I’m building MonkeysLegion, an open-source PHP 8 framework (MIT) with batteries included: DI, HTTP layer, router, ORM, task runner, DevOps hooks, and a soon-to-follow CMS.
The core pieces are in place, and I’d love your help polishing, testing, and dreaming up killer features. Frontend, backend, docs, design—every contribution matters. 🚀
🐒 Why Another Framework?
Over 20 years of building SaaS products, I kept rewriting the same boilerplate: routing, DI, env handling, content negotiation, CRUD scaffolds, CI/CD glue…
MonkeysLegion is my attempt to:
- Embrace modern PHP 8 features (attributes, union types, constructor promotion).
- Stay unopinionated where it matters (bring your own templating, DBAL, or frontend).
- Bake in DevOps from day 1 (Docker, Terraform snippets, zero-downtime deploy hooks).
- Be genuinely fun to hack on—fast DX, hot-reload dev server, readable codebase.
When the framework feels solid, a headless CMS will sit on top (codename MonkeyCMS).
🛠️ What’s Done So Far?
- Core HTTP kernel with PSR-7/15 compliance.
- Router (regex + attributes) and DI container inspired by PHP-DI.
- Task runner CLI (monkey run migrate, monkey stub controller, …).
- Database layer (lightweight ORM built on top of Doctrine DBAL).
- Dev server & hot-reload via ReactPHP.
- 80 % test coverage, GitHub Actions CI, release flow to Packagist.
🙌 How You Can Help
Back-end
- What we need: profiling, security audits, new middleware (rate-limit, i18n, GraphQL)
- Nice-to-have skills: PHP 8+, PHPUnit, OWASP, Doctrine
Front-end
- What we need: demo apps, starter templates (Next.js, Vue, Svelte)
- Nice-to-have skills: TypeScript, Tailwind, Vite
DevOps
- What we need: Docker Compose optimizations, K8s manifests, Terraform modules
- Nice-to-have skills: GCP, GitHub Actions, Pulumi
Docs
- What we need: tutorial rewrite, API reference, example projects
- Nice-to-have skills: Markdown, MkDocs, Docusaurus
Design / UX
- What we need: branding tweaks, CMS UI mock-ups
- Nice-to-have skills: Figma, Storybook
No contribution is too small—spelling fixes count! 🎉
🤝 How to Get Started
- Drop a comment here or ping me on LinkedIn / X (@yorchandroll)—tell me what you’d like to tackle.
- I’ll add you to the private repo + Discord.
- Pick an issue labeled good-first-issue or propose your own.
- Open a PR, follow the style-guide (PSR-12 + PHPStan lvl 9).
- Celebrate! Your name goes into the CONTRIBUTORS.md Hall of Fame.
🐵 Let’s Build Something Epic
I have time, $300 k in Google Cloud credits, and a burning desire to craft tools that make developers’ lives easier.
If that sounds like your jam, join the Legion. 💪🏽
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
See you in the code! ✌️
Top comments (2)
Hi, I really liked your ambitions, man. I also appreciate what you've done so far and the reasons behind it. I'd love to collaborate, even if I only have a bit of experience in PHP—not like you with 20 years! I've got just under a year, most of it with Laravel. But if I can help in any way, I’d be happy and proud to contribute.
I'm currently doing an internship, but if there's any chance to collaborate, tell me so I contact you. I’m available on weekends and after work.