Scaffolding

One command. Six files. A working CRUD feature with routes, templates, tests, and Swagger docs -- ready to run.

That is Tina4's scaffolding system. It generates the boilerplate you write by hand in every project: models, migrations, routes, forms, views, and tests. You describe what you want. The generators produce it.

---

The CRUD Generator

This is the generator most developers reach for first. It creates everything a feature needs in one shot.

tina4php generate crud Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

That single command creates six files:

#	File	Purpose
1	src/orm/Product.php	ORM model with typed fields
2	migrations/20260401_create_product.sql	UP migration (CREATE TABLE)
3	migrations/20260401_create_product.down.sql	DOWN migration (DROP TABLE)
4	src/routes/products.php	CRUD routes with Swagger annotations
5	src/templates/products/form.html	Form template with typed inputs and form_token
6	src/templates/products/view.html	List and detail templates
7	tests/ProductTest.php	PHPUnit stubs for all CRUD operations

What Each File Contains

The model maps the product table to a PHP class:

<?php

use Tina4\ORM;

class Product extends ORM
{
    public string $tableName = "product";
    public ?int $id = null;
    public ?string $name = null;
    public ?float $price = null;
    public ?string $createdAt = null;
    public ?string $updatedAt = null;
}

The migration creates the table:

-- migrations/20260401_create_product.sql
CREATE TABLE product (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    name VARCHAR(255),
    price FLOAT,
    created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    updated_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

The down migration reverses it:

-- migrations/20260401_create_product.down.sql
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS product;

The routes file wires up five endpoints with Swagger docs:

<?php

use Tina4\Get;
use Tina4\Post;
use Tina4\Put;
use Tina4\Delete;

Get::add("/api/products", function ($response, $request) {
    $products = (new Product())->select();
    return $response($products);
})->description("List all products");

Get::add("/api/products/{id}", function ($response, $request) {
    $product = new Product();
    $product->id = $request->params["id"];
    $product->load();
    return $response($product);
})->description("Get a product by ID");

Post::add("/api/products", function ($response, $request) {
    $product = new Product($request->body);
    $product->save();
    return $response($product, 201);
})->description("Create a product");

Put::add("/api/products/{id}", function ($response, $request) {
    $product = new Product($request->body);
    $product->id = $request->params["id"];
    $product->save();
    return $response($product);
})->description("Update a product");

Delete::add("/api/products/{id}", function ($response, $request) {
    $product = new Product();
    $product->id = $request->params["id"];
    $product->delete();
    return $response(null, 204);
})->description("Delete a product");

The form template renders typed inputs with CSRF protection:

<form method="POST" action="/api/products">
    <input type="hidden" name="form_token" value="{{ form_token }}">
    <label>Name</label>
    <input type="text" name="name" required>
    <label>Price</label>
    <input type="number" step="0.01" name="price" required>
    <button type="submit">Save</button>
</form>

The test file stubs out CRUD assertions:

<?php

use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
use Tina4\App;

class ProductTest extends TestCase
{
    private $client;

    protected function setUp(): void
    {
        $app = new App();
        $this->client = $app->testClient();
    }

    public function testCreateProduct(): void
    {
        $response = $this->client->post("/api/products", ["name" => "Widget", "price" => 9.99]);
        $this->assertEquals(201, $response->statusCode);
    }

    public function testListProducts(): void
    {
        $response = $this->client->get("/api/products");
        $this->assertEquals(200, $response->statusCode);
    }

    public function testGetProduct(): void
    {
        $response = $this->client->get("/api/products/1");
        $this->assertEquals(200, $response->statusCode);
    }

    public function testUpdateProduct(): void
    {
        $response = $this->client->put("/api/products/1", ["name" => "Updated Widget"]);
        $this->assertEquals(200, $response->statusCode);
    }

    public function testDeleteProduct(): void
    {
        $response = $this->client->delete("/api/products/1");
        $this->assertEquals(204, $response->statusCode);
    }
}

Run It

After generating, run the migration and start the server:

tina4php migrate
tina4php serve

Open Swagger UI at http://localhost:7146/swagger and test every endpoint. The scaffolded code works out of the box.

---

Individual Generators

The CRUD generator calls several smaller generators under the hood. You can call each one directly when you need a single piece.

Model

tina4php generate model Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates three files: the ORM model (src/orm/Product.php), the UP migration, and the DOWN migration. No routes, no templates, no tests.

Route

tina4php generate route products --model Product

Creates one file: src/routes/products.php with CRUD endpoints and Swagger annotations. The model must exist first.

Migration

tina4php generate migration add_category_to_product

Creates two files: migrations/20260401_add_category_to_product.sql and migrations/20260401_add_category_to_product.down.sql. Both are empty stubs. You write the SQL.

Middleware

tina4php generate middleware AuthLog

Creates one file with before and after stubs:

<?php

use Tina4\Middleware;

Middleware::add("AuthLogBefore", function ($request) {
    echo "Request: {$request->method} {$request->url}\n";
    return $request;
}, true); // before

Middleware::add("AuthLogAfter", function ($request, $response) {
    echo "Response: {$response->statusCode}\n";
    return $response;
}, false); // after

Test

tina4php generate test products --model Product

Creates one file: tests/ProductTest.php with PHPUnit CRUD stubs.

Form

tina4php generate form Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates one file: src/templates/products/form.html with typed inputs and form_token.

View

tina4php generate view Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Creates two templates: a list view and a detail view in src/templates/products/.

CRUD

tina4php generate crud Product --fields "name:string,price:float"

Shorthand for running all generators at once: model, migration, route, form, view, and test.

Auth

tina4php generate auth

Generates the full authentication scaffold: User model, migrations, login/register/logout routes, templates, and tests.

---

AutoCRUD

AutoCRUD automatically generates REST API endpoints from your ORM models:

• GET /api/{table} — List with pagination (?limit=10&offset=0)
• GET /api/{table}/{id} — Get single record
• POST /api/{table} — Create record
• PUT /api/{table}/{id} — Update record
• DELETE /api/{table}/{id} — Delete record

Usage

$crud = new AutoCrud($db, '/api');
$crud->register(User::class);
$crud->generateRoutes();

AutoCrud::register() wires up a single model class. generateRoutes() mounts the five standard endpoints automatically — no route files needed.

---

The Auth Generator

Authentication needs more than one file. The auth generator creates seven:

tina4php generate auth

#	File	Purpose
1	src/orm/User.php	User model with hashed password field
2	migrations/20260401_create_user.sql	UP migration
3	migrations/20260401_create_user.down.sql	DOWN migration
4	src/routes/auth.php	Login, register, logout routes
5	src/templates/auth/login.html	Login form
6	src/templates/auth/register.html	Registration form
7	tests/AuthTest.php	Auth flow tests

The generated routes handle password hashing, JWT token creation, and session management. The templates include CSRF tokens. The tests cover registration, login, invalid credentials, and logout.

Run the migration, start the server, and you have working auth:

tina4php migrate
tina4php serve

---

Field Types

Generators accept these field types. Each type maps to a specific column type in migrations, input type in forms, and display format in views.

Field Type	Migration Column	Form Input	View Display
string	VARCHAR(255)	<input type="text">	Plain text
int	INTEGER	<input type="number">	Number
float	FLOAT	<input type="number" step="0.01">	Decimal
bool	BOOLEAN	<input type="checkbox">	Yes / No
text	TEXT	<textarea>	Paragraph
datetime	DATETIME	<input type="datetime-local">	Formatted date
blob	BLOB	<input type="file">	Download link

Table Naming Convention

Tina4 uses singular table names. The model name Product maps to the table product. The model name OrderItem maps to order_item. The generator handles the conversion.

---

Combining Generators

Sometimes you want a model with routes but no form. Or a model with a migration but no test. The --with flags let you compose:

tina4php generate model Product --fields "name:string,price:float" --with-route --with-migration

Available flags:

Flag	Adds
--with-route	CRUD route file
--with-migration	Migration files (included by default with model)
--with-test	Test file
--with-form	Form template
--with-view	View templates

The generate crud command is equivalent to using all --with flags at once.

---

Exercise: Scaffold a Blog

Build a blog with three resources using generators.

Step 1: Generate the auth system.

tina4php generate auth

Step 2: Scaffold the Post resource.

tina4php generate crud Post --fields "title:string,body:text,published:bool"

Step 3: Scaffold the Category resource.

tina4php generate crud Category --fields "name:string,description:text"

Step 4: Add a migration to link posts to categories.

tina4php generate migration add_category_id_to_post

Edit the migration to add the foreign key:

ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN category_id INTEGER REFERENCES category(id);

Step 5: Run all migrations and start the server.

tina4php migrate
tina4php serve

You now have a working blog with authentication, posts, categories, and Swagger documentation. Total commands: five. Total hand-written SQL: one line.

---

Gotchas

Generators Do Not Overwrite

If a file exists, the generator skips it and prints a warning. This protects your edits. To regenerate, delete the file first.

Run Migrate After Generate

The model generator creates migration files. Those files do nothing until you run tina4php migrate. Generate and migrate are separate steps by design.

File Naming Matters

The generator derives file names from the model name. Product becomes Product.php for the model and products.php for routes. Do not rename generated files unless you update all imports.

Field Changes Need New Migrations

Changing --fields and re-running the generator does not update existing migrations. Create a new migration with generate migration and write the ALTER TABLE by hand.

Singular Table Names

Tina4 uses singular table names: product, not products. The route paths use plural (/api/products), but the table stays singular. The generator handles this split.