CLI Tool

LavaLust includes a built-in command-line interface (CLI) tool called lava for scaffolding application files and running the development server. It eliminates the need to manually create boilerplate files.

The lava script lives in your project root and is executed via PHP from your terminal.

php lava <command> [argument]

Note

The lava script is CLI-only. Accessing it through a web browser will be blocked automatically.

Available Commands

Command	Description
`run [port]`	Starts the PHP built-in development server (default port: 3000)
`make:controller <name>`	Generates a controller class in `app/controllers/`
`make:model <name>`	Generates a model class in `app/models/`
`make:helper <name>`	Generates a helper file in `app/helpers/`
`make:library <name>`	Generates a library class in `app/libraries/`
`make:view <name>`	Generates a view file in `app/views/`
`make:language <name>`	Generates a language file in `app/language/`
`make:config <name>`	Generates a config file in `app/config/`
`make:middleware <name>`	Generates a middleware class in `app/middlewares/`

Development Server

`run [port]`

Starts the PHP built-in development server pointing to the public/ directory. The default port is 3000 if none is specified.

# Start on default port 3000
php lava run

# Start on a custom port
php lava run 8080
php lava run 4545

Output:

Starting LavaLust development server...
Server running on: http://127.0.0.1:3000
Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

Note

The server requires a public/ directory in your project root. An error is shown if it cannot be found.

Generating Files

All make:* commands accept a name argument. Forward slashes (/) create subdirectories inside the target folder. Generated files include boilerplate code and will not overwrite existing files.

make:controller

Creates a controller class extending Controller in app/controllers/.

php lava make:controller Dashboard
php lava make:controller Admin/UserController

Generated file (app/controllers/Dashboard.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * Controller: Dashboard
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */
class Dashboard extends Controller {

    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }
}

make:model

Creates a model class extending Model in app/models/. Includes default $table, $primary_key, $fillable, and $guarded properties.

php lava make:model UserModel
php lava make:model Blog/PostModel

Generated file (app/models/UserModel.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * Model: UserModel
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */
class UserModel extends Model {

    protected $table       = '';
    protected $primary_key = 'id';
    protected $fillable    = [];
    protected $guarded     = ['id'];

    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }
}

make:helper

Creates a helper file with a starter function in app/helpers/. The filename is suffixed with _helper.php automatically.

php lava make:helper text
php lava make:helper String/format

Generated file (app/helpers/text_helper.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * Helper: text_helper.php
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */
function text_helper()
{
    // Your helper logic here
}

make:library

Creates a standalone library class in app/libraries/.

php lava make:library PDF
php lava make:library Payment/Stripe

Generated file (app/libraries/PDF.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * Library: PDF
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */
class PDF {

    public function __construct()
    {
        // Library initialized
    }
}

make:view

Creates an HTML view file in app/views/.

php lava make:view homepage
php lava make:view user/profile

Generated file (app/views/homepage.php):

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Homepage</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to Homepage View</h1>
</body>
</html>

make:language

Creates a language file in app/language/. Useful for multi-language support.

php lava make:language en-US
php lava make:language tag-PH

Generated file (app/language/en-US.php):

<?php
return array(
    /**
     * Other strings to be translated here
     */
    'welcome' => 'Hello {username} {type}',
);

make:config

Creates a blank configuration file in app/config/.

php lava make:config auth
php lava make:config payment

Generated file (app/config/auth.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * Config: auth
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */

// Add your configuration here

make:middleware

Creates a middleware class in app/middlewares/. The class name is automatically suffixed with Middleware.

php lava make:middleware Auth
php lava make:middleware Admin/Role

Generated file (app/middlewares/AuthMiddleware.php):

<?php
defined('PREVENT_DIRECT_ACCESS') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

use Closure;

/**
 * Middleware: AuthMiddleware
 *
 * Automatically generated via CLI.
 */
class AuthMiddleware
{
    /**
     * Handle the incoming request
     *
     * @param Closure $next
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function handle(Closure $next)
    {
        // TODO: Add your middleware logic here (authentication, authorization, etc.)

        return $next();
    }
}

Note

After generating a middleware, register it in app/config/middleware.php before attaching it to routes.

Subdirectory Support

All make:* commands support nested subdirectories using forward slashes. The CLI creates any missing intermediate directories automatically.

Command	Generated Path
`php lava make:controller Admin/UserController`	`app/controllers/Admin/UserController.php`
`php lava make:model Blog/PostModel`	`app/models/Blog/PostModel.php`
`php lava make:view user/profile`	`app/views/user/profile.php`
`php lava make:middleware Admin/Role`	`app/middlewares/Admin/RoleMiddleware.php`
`php lava make:library Payment/Stripe`	`app/libraries/Payment/Stripe.php`

File Overwrite Protection

If a file already exists at the target path, the CLI will not overwrite it. An error message is shown instead:

Controller "Dashboard" already exists.

To regenerate a file, delete the existing one manually first.

Getting Help

Running php lava with no arguments prints the full command reference:

php lava

Output:

LavaLust CLI Code Generator
Usage: php lava <command> [options]

Available Commands:

  run [port]          → Start PHP built-in development server (default: 3000)
    Example: php lava run
    Example: php lava run 4545
    Example: php lava run 8080

  make:controller     → Creates a controller
    Example: php lava make:controller Dashboard

  make:model          → Creates a model
    Example: php lava make:model Blog/PostModel

  make:helper         → Creates a helper
    Example: php lava make:helper text

  make:library        → Creates a library
    Example: php lava make:library PDF

  make:view           → Creates a view file
    Example: php lava make:view homepage

  make:language       → Creates a language file
    Example: php lava make:language tag-PH

  make:config         → Creates a config file
    Example: php lava make:config auth

  make:middleware     → Creates a middleware
    Example: php lava make:middleware Auth
    Example: php lava make:middleware Admin/Role

Tips and Best Practices

Run php lava run during development instead of configuring a full web server.
Use subdirectory syntax (e.g. Admin/UserController) from the start to keep large applications organized.
After generating a model, set $table, $fillable, and $guarded before using it.
After generating middleware, always register it in app/config/middleware.php before attaching it to routes.
Generated files are a starting point — add your own logic after scaffolding.
Use make:config for any feature-specific settings instead of adding everything to the main config.php.

CLI Tool

Available Commands

Development Server

run [port]

Generating Files

make:controller

make:model

make:helper

make:library

make:view

make:language

make:config

make:middleware

Subdirectory Support

File Overwrite Protection

Getting Help

Tips and Best Practices

`run [port]`