Getting Started
Why StrataPHP Exists
PHP has two types of frameworks in 2026:
Micro
Slim, Flight. Great for 3 files. Painful at 30 files.
Full-stack
Laravel, Symfony. Great at 30 files. Slow and magical at 3 files.
Strata is the missing middle. We took the layers every PHP app eventually needs — routing, DI, HTTP, config, CLI — and implemented them with zero magic and zero lock-in.
Design Goals
Explicit > Implicit
No method name conventions. No “if a class exists in this folder it’s auto-registered”. You wire it, you see it, you control it.
Composition > Inheritance
You won’t extend BaseController. You’ll typehint services. Middleware over base classes. Traits over abstract monsters.
Standards > Snowflakes
If a PSR exists, we use it. PSR-7, 11, 15, 3, 14. Your knowledge and packages are portable. Leave Strata anytime. Keep your code.
Fast by Default
No bootstrap caches to warm. No service providers to defer.
Boring Technology
No new query language. No template DSL. No custom container format. If it’s in the PHP manual, it’s fair game. If it’s not, we probably didn’t add it.
When NOT to use Strata
- You need admin panels day 1 → Use Laravel
- Building a 2-route webhook → Use Slim or index.php
- Team only knows Laravel → Retraining isn’t worth it
When TO use Strata
- Building APIs that need to last 5+ years
- You hate debugging framework magic at 2am
- Want to onboard juniors with var_dump not tinker
- Embedding PHP into larger systems