BLEST PHP

The PHP reference implementation of BLEST (Batch-able, Lightweight, Encrypted State Transfer), an improved communication protocol for web APIs which leverages JSON, supports request batching and selective returns, and provides a modern alternative to REST. It includes examples for Leaf and Slim.

To learn more about BLEST, please refer to the white paper: https://jhunt.dev/BLEST%20White%20Paper.pdf

For a front-end implementation in Vue, please visit https://github.com/jhunt/blest-vue

Features

• Built on JSON - Reduce parsing time and overhead
• Request Batching - Save bandwidth and reduce load times
• Compact Payloads - Save more bandwidth
• Selective Returns - Save even more bandwidth
• Single Endpoint - Reduce complexity and improve data privacy
• Fully Encrypted - Improve data privacy

Installation

Install BLEST PHP with Composer.

composer require blest/blest

Usage

Use the RequestHandler class to create a request handler suitable for use in an existing PHP application. Use the HttpServer class to create a standalone HTTP server for your request handler. Use the HttpClient class to create a BLEST HTTP client.

RequestHandler

This example uses Slim, but you can find examples with other frameworks here.

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface as Response;
use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface as Request;
use Slim\Middleware\BodyParsingMiddleware;
use Slim\Factory\AppFactory;
use BLEST\BLEST\RequestHandler;

$app = AppFactory::create();

// Create some middleware (optional)
$authMiddleware = function($params, $context) {
  if ($params['name']) {
    $context['user'] = [
      'name' => $params['name']
    ];
  } else {
    throw new Exception('Unauthorized');
  }
};

// Create a route controller
$greetController = function($params, $context) {
  return [
    'greeting' => 'Hi, ' . $context['user']['name]' . '!'
  ];
};

// Create a request handler
$requestHandler = new RequestHandler([
    'greet' => [$authMiddleware, $greetController]
]);

// Parse the JSON body
$app->addBodyParsingMiddleware();

$app->post('/', function (Request $request, Response $response) use ($requestHandler) {
  $body = $request->getParsedBody();
  [$result, $error] = $requestHandler->handle($body);
  if ($error) {
    $response->getBody()->write(json_encode($error));
    return $response->withHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json')->withStatus(500);
  } else {
    $response->getBody()->write(json_encode($result));
    return $response->withHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json')->withStatus(200);
  }
});

$app->run();

HttpServer

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use BLEST\BLEST\HttpServer;
use BLEST\BLEST\RequestHandler;

// Create some middleware (optional)
$authMiddleware = function($params, &$context) {
  if ($params['name']) {
    $context['user'] = [
      'name' => $params['name']
    ];
  } else {
    throw new Exception('Unauthorized');
  }
};

// Create a route controller
$greetController = function($params, $context) {
  return [
    'greeting' => 'Hi, ' . $context['user']['name]' . '!'
  ];
};

// Create a request handler
$requestHandler = new RequestHandler([
    'greet' => [$authMiddleware, $greetController]
]);

$server = new HttpServer($requestHandler);

$server->run();

HttpClient

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use BLEST\BLEST\HttpClient;

// Create an HTTP client
$client = new HttpClient('http://localhost:8080', [
  'headers' => [
    'Authorization' => 'Bearer token'
  ]
]);

// Use the client to make a request
$client->request('greet', ['name' => 'Steve'], ['greeting'])

Contributing

We actively welcome pull requests. Learn how to contribute for more information.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.