Using .env File in CodeIgniter 3

Learn how to use the .env file in CodeIgniter 3 to securely manage your environment variables and improve your application’s configuration structure.

Using environment variables via a .env file is a common best practice to keep sensitive configuration (like database credentials or any other secret or api keys) out of your codebase. .env file support is not provided in CodeIgniter 3 out of the box, but you can easily integrate it using the vlucas/phpdotenv library.

This guide will show you how to add .env file support in a CodeIgniter 3 application using the vlucas/phpdotenv library with Composer autoload enabled.

Prerequisites

Ensure your CodeIgniter project has Composer enabled by checking the following in application/config/config.php:

$config['composer_autoload'] = TRUE;

Step-by-Step Setup

The following are the steps to implement .env file support.

Step 1. Install vlucas/phpdotenv via Composer

In Codeigniter 3, composer.json is not available at the project root, but inside the application directory. So, to install any composer library, you have to first navigate to the application directory.

cd application/
composer require vlucas/phpdotenv

It will install the core files to add support for .env files.

Step 2. Create the .env File

At the root of your project (same level as index.php), create a file named .env with database configuration variables as a content:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=secret
DB_NAME=my_database

3. Load the .env in index.php

Open your index.php file and add the following code before the line that bootstraps CodeIgniter:

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

$dotenv = Dotenv\Dotenv::createImmutable(__DIR__);
$dotenv->load();

Add the above code in index.php file before the following line:

require_once BASEPATH.'core/CodeIgniter.php';

For older versions (PHP < 7.1 or Dotenv v2):

$dotenv = new Dotenv\Dotenv(__DIR__);
$dotenv->load();

This will load the .env file variables using the phpdotenv library. Now, all the variables used in .env file can be used in any code of the project.

4. Use Environment Variables in database.php

We defined the database configuration variables inside the .env file. To use these variables, open application/config/database.php and update the code as follows:

$db['default'] = array(
    'hostname' => getenv('DB_HOST'),
    'username' => getenv('DB_USERNAME'),
    'password' => getenv('DB_PASSWORD'),
    'database' => getenv('DB_NAME'),
    'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
    'db_debug' => (ENVIRONMENT !== 'production'),
    // ... other settings
);

Note: In some cases, getenv function may not work. Use $_ENV as an alternative.

Secutiry Tip

Never commit your .env file to version control. Add it to .gitignore

Conclusion

Now your CodeIgniter 3 app can securely use environment variables just like modern frameworks. This keeps your config clean, safe, and easy to manage across environments.

Build a Custom Multi-Column Checkbox Dropdown in Filament

Learn how to build a user-friendly multi-column custom checkbox dropdown using Laravel Filament to provide improved and better selection options for your users.

Filament is a powerful admin panel for Laravel, but sometimes your UI needs go beyond its built-in fields. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to build a custom checkbox dropdown component in Filament that supports multiple columns and compatible with dark mode.

Goal

We want to display a dropdown that, when opened, shows a list of checkboxes (e.g. for selecting items). The checkboxes should:

  • Be selectable via checkboxes
  • Be arranged in multiple columns
  • Store selections in a Livewire model
  • Work with dark mode

The purpose for this component is, I have a list of more than 100 entries. If I take CheckboxList component, all of these entries take so much space in UI. Similarly, If I add multiselect Select component, It will not show all entries at once and user have to type name to search for entries.

So, dropdown will reduce the space in UI and checkboxes solve searching problem.

Step 1: Create the Custom Field Component

Create the filament custom checkbox dropdown field component file at app/Forms/Components/CheckboxDropdown.php and add the following code.

<?php
namespace App\Forms\Components;

use Filament\Forms\Components\Field;

class CheckboxDropdown extends Field
{
    protected string $view = 'forms.components.checkbox-dropdown';

    protected array $options = [];

    protected int $checkboxColumns = 1;

    public function options(array $options): static
    {
        $this->options = $options;
        return $this;
    }

    public function getOptions(): array
    {
        return $this->evaluate($this->options);
    }

    public function checkboxColumns(int $count): static
    {
        $this->checkboxColumns = $count;
        return $this;
    }

    public function getCheckboxColumns(): int
    {
        return $this->evaluate($this->checkboxColumns);
    }
}

Step 2: Create a blade view file for the component

As mentioned in the component class, create a custom checkbox dropdown component view file at resources/views/forms/components/checkbox-dropdown.blade.php and add the following code.

@php
$options = collect($getOptions())->mapWithKeys(fn ($label, $id) => [(string) $id => $label]);
$jsonOptions = $options->toJson();
$gridCols = match ($getCheckboxColumns()) {
    1 => 'grid-cols-1',
    2 => 'grid-cols-2',
    3 => 'grid-cols-3',
    4 => 'grid-cols-4',
    default => 'grid-cols-1',
};
@endphp

<div
    x-data="{
        open: false,
        toggle() { this.open = !this.open },
        selected: @js($getState() ?? []),
        liveSelected: @entangle($attributes->wire('model')).defer,
        options: {{ $jsonOptions }} || {},
        isSelected(id) {
            return this.selected?.includes(id);
        },
        labelFor(id) {
            if (!this.options || typeof this.options !== 'object') return id;
            return this.options[id] ?? id;
        }
    }"
    class="relative">
    <!-- Trigger Button -->
    <button
        type="button"
        @click="toggle"
        class="w-full border rounded px-3 py-2 text-left bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 border-gray-300 dark:border-gray-700 text-gray-800 dark:text-gray-200 shadow-sm">
        <template x-if="selected?.length">
            <span x-text="selected.map(labelFor).join(', ')"></span>
        </template>
        <template x-if="!selected?.length">
            <span class="text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-500">Select items...</span>
        </template>
    </button>

    <!-- Dropdown Panel -->
    <div
        x-show="open"
        @click.away="open = false"
        x-cloak
        class="absolute z-10 w-full mt-1 rounded border bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 border-gray-300 dark:border-gray-700 shadow max-h-60 overflow-y-auto">
        <ul class="p-2 grid {{ $gridCols }} space-y-1 gap-2">
            <template x-for="(label, id) in options" :key="id">
                <li>
                    <label class="flex gap-2 items-start space-x-2 text-gray-800 dark:text-gray-200">
                        <input
                            type="checkbox"
                            class="fi-checkbox-input rounded border-none bg-white shadow-sm ring-1 transition duration-75 checked:ring-0 focus:ring-2 focus:ring-offset-0 disabled:pointer-events-none disabled:bg-gray-50 disabled:text-gray-50 disabled:checked:bg-gray-400 disabled:checked:text-gray-400 dark:bg-white/5 dark:disabled:bg-transparent dark:disabled:checked:bg-gray-600 text-primary-600 ring-gray-950/10 focus:ring-primary-600 checked:focus:ring-primary-500/50 dark:text-primary-500 dark:ring-white/20 dark:checked:bg-primary-500 dark:focus:ring-primary-500 dark:checked:focus:ring-primary-400/50 dark:disabled:ring-white/10 mt-1"
                            :value="id"
                            :checked="isSelected(id)"
                            @change="
                                if (isSelected(id)) {
                                    selected = selected.filter(i => i !== id)
                                } else {
                                    selected.push(id)
                                }
                                liveSelected = selected;
                            ">
                        <span x-text="label"></span>
                    </label>
                </li>
            </template>
        </ul>
    </div>
</div>

Now this component id ready to use. Currently, it can adopt current filament admin panel theme and you can distribute checkboxes to multiple columns using checkboxColumns option.

Step 3: Usage in Filament Resource

You can use this custom checkbox dropdown component in any resource file as follows:

CheckboxDropdown::make('selected_items')
    ->label('Select Items')
    ->options(Item::pluck('name', 'id')->toArray())
    ->checkboxColumns(3)

Conclusion

With this setup, you can develop a fully reusable, dynamic, and user-friendly multi-column checkbox dropdown — perfect for any Laravel Filament project.

How to Integrate Sentry with CodeIgniter 3

Learn how to integrate Sentry error tracking with CodeIgniter 3 to monitor and debug PHP application issues in real-time.

Sentry is a powerful error-tracking tool that helps you monitor and fix crashes in real-time. In this post, we’ll walk through how to integrate Sentry with a CodeIgniter 3 application and log all errors to sentry.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • A Sentry account with a created project.
  • A working CodeIgniter 3 setup.
  • PHP 7.2+ (recommended).
  • Composer installed.

Step 1: Install Sentry SDK via Composer

Open your terminal and run:

composer require sentry/sentry

If you haven’t initialized Composer yet in your CI3 project, run composer init first.

Step 2: Enable and Configure Hooks

To enable hook in CodeIgniter 3, Edit your application/config/config.php and update the 'enable_hooks' variable to TRUE if it is FALSE.

$config['enable_hooks'] = TRUE;

Now, register the sentry hook into the application/config/hooks.php file:

$hook['pre_system'][] = array(
    'class'    => '',
    'function' => 'init_sentry', // Function to be called
    'filename' => 'sentry.php', // Filename of the hook
    'filepath' => 'hooks'
);

As mentioned in the hook file, create application/hooks/sentry.php and add the following code:

use Sentry\ClientBuilder;
use Sentry\State\Hub;

function init_sentry()
{
    require_once APPPATH . '../vendor/autoload.php';

    \Sentry\init([
        'dsn' => 'https://your-dsn@sentry.io/project-id',
        'environment' => ENVIRONMENT,
        'error_types' => E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE, // Adjust as needed
    ]);
}

Replace 'https://your-dsn@sentry.io/project-id' with your actual Sentry DSN.

Step 3: Capture Errors or Messages

Now, you can log errors to sentry using multiple ways as follows,

Manually Capture Exceptions

try {
    // Your code here
} catch (Exception $e) {
    \Sentry\captureException($e);
}

Manually Capture Messages

\Sentry\captureMessage('Something happened!', \Sentry\Severity::warning());

Step 4: Automatically Capture Uncaught Exceptions

You can log all uncaught exceptions by extending the CI Exception class.

Create a new exception file at application/core/MY_Exceptions.php and add the following content in it:

class MY_Exceptions extends CI_Exceptions
{
    public function show_exception($exception)
    {
        if (class_exists('\Sentry\State\Hub')) {
            \Sentry\captureException($exception);
        }

        return parent::show_exception($exception);
    }
}

This will overwrite the codeigniter exception to log errors in sentry.

Step 5: Test the Integration

To test the integration, add the following code to generate the fake exception:

throw new Exception("Testing Sentry in CI3");

You should see this exception appear in your Sentry dashboard almost immediately.

Pro Tips

  • Use .env files or config variables to store your DSN securely.
  • Configure environments like development, production, staging in the environment key of the config.
  • You can even capture user context (like logged-in user ID or email) with Sentry.

Conclusion

With this setup, your CodeIgniter 3 project is now integrated with Sentry for powerful real-time error tracking. From catching uncaught exceptions to manually logging messages, Sentry gives you the tools you need to debug faster and ship more reliably.

Have questions or need help capturing user context? Drop a comment below!

Implementing JWT Authentication in CodeIgniter 3

Learn how to implement secure JWT authentication in CodeIgniter 3. Step-by-step guide for token generation, validation, and integration.

Securing your mobile API is critical in modern applications. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to implement JWT (JSON Web Token) based authentication in CodeIgniter 3, including access token and refresh token support for long-lived sessions.

Overview of JWT Auth Flow

Here’s the standard flow:

  1. User logs in → server returns an access token and a refresh token.
  2. Mobile app uses the access token in the Authorization header for every request.
  3. When access token expires, the app sends the refresh token to get a new access token.

Prerequisites

  • CodeIgniter 3 installed
  • firebase/php-jwt JWT library via Composer
  • users table for authentication and user_tokens table for refresh tokens

Step 1: Install JWT Library

Use composer to install JWT library as follows:

composer require firebase/php-jwt

Step 2: Create JWT Helper Class

Create a JWT helper class file at application/libraries/Authorization_Token.php and add the following code to it:

use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
use Firebase\JWT\Key;

class Authorization_Token {
    private $CI;
    private $token_key;

    public function __construct() {
        $this->CI =& get_instance();
        $this->token_key = 'YOUR_SECRET_KEY';
    }

    public function generateToken($user_data) {
        $issuedAt = time();
        $expirationTime = $issuedAt + 3600; // 1 hour
        $payload = [
            'iat' => $issuedAt,
            'exp' => $expirationTime,
            'data' => $user_data
        ];
        return JWT::encode($payload, $this->token_key, 'HS256');
    }

    public function validateToken() {
        $headers = apache_request_headers();
        if (!isset($headers['Authorization'])) return false;
        
        $token = str_replace('Bearer ', '', $headers['Authorization']);
        try {
            $decoded = JWT::decode($token, new Key($this->token_key, 'HS256'));
            return (array) $decoded->data;
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Step 3: Create Login API

Create a user_tokens table for storing refresh tokens.

CREATE TABLE user_tokens (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    user_id INT NOT NULL,
    refresh_token VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    expires_at DATETIME NOT NULL,
    created_at DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Create a login API file anywhere inside app/controllers folder and add the following content inside it.

class Auth extends CI_Controller {
    public function login_post()
    {
        $email = $this->post('email');
        $password = $this->post('password');

        $user = $this->db->get_where('users', ['email' => $email])->row();

        if (!$user || !password_verify($password, $user->password)) {
            return $this->response(['status' => false, 'message' => 'Invalid credentials'], 401);
        }

        $this->load->library('Authorization_Token', null, 'authToken');
        $access_token = $this->authToken->generateToken(['id' => $user->id, 'email' => $user->email]);

        $refresh_token = bin2hex(random_bytes(64));
        $this->db->insert('user_tokens', [
            'user_id' => $user->id,
            'refresh_token' => $refresh_token,
            'expires_at' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('+30 days'))
        ]);

        return $this->response([
            'status' => true,
            'access_token' => $access_token,
            'refresh_token' => $refresh_token,
        ], 200);
    }
}

Step 4: Protect API Routes

Create a base controller file BaseApi_Controller.php inside app/controllers folder. Add the following code to base controller file.

class BaseApi_Controller extends REST_Controller
{
    public $user_data;

    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->load->library('Authorization_Token', null, 'authToken');
        $user_data = $this->authToken->validateToken();

        if (!$user_data) {
            $this->response([
                'status' => false,
                'message' => 'Access token expired',
                'token_expired' => true
            ], 401);
            exit;
        }

        $this->user_data = $user_data;
    }
}

This file handles token validations for all requests. But, it will not automatically intercept all requests. So, all your secure API files need to extend this BaseApi_Controller.

class Orders extends Authenticated_Controller {
    public function list_get() {
        $user_id = $this->user_data['id'];
        $orders = $this->db->get_where('orders', ['user_id' => $user_id])->result();

        $this->output
            ->set_content_type('application/json')
            ->set_output(json_encode($orders));
    }
}

Step 5: Token Refresh

Create new api file AuthController.php for refresh token and add the following code in it.

class Auth extends CI_Controller {
    public function refresh_token_post()
    {
        $refresh_token = $this->post('refresh_token');

        $token_data = $this->db->get_where('user_tokens', [
            'refresh_token' => $refresh_token
        ])->row();

        if (!$token_data || strtotime($token_data->expires_at) < time()) {
            return $this->response([
                'status' => false,
                'message' => 'Invalid or expired refresh token'
            ], REST_Controller::HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED);
        }

        // Generate new access token
        $this->load->library('Authorization_Token', null, 'authToken');
        $access_token = $this->authToken->generateToken([
            'id' => $token_data->user_id,
            'email' => 'user@email.com' // Fetch if needed
        ]);

        return $this->response([
            'status' => true,
            'access_token' => $access_token,
            'expires_in' => 900
        ], REST_Controller::HTTP_OK);
    }
}

Summary

  • JWT access tokens: short-lived (e.g., 15 minutes)
  • Refresh tokens: long-lived (e.g., 30 days), stored securely
  • On access token expiry: client uses refresh token to get a new one
  • REST_Controller is used to simplify JSON responses in CodeIgniter 3

Final Thoughts

Implementing access and refresh tokens properly ensures secure and scalable mobile API sessions. Using CodeIgniter 3 with JWT and refresh tokens gives you full control over session lifecycle, security, and logout behavior.

Develop Contact Form using Livewire in Laravel

Learn how to create a responsive contact form using Livewire in Laravel. Step-by-step tutorial with validation, form submission, and real-time updates.

Developing a Contact form using Livewire in Laravel is straightforward and involves a very few key steps.

In this post, we will learn to develop contact form using Livewire component in Laravel. Follow the below steps:

Step 1: Install Livewire

To create any Livewire form, you must have Livewire installed over Laravel project. If you haven’t installed Livewire yet, you can do so via Composer:

composer require livewire/livewire

It will install Livewire package to you Laravel project.

Step 2: Create a Livewire Component

Now, we need to create a Livewire component for contact form. You can generate a Livewire component using Artisan command as follows:

php artisan make:livewire ContactForm

This will create 2 files as follows:

  • A Livewire component file at app/Http/Livewire/ContactForm.php
  • A Blade view at resources/views/livewire/contact-form.blade.php

Your contact form component is now ready to be used. But, we haven’t added any logic or any design to this component. So, if you add this component to any file, it will display blank page.

Step 3: Define the Livewire Component Logic

Open app/Http/Livewire/ContactForm.php and add all contact form related logic to the file as follows:

namespace App\Http\Livewire;

use Livewire\Component;
use App\Models\Contact;
use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;

class ContactForm extends Component
{
    public $name, $email, $message;

    protected $rules = [
        'name' => 'required|min:3',
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'message' => 'required|min:5',
    ];

    public function submit()
    {
        $this->validate();

        // Save data
        Contact::create([
            'name' => $this->name,
            'email' => $this->email,
            'message' => $this->message,
        ]);

        // Reset the form
        $this->reset(['name', 'email', 'message']);

        session()->flash('success', 'Your message has been sent!');
    }

    public function render()
    {
        return view('livewire.contact-form');
    }
}

Step 4: Create the Livewire Blade View

Open resources/views/livewire/contact-form.blade.php and update the HTML form as per your requirement. I have added my blade file design as follows:

<div>
    @if (session()->has('success'))
        <div class="p-3 mb-4 text-green-600 bg-green-200 border border-green-600 rounded">
            {{ session('success') }}
        </div>
    @endif

    <form wire:submit.prevent="submit">
        <div class="mb-4">
            <label for="name" class="block font-bold">Name:</label>
            <input type="text" id="name" wire:model="name" class="w-full p-2 border rounded">
            @error('name') <span class="text-red-600">{{ $message }}</span> @enderror
        </div>

        <div class="mb-4">
            <label for="email" class="block font-bold">Email:</label>
            <input type="email" id="email" wire:model="email" class="w-full p-2 border rounded">
            @error('email') <span class="text-red-600">{{ $message }}</span> @enderror
        </div>

        <div class="mb-4">
            <label for="message" class="block font-bold">Message:</label>
            <textarea id="message" wire:model="message" class="w-full p-2 border rounded"></textarea>
            @error('message') <span class="text-red-600">{{ $message }}</span> @enderror
        </div>

        <button type="submit" class="px-4 py-2 text-white bg-blue-600 rounded">Send</button>
    </form>
</div>

I have added some additional features like displaying success message and added error message display elements to each fields.

Step 5: Add Livewire to a Page

Now it is ready to be included to any page. You can include this component using @livewire directive provided by Livewire package. Include this Livewire component in your Blade view (e.g., resources/views/contact.blade.php):

@extends('layouts.app')

@section('content')
    <div class="container mx-auto p-4">
        <h1 class="text-xl font-bold">Contact Us</h1>
        @livewire('contact-form')
    </div>
@endsection

Still it is not visible to the page. Because, Livewire scripts and styles are missing.

Step 6: Include Livewire Scripts

You have to add Livewire scripts and styles to the layout, where you want to display any Livewire Component. You can add Livewire scripts and styles to the layout using their directives @livewireScripts and @livewireStyles respectively.

Add Livewire scripts in your layouts/app.blade.php file before the closing </body> tag of the layout file:

@livewireScripts
</body>
</html>

And add the Livewire styles in <head> tag of the layout file:

@livewireStyles

Note: If you have multiple layouts and these layouts are used to display Livewire Compoment pages, then you have to add Livewire scripts and styles in all of these layouts.

Step 7: Run Migrations and Serve the App

In component file, we have added a code to save contact form details to the database. So, If you don’t have contacts table already, create a migration for the contacts table:

php artisan make:migration create_contacts_table

Open the migration file (database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_xxxxxx_create_contacts_table.php) and add the necessary fields as follows:

public function up()
{
    Schema::create('contacts', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('name');
        $table->string('email');
        $table->text('message');
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}

public function down(): void
{
    Schema::dropIfExists('contacts');
}

Run the migration:

php artisan migrate

It will create the contacts table into the project database. Now, create a model for this migration:

php artisan make:model Contact

It will create contact model file app/models/Contact.php. Open this model file and update it as follows,

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Contact extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $fillable = [
        'name',
        'email',
        'message',
    ];
}

Finally, start your Laravel development server:

php artisan serve

Now, visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/contact, and you should see your Livewire-powered Contact Form working dynamically!

Additional Features You Can Add

  • Real-time validation: Add wire:model.blur="name" to inputs.
  • Loading indicators: Use wire:loading to show a spinner while submitting.