Composer Installation

App Starter
Installation & Set Up
Upgrading
Pros
Cons
Structure
Latest Dev
Adding CodeIgniter4 to an Existing Project
Set Up
Upgrading
Pros
Cons
Structure
Translations Installation
Composer can be used in several ways to install CodeIgniter4 on your system.

The first two techniques describe creating a skeleton project using CodeIgniter4,
that you would then use as the base for a new webapp. The third technique described
below lets you add CodeIgniter4 to an existing webapp,

Note

If you are using a Git repository to store your code, or for collaboration with
others, then the vendor folder would normally be �git ignored�. In such a case, you
will need to do a composer update when you clone the repository to a new system.

App Starter
The CodeIgniter 4 app starter repository holds a skeleton application, with a
composer dependency on the latest released version of the framework.

This installation technique would suit a developer who wishes to start a new
CodeIgniter4 based project.

Installation & Set Up

In the folder above your project root:

> composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter project-root

The command above will create a �project-root� folder.

If you omit the �project-root� argument, the command will create an �appstarter�
folder, which can be renamed as appropriate.

If you don�t need or want phpunit installed, and all of its composer dependencies,
then add the --no-dev option to the end of the above command line. That will result
in only the framework, and the three trusted dependencies that we bundle, being
composer-installed.

A sample such installation command, using the default project-root �appstarter�:

> composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter --no-dev

After installation you should follow the steps in the �Upgrading� section.

Upgrading
Whenever there is a new release, then from the command line in your project root:

> composer update

If you want to compare the latest framework source structure for non-system
directory (app, public, etc), you can update with --prefer-source:
> composer update codeigniter4/framework --prefer-source
If --prefer-source doesn�t automatically update to pull latest framework source
structure, you can remove first:

rm -rf vendor/codeigniter4/framework && composer update codeigniter4/framework --

prefer-source
If you used the --no-dev option when you created the project, it would be
appropriate to do so here too, i.e., composer update --no-dev.

Read the upgrade instructions, and check Breaking Changes and Enhancements.

Pros
Simple installation; easy to update

Cons
You still need to check for app/Config changes after updating

Structure
Folders in your project after set up:

app, public, tests, writable

vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system
vendor/codeigniter4/framework/app & public (compare with yours after updating when
using --prefer-source)
Latest Dev
The App Starter repo comes with a builds scripts to switch Composer sources between
the current stable release and the latest development branch of the framework. Use
this script for a developer who is willing to live with the latest unreleased
changes, which may be unstable.

The development user guide is accessible online. Note that this differs from the
released user guide, and will pertain to the develop branch explicitly.

In your project root:

php builds development

The command above will update composer.json to point to the develop branch of the
working repository, and update the corresponding paths in config and XML files. To
revert these changes run:

php builds release

After using the builds command be sure to run composer update to sync your vendor
folder with the latest target build.

Adding CodeIgniter4 to an Existing Project

The same CodeIgniter 4 framework repository described in �Manual Installation� can
also be added to an existing project using Composer.

Develop your app inside the app folder, and the public folder will be your document
root.

In your project root:

> composer require codeigniter4/framework --prefer-source

As with the earlier two composer install methods, you can omit installing phpunit
and its dependencies by adding the --no-dev argument to the composer require
command.
Set Up
Copy the app, public, and writable folders from vendor/codeigniter4/framework to
your project root

Copy the env, phpunit.xml.dist and spark files, from vendor/codeigniter4/framework

to your project root

You will have to adjust the system path to refer to the vendor one, e.g.,
ROOTPATH . '/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system', - the $systemDirectory variable
in app/Config/Paths.php

Upgrading
Whenever there is a new release, then from the command line in your project root:

> composer update --prefer-source

Read the upgrade instructions, and check Breaking Changes and Enhancements.

Pros
Relatively simple installation; easy to update

Cons
You still need to check for app/Config changes after updating

Structure
Folders in your project after set up:

app, public, writable (when using --prefer-source)

vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system
Translations Installation
If you want to take advantage of the system message translations, they can be added
to your project in a similar fashion.

From the command line inside your project root:

> composer require codeigniter4/translations

These will be updated along with the framework whenever you do a composer update.