

The suite is split into three PHPUnit testsuites - unit, functional, and browser (in-process browser testing through phalcon/talon). The Docker stack provides everything they need: a seeded MySQL database and a Mailpit SMTP catcher, so no e-mail ever leaves the host.

docker compose up -d --build
docker compose exec app composer migrate          # once - create the schema
docker compose exec app composer seed             # once - load fixtures

docker compose exec app composer test             # the full suite
docker compose exec app composer test-coverage    # + Clover coverage in tests/_output

Test secrets

The test configuration lives in tests/.env.test and is loaded automatically by tests/bootstrap.php - you do not need to supply anything by hand:

Variable	Value	Purpose
APP_CRYPT_SALT	(preset)	crypt key for the session / security services
DB_USERNAME / DB_PASSWORD	root / secret	matches the MySQL container's root password
DB_NAME	vokuro	the migrated and seeded test database
MAIL_SMTP_SERVER / MAIL_SMTP_PORT	127.0.0.1 / 1025	Mailpit catcher - tests never reach a real SMTP server

Real OS / CI environment variables take precedence over tests/.env.test, so the same suite runs unchanged inside Docker (service-name hosts mysql / mailpit) and on a native host or in CI (loopback 127.0.0.1). The only secret that is not local is SONAR_TOKEN, a GitHub Actions secret used solely by the sonarqube job.

Updating Phalcon

• v5 - bump PHALCON_V5_CONSTRAINT in resources/docker/Dockerfile and rebuild: docker compose build app. PIE compiles the C extension from source (this is the only way to update a C extension).
• v6 - docker compose exec app composer update phalcon/phalcon (no rebuild). Dependabot opens the bump PR automatically.

Project layout

Follows the PDS skeleton:

config/     application configuration
docs/       documentation
public/     web server root
resources/  tooling configs, docker, phinx, migrations, seeds
src/        application source
tests/      PHPUnit suites (unit, functional, browser)
themes/     Volt views
var/        runtime cache and logs

License

Vökuró is open-sourced software licensed under the New BSD License. See LICENSE.