thephpleague/fractal

Health v2 · maintenance only

Adoption not part of the score

3544 stars · 345 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

A PHP library providing a presentation and transformation layer for complex data output in RESTful APIs, acting as a view layer for JSON. It separates source data from API output via transformers and serializers, supporting standards like JSON-API and HAL.

Use cases

• transform database models into consistent JSON API responses
• serialize API output following JSON-API or HAL standards
• embed nested relationships in REST API responses
• paginate API data results
• shield API consumers from internal schema changes
• type-cast API response data systematically

When to choose

• building a public REST API in PHP with complex data structures
• you need consistent, versioned API output instead of raw json_encode
• you want standards-compliant JSON-API or HAL serialization
• you need relationship embedding and pagination in API responses

When to avoid

• building trivial internal APIs where json_encode suffices
• using a framework whose serializer already covers your needs
• working outside PHP

Facets

library · maturity maintenance

serialization api-framework middleware apis web-development backend php rest-api json-api hal data-transformation transformers pagination php-league

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