# symfony/http-kernel

Provides a structured process for converting a Request into a Response

Repository: https://github.com/symfony/http-kernel
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/http-kernel
Homepage: https://symfony.com/http-kernel
Language: PHP
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: php, symfony, component, symfony-component
Last push: 2026-08-25T14:26:00+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5671, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 11, "gap_med": 0.0, "n_releases_24m": 111}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 8106, forks 97 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:12.981389+00:00)

## What it is
The Symfony HttpKernel component provides a structured, event-driven process for converting an HTTP Request into a Response. It is the core engine behind the Symfony full-stack framework and is used by projects like Drupal, Laravel, and Shopware.

## Use cases
- build a custom PHP framework or micro-framework
- handle the request-response lifecycle in a PHP application
- add event-driven middleware to HTTP request processing
- create a CMS or application on top of a kernel architecture
- handle exceptions and terminate events during request handling
- process sub-requests in a PHP web application

## When to choose
- you are building a PHP framework, CMS, or application that needs a robust request-response pipeline
- you want event-driven extensibility via kernel events (request, controller, view, response, exception, terminate)
- you are already in the Symfony ecosystem and need its kernel internals

## When to avoid
- you need a complete ready-made framework with routing, templating, and ORM out of the box - use full Symfony instead
- you are not working in PHP
- you want a micro-framework with minimal abstractions - consider Slim or similar

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: http-server, middleware, routing, web-framework
- domain: web-development, backend, apis, developer-tools
- platform: php, cross-platform
- tags: symfony, http-kernel, request-response, event-dispatcher, framework-core, php-component, web-server

## Member repositories
- symfony/http-kernel (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:12.981389+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:30:41.753597+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/symfony/http-kernel (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:12.981389+00:00, sha f61f5fd52785)
  - homepage: https://symfony.com/http-kernel (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.467720+00:00, sha 7fca3190459b)
  - site_page: https://symfony.com/doc (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.470157+00:00, sha 44889134f4fb)
  - site_page: https://symfony.com/doc/current/components/http_kernel.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.471979+00:00, sha 92690650158f)
  - site_page: https://symfony.com/projects/phpmyfaq (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.474883+00:00, sha e9c38f954f59)
  - site_page: https://symfony.com/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.477263+00:00, sha f109a7a4a5da)
  - site_page: https://symfony.com/blog/category/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:48.479300+00:00, sha 373d532304d3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.