When I first introduced MonkeysLegion on the internet, it was “just” a new PHP 8 framework with a bold promise:
Let modern teams move from commit to cloud without the boilerplate.
Back then, that promise was mostly about vision. The core worked, but a lot was still in motion: APIs were evolving, packages were experimental, and I was shipping fast to prove the ideas.
Fast-forward to v1.0.8 of the framework (and beyond into 1.0.x), and MonkeysLegion has grown into a mature, modular ecosystem: a set of focused packages, a production-ready skeleton, batteries-included tooling, and opinionated patterns that have already been battle-tested in real projects.
This article is about that journey:
What MonkeysLegion is in practice
- How it helps you ship production code faster
- What changed from 1.0.0 to the 1.0.8+ line
- Why I believe it’s now a solid choice for real apps
- How you can contribute and help shape where it goes next
What is MonkeysLegion, really?
MonkeysLegion is a feather-light, modular PHP 8+ framework designed to bridge the gap between “micro-frameworks that make you build everything yourself” and “mega-frameworks that feel like a monolith.”
The official homepage describes it as:
“A lightweight, modular framework that lets modern teams move from commit to cloud without the boilerplate.”
In practical terms, a MonkeysLegion application is built on top of:
- PSR-11 DI container with configuration-first definitions
- PSR-7/15 HTTP stack (requests, responses, middleware, emitter)
- An attribute-based router with auto-discovery (no giant route files)
- Validation layer with DTO binding + attribute constraints
- MLView component templating (Blade-style but framework-native)
- CLI toolbox for migrations, cache, key-gen, scaffolding
- An Entity → Migration SQL diff generator for schema evolution
- GitHub
On top of that, the ecosystem includes first-party packages for auth, query builder & micro-ORM, files & storage, Stripe payments, logging, dev server with hot-reload, telemetry, and more.
Why another PHP framework?
This is the question I answered when announcing v1.0.0 on dev.to:
MonkeysLegion was built for teams who want lightning-fast performance without the heavyweight abstractions of legacy stacks.
The goal isn’t to “beat” Laravel or Symfony. The goal is to serve teams that:
- Want fast startup with production-ready defaults
- Prefer explicit configuration over magical conventions
- Need cloud-native patterns (observability, rate-limiting, OpenAPI) baked in
- Care about maintainable, typed code and clean separation of boundaries
MonkeysLegion wants you to move quickly without paying for that speed later in unmaintainable code.
From v1.0.0 to v1.0.8+: what actually matured?
Version numbers can be misleading. “1.0.0” is technically stable, but in most OSS projects 1.0.0 is when the real testing begins. That was true for MonkeysLegion as well.
Between 1.0.0 and 1.0.8+, a lot changed:
1. A real ecosystem of first-party packages
What started as a single repo has evolved into a set of focused, versioned packages, all published on Packagist under the monkeyscloud/monkeyslegion-* namespace.
Some highlights:
-
monkeyslegion-core– kernel, events, core helpers - Libraries.io
-
monkeyslegion-http&monkeyslegion-router– PSR-7/15 stack + attribute router -
monkeyslegion-query– Query Builder & Micro-ORM, PDO-based, with advanced queries, transactions, repositories, pagination, streaming, and support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite -
monkeyslegion-auth– drop-in JWT-based auth & authorization layer -
monkeyslegion-files– file storage & uploads abstraction (local/S3/GCS) -
monkeyslegion-dev-server– hot-reload dev server built on PHP’s native web server -
monkeyslegion-logger– advanced logger using PSR-3 & Monolog, fully typed -
monkeyslegion-stripe– first-class Stripe integration for payments and subscriptions
This modularization is a big part of “maturity”:
- You can opt into only what you need.
- Each package has its own versioning & changelog.
- Bugs can be fixed and features shipped without destabilizing the framework.
2. A production-ready skeleton
The MonkeysLegion Skeleton repo is now the canonical way to start a project. It’s a “batteries-included” starter that wires together the DI container, HTTP stack, router, validation, rate-limiter, MLView templating, CLI, and swagger/OpenAPI out of the box.
GitHub
That means you can go from:
composer create-project "monkeyscloud/monkeyslegion-skeleton" my-app
cd my-app
php vendor/bin/ml serve
…to a running app with:
-
/→ home route -
/docs→ live Swagger UI -
/openapi.json→ generated OpenAPI 3.1 spec - Ready-to-extend config files for DI, routes, and environment
You don’t have to “assemble a framework” yourself; you start from something that has already been battle-tested in real projects, then customize.
3. Dev experience: the hot-reload dev server
One of the biggest jumps in DX has been the MonkeysLegion Dev Server (monkeyslegion-dev-server)
Instead of manually running php -S and restarting when files change, you get:
- start, stop, restart, status commands
- Zero configuration for standard MonkeysLegion apps
- Two hot-reload modes:
- entr (recommended) for efficient file watching
- Built-in PHP watcher for environments where entr isn’t available
It’s a small thing, but it turns the framework into something that feels modern:
save → server restarts → refresh → done.
4. Database layer that grew up
The Query Builder & Micro-ORM (monkeyslegion-query) has probably seen the most action. Originally a simple fluent wrapper over PDO, it has matured into a package that can stand on its own:
- Fluent, chainable API (
select,join,where,groupBy,having, etc.) - Automatic parameter binding to prevent SQL injection
- Transaction support including savepoints
- Advanced queries: joins, subqueries, unions, CTEs
- Built-in Repository pattern with typed entities
- Streaming & chunking for large datasets
- Pagination helpers
If you’ve ever bounced between “raw PDO” and “too heavy ORM”, this is meant to fit the sweet spot: expressive yet predictable.
How MonkeysLegion helps you develop faster
Let’s turn all this into concrete benefits for day-to-day development.
. 1. Clear separation of concerns
Because the framework is organized around PSR standards and explicit boundaries, your code tends to naturally fall into clean layers:
- Actions / Controllers handle HTTP
- Services encapsulate business logic
- Repositories handle persistence via
monkeyslegion-query - DTOs + Validators guard your input and output
- Templates (MLView) render views
That makes it easier to:
- Write unit tests for each layer
- Swap implementations (e.g., DB driver, storage backend)
- Onboard new team members (“here’s where we put X”)
2. A router that stays out of your way
The attribute-based router lets you define routes right next to your controllers, with typed signatures and middleware attributes.
A typical action might look like:
use MonkeysLegion\Http\Attributes\Route;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
final class HelloAction
{
#[Route('GET', '/hello')]
public function __invoke(ServerRequestInterface $request): ResponseInterface
{
$name = $request->getQueryParams()['name'] ?? 'world';
return ml_view('hello', ['name' => $name]);
}
}
No massive routing file. No “route caching dance.” Just attributes, auto-discovery, and type-safe handlers.
3. Built-in OpenAPI & documentation
Because the skeleton comes with OpenAPI 3.1 generation and Swagger UI, documenting your APIs isn’t an afterthought.
As you annotate your handlers and DTOs, the framework can produce machine-readable API specs, which means:
- Better collaboration with frontend teams
- Easier client generation
- Less outdated docs
4. Cloud-native mindset from day one
From rate-limiting to telemetry, MonkeysLegion pushes you toward cloud-ready defaults:
- Sliding-window rate limiter (IP + user buckets) baked into the skeleton
- Clear HTTP and middleware boundaries (easy to integrate with gateways)
- Logging & telemetry packages that play nicely with modern observability stacks
The result: your app is more prepared for real production traffic without heroic refactors.
Why 1.0.8+ feels “mature”
So, what does “maturity” mean in this context?
For MonkeysLegion, maturity at 1.0.8+ looks like:
-
Stable public APIs
- Core contracts and namespaces are no longer moving targets.
- SemVer is respected: breaking changes are either postponed or properly versioned.
-
Package ecosystem instead of a monolith
- Auth, Stripe, Files, Query, Dev Server, Logger, Telemetry, etc. all live in their own repos and versions.
-
Used in real projects (not just demos)
- The skeleton and core packages are already running production apps, which has driven fixes around performance, DX, and edge cases.
-
Tooling that feels cohesive
- Dev server, CLI, migrations, OpenAPI, auth, logging — all share the same design language and conventions.
MonkeysLegion has moved from “cool framework on paper” to “this is something you can actually bet a project on.”
Getting started in a few minutes
If you want to try it out, here’s the quickest path:
composer create-project "monkeyscloud/monkeyslegion-skeleton" my-app
cd my-app
# Start dev server (hot-reload if `entr` is installed)
composer serve
Then open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser, and you should see the default skeleton app with docs and health routes ready to go
How to contribute (and why I’d love your help)
MonkeysLegion is MIT licensed and lives on GitHub at:
github.com/MonkeysCloud/MonkeysLegion-Skeleton
There are lots of ways to help, even if you don’t consider yourself a “framework author”:
- Use it on a side project and open issues when you hit rough edges.
- Contribute to docs, examples, and guides — these matter as much as code.
- Help improve integrations (Stripe, queues, 3rd-party APIs).
- Add starter templates: API-only, multi-tenant SaaS, headless CMS, etc.
- Help with benchmarks, performance profiling, and comparisons.
If you’ve ever wanted to influence how a modern PHP framework feels — especially one that cares about both DX and cloud-native patterns — this is your chance to help shape it early, while it’s already stable enough to be useful.
Final thoughts
MonkeysLegion started as an experiment: what if a PHP framework could feel as modern and cloud-aware as the stacks we see in Node, Go, and modern JVM land — without giving up PHP’s strengths?
At 1.0.8+, it’s no longer just an experiment. It’s a practical, production-ready toolkit for teams who want:
- Explicit architecture
- Strong defaults
- Real-world performance
- And a framework that stays out of the way when it should
If that resonates with you, spin up the skeleton, break things, open issues, and send PRs. I’d love to see what you build with it — and how your feedback can push the 1.0.x line into something that serves the community even better.
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