php-api/docs/documentation.md

API Documentation

Automatically generate OpenAPI 3.0 documentation with Swagger UI, Scalar, and ReDoc viewers.

Overview

The API package automatically generates OpenAPI documentation from your routes, controllers, and doc blocks.

Features:

• Automatic route discovery
• OpenAPI 3.0 spec generation
• Multiple documentation viewers
• Security scheme documentation
• Request/response examples
• Interactive API explorer

Accessing Documentation

Available Endpoints

/api/docs           - Swagger UI (default)
/api/docs/scalar    - Scalar viewer
/api/docs/redoc     - ReDoc viewer
/api/docs/openapi   - Raw OpenAPI JSON

Protection

Documentation is protected in production:

// config/api.php
return [
    'documentation' => [
        'enabled' => env('API_DOCS_ENABLED', !app()->isProduction()),
        'middleware' => ['auth', 'can:view-api-docs'],
    ],
];

Attributes

Hiding Endpoints

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Attributes\ApiHidden;

#[ApiHidden]
class InternalController
{
    // Entire controller hidden from docs
}

class PostController
{
    #[ApiHidden]
    public function internalMethod()
    {
        // Single method hidden
    }
}

Tagging Endpoints

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Attributes\ApiTag;

#[ApiTag('Blog Posts')]
class PostController
{
    // All methods tagged with "Blog Posts"
}

Documenting Parameters

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Attributes\ApiParameter;

class PostController
{
    #[ApiParameter(
        name: 'status',
        in: 'query',
        description: 'Filter by post status',
        required: false,
        schema: ['type' => 'string', 'enum' => ['draft', 'published', 'archived']]
    )]
    #[ApiParameter(
        name: 'category',
        in: 'query',
        description: 'Filter by category ID',
        schema: ['type' => 'integer']
    )]
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        // GET /posts?status=published&category=5
    }
}

Documenting Responses

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Attributes\ApiResponse;

class PostController
{
    #[ApiResponse(
        status: 200,
        description: 'Post created successfully',
        content: [
            'application/json' => [
                'schema' => [
                    'type' => 'object',
                    'properties' => [
                        'id' => ['type' => 'integer'],
                        'title' => ['type' => 'string'],
                        'status' => ['type' => 'string'],
                    ],
                ],
            ],
        ]
    )]
    #[ApiResponse(
        status: 422,
        description: 'Validation error'
    )]
    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Security Requirements

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Attributes\ApiSecurity;

#[ApiSecurity(['apiKey' => []])]
class PostController
{
    // Requires API key authentication
}

#[ApiSecurity(['bearerAuth' => ['posts:write']])]
public function store(Request $request)
{
    // Requires Bearer token with posts:write scope
}

Configuration

// config/api.php
return [
    'documentation' => [
        'enabled' => true,

        'info' => [
            'title' => 'Core PHP Framework API',
            'description' => 'REST API for Core PHP Framework',
            'version' => '1.0.0',
            'contact' => [
                'name' => 'API Support',
                'email' => 'api@example.com',
                'url' => 'https://example.com/support',
            ],
        ],

        'servers' => [
            [
                'url' => 'https://api.example.com',
                'description' => 'Production',
            ],
            [
                'url' => 'https://staging.example.com',
                'description' => 'Staging',
            ],
        ],

        'security_schemes' => [
            'apiKey' => [
                'type' => 'http',
                'scheme' => 'bearer',
                'bearerFormat' => 'API Key',
                'description' => 'API key authentication. Format: `Bearer sk_live_...`',
            ],
        ],

        'viewers' => [
            'swagger' => true,
            'scalar' => true,
            'redoc' => true,
        ],
    ],
];

Extensions

Custom Extensions

<?php

namespace Mod\Blog\Api\Documentation;

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Extension;

class BlogExtension extends Extension
{
    public function apply(array $spec): array
    {
        // Add custom tags
        $spec['tags'][] = [
            'name' => 'Blog Posts',
            'description' => 'Operations for managing blog posts',
        ];

        // Add custom security requirements
        $spec['paths']['/posts']['post']['security'][] = [
            'apiKey' => [],
        ];

        return $spec;
    }
}

Register Extension:

use Core\Events\ApiRoutesRegistering;

public function onApiRoutes(ApiRoutesRegistering $event): void
{
    $event->documentationExtension(new BlogExtension());
}

Built-in Extensions

Rate Limit Extension:

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Extensions\RateLimitExtension;

// Automatically documents rate limits in responses
// Adds X-RateLimit-* headers to all endpoints

Workspace Header Extension:

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Extensions\WorkspaceHeaderExtension;

// Documents X-Workspace-ID header requirement
// Adds to all workspace-scoped endpoints

Common Examples

Pagination

use Mod\Api\Documentation\Examples\CommonExamples;

#[ApiResponse(
    status: 200,
    description: 'Paginated list of posts',
    content: CommonExamples::paginatedResponse('posts', [
        'id' => 1,
        'title' => 'Example Post',
        'status' => 'published',
    ])
)]
public function index(Request $request)
{
    return PostResource::collection(
        Post::paginate(20)
    );
}

Generates:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "title": "Example Post",
      "status": "published"
    }
  ],
  "links": {
    "first": "...",
    "last": "...",
    "prev": null,
    "next": "..."
  },
  "meta": {
    "current_page": 1,
    "total": 100
  }
}

Error Responses

#[ApiResponse(
    status: 404,
    description: 'Post not found',
    content: CommonExamples::errorResponse('Post not found', 'resource_not_found')
)]
public function show(Post $post)
{
    return new PostResource($post);
}

Module Discovery

The documentation system automatically discovers API routes from all modules:

// Mod\Blog\Boot
public function onApiRoutes(ApiRoutesRegistering $event): void
{
    $event->routes(function () {
        Route::get('/posts', [PostController::class, 'index']);
        // Automatically included in docs
    });
}

Discovery Process:

1. Scan all registered API routes
2. Extract controller methods
3. Parse doc blocks and attributes
4. Generate OpenAPI spec
5. Cache for performance

Viewers

Swagger UI

Interactive API explorer with "Try it out" functionality.

Access: /api/docs

Features:

• Test endpoints directly
• View request/response examples
• OAuth/API key authentication
• Model schemas

Scalar

Modern, clean documentation viewer.

Access: /api/docs/scalar

Features:

• Beautiful UI
• Dark mode
• Code examples in multiple languages
• Interactive examples

ReDoc

Professional documentation with three-panel layout.

Access: /api/docs/redoc

Features:

• Search functionality
• Menu navigation
• Responsive design
• Printable

Best Practices

1. Document All Public Endpoints

// ✅ Good - documented
#[ApiTag('Posts')]
#[ApiResponse(200, 'Success')]
#[ApiResponse(422, 'Validation error')]
public function store(Request $request)

// ❌ Bad - undocumented
public function store(Request $request)

2. Provide Examples

// ✅ Good - request example
#[ApiParameter(
    name: 'status',
    example: 'published'
)]

// ❌ Bad - no example
#[ApiParameter(name: 'status')]

3. Hide Internal Endpoints

// ✅ Good - hidden
#[ApiHidden]
public function internal()

// ❌ Bad - exposed in docs
public function internal()

4. Group Related Endpoints

// ✅ Good - tagged
#[ApiTag('Blog Posts')]
class PostController

// ❌ Bad - ungrouped
class PostController

Testing

use Tests\TestCase;

class DocumentationTest extends TestCase
{
    public function test_generates_openapi_spec(): void
    {
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/docs/openapi');

        $response->assertStatus(200);
        $response->assertJsonStructure([
            'openapi',
            'info',
            'paths',
            'components',
        ]);
    }

    public function test_includes_blog_endpoints(): void
    {
        $response = $this->getJson('/api/docs/openapi');

        $spec = $response->json();

        $this->assertArrayHasKey('/posts', $spec['paths']);
        $this->assertArrayHasKey('/posts/{id}', $spec['paths']);
    }
}

Learn More

• Authentication →
• Scopes →
• API Reference →