Request & Response

JSON API Example

router(function() {
    // Return JSON data
    route(method(GET), url_path("/api/users"), function() {
        $users = [
            ["id" => 1, "name" => "Alice"],
            ["id" => 2, "name" => "Bob"],
        ];
        render(200, json_out($users));
    });

    // Accept JSON input
    route(method(POST), url_path("/api/users"), function() {
        $data = json_in();
        // $data contains the parsed JSON body
        render(201, json_out(["created" => $data]));
    });

    // Read request headers
    route(method(GET), url_path("/api/protected"), function() {
        $token = request_header("Authorization");
        if (empty($token)) {
            render(401, json_out(["error" => "Unauthorized"]));
            return;
        }
        render(200, json_out(["message" => "Welcome!"]));
    });
});

Content Negotiation

route(method(GET), url_path("/"), function() {
    // Check Accept header and respond accordingly
    if (accept(JSON_CONTENT)) {
        render(200, json_out(["hello" => "world"]));
        return;
    }

    if (accept(HTML_CONTENT)) {
        render(200, html_out("<h1>Hello World</h1>"));
        return;
    }

    if (accept(XML_CONTENT)) {
        render(200, content(XML_CONTENT, "<message>Hello World</message>"));
        return;
    }

    throw new Exception("Not Acceptable", 406);
});

Custom Headers

route(method(GET), url_path("/download"), function() {
    $fileContent = file_get_contents("report.pdf");

    render(200, content(PDF_CONTENT, $fileContent), [
        "Content-Disposition" => "attachment; filename=\"report.pdf\"",
        "Cache-Control" => "no-cache",
    ]);
});

route(method(GET), url_path("/api/data"), function() {
    // Set individual response headers
    response_header("X-Custom-Header", "custom-value");
    response_header("Cache-Control", "max-age=3600");

    render(200, json_out(["data" => "value"]));
});

Redirects

route(method(GET), url_path("/old-page"), function() {
    redirect("/new-page");
});

route(method(POST), url_path("/form-submit"), function() {
    $data = $_POST;
    // Process form...
    redirect("/thank-you");
});

How It Works

TeensyPHP provides simple functions for handling HTTP requests and responses:

• Request functions read incoming data (headers, JSON body)
• Response functions send data back with appropriate content types and status codes
• Content negotiation lets you respond with different formats based on the client's Accept header

The render() function is the primary way to send responses, combining status code, content, and optional headers.

Function Reference

Request Functions

Function	Description
request_header(string $header): ?string	Get a request header value
json_in(): array	Parse JSON request body
accept(string $contentType): bool	Check if client accepts content type

Response Functions

Function	Description
render(int $code, string $content, array $headers = []): void	Send response with status code and content
json_out(array $data): string	Encode array as JSON string
html_out(string $content): string	Wrap content with HTML content type
content(string $type, string $content): string	Set content type and return content
redirect(string $url): void	Send redirect response
response_header(string $header, string $value): void	Set a response header

Content Type Constants

Constant	Content Type
JSON_CONTENT	application/json
HTML_CONTENT	text/html
XML_CONTENT	application/xml
TEXT_CONTENT	text/plain
CSS_CONTENT	text/css
JAVASCRIPT_CONTENT	application/javascript
PDF_CONTENT	application/pdf
ATOM_CONTENT	application/atom+xml

HTTP Status Codes

Common status codes used with render():

Code	Meaning
200	OK
201	Created
204	No Content
301	Moved Permanently
302	Found (Redirect)
400	Bad Request
401	Unauthorized
403	Forbidden
404	Not Found
406	Not Acceptable
500	Internal Server Error