title	Controllers
description	Learn CakePHP controllers: handle requests, render views, manage components, use middleware, and implement request lifecycle callbacks in MVC architecture.

Controllers

class Cake\Controller\Controller

Controllers are the 'C' in MVC. After routing is applied and the correct controller is found, your controller's action is called. Your controller should interpret the request, ensure the right models are called, and return the appropriate response or view. Controllers sit between Model and View.

::: tip Keep Controllers Thin Move heavy business logic into models and services. Thin controllers are easier to test and reuse. :::

Commonly, a controller manages logic around a single model. For example, for an online bakery you might have a RecipesController managing recipes and an IngredientsController managing ingredients. However, it's also possible to have controllers work with more than one model. In CakePHP, a controller is named after the primary model it handles.

::: info At a Glance

Controllers coordinate request handling, model calls, and responses.
Each public method is an action by default.
Shared logic goes into AppController.

:::

Your application's controllers extend the AppController class, which extends the core Controller class. The AppController class can be defined in src/Controller/AppController.php and should contain methods shared between all of your application's controllers.

Controllers provide methods that handle requests. These are called actions. By default, each public method in a controller is an action and is accessible from a URL. An action interprets the request and creates the response. Usually responses are rendered views, but there are other response types as well.

::: details Naming and Conventions

Controller names are plural, e.g. RecipesController.
Action names map to view templates by convention.
Use AppController for shared behavior.

:::

The App Controller

As stated in the introduction, the AppController class is the parent class to all of your application's controllers. AppController itself extends the Cake\Controller\Controller class included in CakePHP. AppController is defined in src/Controller/AppController.php as follows:

namespace App\Controller;

use Cake\Controller\Controller;

class AppController extends Controller
{
}

Controller attributes and methods created in your AppController will be available in all controllers that extend it. Components (which you'll learn about later) are best used for code that is used in many (but not necessarily all) controllers.

You can use your AppController to load components that will be used in every controller in your application. CakePHP provides a initialize() method that is invoked at the end of a Controller's constructor for this kind of use:

namespace App\Controller;

use Cake\Controller\Controller;

class AppController extends Controller
{
    public function initialize(): void
    {
        // Always enable the FormProtection component.
        $this->loadComponent('FormProtection');
    }
}

Request Flow

When a request is made to a CakePHP application, CakePHP's Cake\Routing\Router and Cake\Routing\Dispatcher classes use Routes Configuration to find and create the correct controller instance. The request data is encapsulated in a request object. CakePHP puts all the important request information into the $this->request property. See the section on Cake Request for more information on the CakePHP request object.

::: info Request Flow Summary

Routes map URLs to a controller/action.
The request data is available via $this->request.
The action returns a response (often a rendered view).

:::

Controller Actions

Controller actions are responsible for converting the request parameters into a response for the browser/user making the request. CakePHP uses conventions to automate this process and remove some boilerplate code you would otherwise need to write.

By convention, CakePHP renders a view with an inflected version of the action name. Returning to our online bakery example, our RecipesController might contain the view(), share(), and search() actions. The controller would be found in src/Controller/RecipesController.php and contain:

// src/Controller/RecipesController.php

class RecipesController extends AppController
{
    public function view($id)
    {
        // Action logic goes here.
    }

    public function share($customerId, $recipeId)
    {
        // Action logic goes here.
    }

    public function search($query)
    {
        // Action logic goes here.
    }
}

The template files for these actions would be templates/Recipes/view.php, templates/Recipes/share.php, and templates/Recipes/search.php. The conventional view file name is the lowercased and underscored version of the action name.

Controller actions generally use Controller::set() to create a context that View uses to render the view layer. Because of the conventions that CakePHP uses, you don't need to create and render the view manually. Instead, once a controller action has completed, CakePHP will handle rendering and delivering the View.

If for some reason you'd like to skip the default behavior, you can return a Cake\Http\Response object from the action with the fully created response.

::: tip Explicit Responses Return a Response when you need full control (JSON, file downloads, or custom status codes). :::

In order for you to use a controller effectively in your own application, we'll cover some of the core attributes and methods provided by CakePHP's controllers.

Interacting with Views

Controllers interact with views in a number of ways. First, they are able to pass data to the views, using Controller::set(). You can also decide which view class to use, and which view file should be rendered from the controller.

Setting View Variables

method Cake\Controller\Controller::set(string $var, mixed $value): void

The Controller::set() method is the main way to send data from your controller to your view. Once you've used Controller::set(), the variable can be accessed in your view:

::: code-group

// First you pass data from the controller:
$this->set('color', 'pink');

// Then, in the view, you can utilize the data:
You have selected <?= h($color) ?> icing for the cake.

:::

The Controller::set() method also takes an associative array as its first parameter. This can often be a quick way to assign a set of information to the view:

$data = [
    'color' => 'pink',
    'type' => 'sugar',
    'base_price' => 23.95,
];

// Make $color, $type, and $base_price
// available to the view:

$this->set($data);

Keep in mind that view vars are shared among all parts rendered by your view. They will be available in all parts of the view: the template, the layout and all elements inside the former two.

::: tip View Data Scope View variables are shared with the layout and elements. Prefer specific keys to avoid accidental collisions. :::

Setting View Options

If you want to customize the view class, layout/template paths, helpers or the theme that will be used when rendering the view, you can use the viewBuilder() method to get a builder. This builder can be used to define properties of the view before it is created:

$this->viewBuilder()
    ->addHelper('MyCustom')
    ->setTheme('Modern')
    ->setClassName('Modern.Admin');

The above shows how you can load custom helpers, set the theme and use a custom view class.

Config Merge Strategy

By default, view options set via ViewBuilder are deep-merged with the View class's default configuration. You can control this behavior using setConfigMergeStrategy():

use Cake\View\ViewBuilder;

$this->viewBuilder()
    ->setConfigMergeStrategy(ViewBuilder::MERGE_SHALLOW)
    ->setOption('customArray', ['a', 'b', 'c']);

Available strategies are:

ViewBuilder::MERGE_DEEP - Recursive merge (default). Nested arrays are merged together.
ViewBuilder::MERGE_SHALLOW - Simple array merge. Array values are replaced rather than deep-merged.

You can retrieve the current strategy using getConfigMergeStrategy().

::: details When to Change Merge Strategy

Use shallow merges for small, explicit overrides.
Use deep merges when you want to extend nested defaults.

:::

::: info Added in version 5.3.0 ViewBuilder::setConfigMergeStrategy() and ViewBuilder::getConfigMergeStrategy() were added. :::

Rendering a View

method Cake\Controller\Controller::render(string $view, string $layout): Response

The Controller::render() method is automatically called at the end of each requested controller action. This method performs all the view logic (using the data you've submitted using the Controller::set() method), places the view inside its View::$layout, and serves it back to the end user.

The default view file used by render is determined by convention. If the search() action of the RecipesController is requested, the view file in templates/Recipes/search.php will be rendered:

namespace App\Controller;

class RecipesController extends AppController
{
// ...
    public function search()
    {
        // Render the view in templates/Recipes/search.php
        return $this->render();
    }
// ...
}

Although CakePHP will automatically call it after every action's logic (unless you've called $this->disableAutoRender()), you can use it to specify an alternate view file by specifying a view file name as first argument of Controller::render() method.

::: tip Skipping Auto-Render Call $this->disableAutoRender() when the action fully handles the response. :::

If $view starts with '/', it is assumed to be a view or element file relative to the templates folder. This allows direct rendering of elements, very useful in AJAX calls:

::: code-group

// Render the element in templates/element/ajaxreturn.php
return $this->render('/element/ajaxreturn');

namespace App\Controller;

class PostsController extends AppController
{
    public function myAction()
    {
        return $this->render('custom_file');
    }
}

namespace App\Controller;

class PostsController extends AppController
{
    public function myAction()
    {
        return $this->render('Users.UserDetails/custom_file');
    }
}

:::

The second parameter $layout of Controller::render() allows you to specify the layout with which the view is rendered.

Rendering a Specific Template

In your controller, you may want to render a different view than the conventional one. You can do this by calling Controller::render() directly. Once you have called Controller::render(), CakePHP will not try to re-render the view.

This renders templates/Posts/custom_file.php instead of templates/Posts/my_action.php. Rendering plugin templates uses the syntax $this->render('Users.UserDetails/custom_file') and renders plugins/Users/templates/UserDetails/custom_file.php.

Content Type Negotiation

method Cake\Controller\Controller::addViewClasses(array $viewClasses): static

Controllers can define a list of view classes they support. After the controller's action is complete CakePHP will use the view list to perform content-type negotiation with either File Extensions or Accept headers. This enables your application to re-use the same controller action to render an HTML view or render a JSON or XML response. To define the list of supported view classes for a controller is done with the addViewClasses() method:

::: info Content Negotiation Use addViewClasses() to serve multiple formats from the same action. :::

namespace App\Controller;

use Cake\View\JsonView;
use Cake\View\XmlView;

class PostsController extends AppController
{
    public function initialize(): void
    {
        parent::initialize();

        $this->addViewClasses([JsonView::class, XmlView::class]);
    }
}

The application's View class is automatically used as a fallback when no other view can be selected based on the request's Accept header or routing extension. If your application only supports content types for a specific actions, you can call addClasses() within your action too:

public function export(): void
{
    // Use a custom CSV view for data exports.
    $this->addViewClasses([CsvView::class]);

    // Rest of the action code
}

If within your controller actions you need to process the request or load data differently based on the content type you can use Check The Request:

// In a controller action

// Load additional data when preparing JSON responses
if ($this->request->is('json')) {
    $query->contain('Authors');
}

In case your app need more complex logic to decide which view classes to use then you can override the Controller::viewClasses() method and return an array of view classes as required.

Note

View classes must implement the static contentType() hook method to participate in content-type negotiation.

Content Type Negotiation Fallbacks

If no View can be matched with the request's content type preferences, CakePHP will use the base View class. If you want to require content-type negotiation, you can use the NegotiationRequiredView which sets a 406 status code:

public function initialize(): void
{
    parent::initialize();

    // Require Accept header negotiation or return a 406 response.
    $this->addViewClasses([JsonView::class, NegotiationRequiredView::class]);
}

You can use the TYPE_MATCH_ALL content type value to build your own fallback view logic:

namespace App\View;

use Cake\View\View;

class CustomFallbackView extends View
{
    public static function contentType(): string
    {
        return static::TYPE_MATCH_ALL;
    }

}

It is important to remember that match-all views are applied only after content-type negotiation is attempted.

Using AjaxView

In applications that use hypermedia or AJAX clients, you often need to render view contents without the wrapping layout. You can use the AjaxView that is bundled with the application skeleton:

// In a controller action, or in beforeRender.
if ($this->request->is('ajax')) {
    $this->viewBuilder()->setClassName('Ajax');
}

AjaxView will respond as text/html and use the ajax layout. Generally this layout is minimal or contains client specific markup. This replaces usage of RequestHandlerComponent automatically using the AjaxView in 4.x.

Redirecting to Other Pages

method Cake\Controller\Controller::redirect(string|array $url, integer $status): Response|null

The redirect() method adds a Location header and sets the status code of a response and returns it. You should return the response created by redirect() to have CakePHP send the redirect instead of completing the controller action and rendering a view.

You can redirect using routing array values:

::: code-group

return $this->redirect([
    'controller' => 'Orders',
    'action' => 'confirm',
    $order->id,
    '?' => [
        'product' => 'pizza',
        'quantity' => 5,
    ],
    '#' => 'top',
]);

return $this->redirect('/orders/confirm');

return $this->redirect('https://www.example.com');

return $this->redirect($this->referer());

:::

By using the second parameter you can define a status code for your redirect:

// Do a 301 (moved permanently)
return $this->redirect('/order/confirm', 301);

// Do a 303 (see other)
return $this->redirect('/order/confirm', 303);

See the Redirect Component Events section for how to redirect out of a life-cycle handler.

Loading Additional Tables/Models

method Cake\Controller\Controller::fetchTable(?string $alias = null, array $options = []): Table

The fetchTable() method comes handy when you need to use an ORM table that is not the controller's default one:

// In a controller method.
$recentArticles = $this->fetchTable('Articles')->find('all',
    limit: 5,
    order: 'Articles.created DESC',
)->all();

fetchModel()

method Cake\Controller\Controller::fetchModel(?string $modelClass = null, ?string $modelType = null): object

The fetchModel() method is useful to load non ORM models or ORM tables that are not the controller's default:

// ModelAwareTrait need to be explicitly added to your controller first for fetchModel() to work.
use ModelAwareTrait;

// Get an ElasticSearch model
$articles = $this->fetchModel('Articles', 'Elastic');

// Get a webservices model
$github = $this->fetchModel('GitHub', 'Webservice');

// If you skip the 2nd argument it will by default try to load a ORM table.
$authors = $this->fetchModel('Authors');

::: info Added in version 4.5.0 :::

Paginating a Model

method Cake\Controller\Controller::paginate(): PaginatedInterface

This method is used for paginating results fetched by your models. You can specify page sizes, model find conditions and more. See the pagination section for more details on how to use paginate().

The $paginate attribute gives you a way to customize how paginate() behaves:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    protected array $paginate = [
        'Articles' => [
            'conditions' => ['published' => 1],
        ],
    ];
}

Configuring Components to Load

method Cake\Controller\Controller::loadComponent(string $name, array $config = []): Component

In your Controller's initialize() method you can define any components you want loaded, and any configuration data for them:

public function initialize(): void
{
    parent::initialize();
    $this->loadComponent('Flash');
    $this->loadComponent('Comments', Configure::read('Comments'));
}

Request Life-cycle Callbacks

CakePHP controllers trigger several events/callbacks that you can use to insert logic around the request life-cycle.

::: details Event List

Controller.initialize
Controller.startup
Controller.beforeRedirect
Controller.beforeRender
Controller.shutdown

:::

Controller Callback Methods

By default, the following callback methods are connected to related events if the methods are implemented by your controllers.

beforeFilter()

method Cake\Controller\Controller::beforeFilter(EventInterface $event): void

beforeRender()

method Cake\Controller\Controller::beforeRender(EventInterface $event): void

afterFilter()

method Cake\Controller\Controller::afterFilter(EventInterface $event): void

In addition to controller life-cycle callbacks, Components also provide a similar set of callbacks.

Remember to call AppController's callbacks within child controller callbacks for best results:

//use Cake\Event\EventInterface;
public function beforeFilter(EventInterface $event): void
{
    parent::beforeFilter($event);
}

Using Redirects in Controller Events

To redirect from within a controller callback method you can use the following:

public function beforeFilter(EventInterface $event): void
{
    if ($this->request->getParam('prefix') !== 'Admin') {
        $event->setResult($this->redirect('/'));

        return;
    }
    // Normal request handling continues.
}

By setting a redirect as event result you let CakePHP know that you don't want any other component callbacks to run, and that the controller should not handle the action any further.

As of 4.1.0 you can also raise a RedirectException to signal a redirect.

Controller Middleware

method Cake\Controller\Controller::middleware(MiddlewareInterface|Closure|string $middleware, array $options = []): void

Middleware can be defined globally, in a routing scope or within a controller. To define middleware for a specific controller use the middleware() method from your controller's initialize() method:

public function initialize(): void
{
    parent::initialize();

    $this->middleware(function ($request, $handler) {
        // Do middleware logic.

        // Make sure you return a response or call handle()
        return $handler->handle($request);
    });
}

Middleware defined by a controller will be called before beforeFilter() and action methods are called.

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Controllers

The App Controller

Request Flow

Controller Actions

Interacting with Views

Setting View Variables

Setting View Options

Config Merge Strategy

Rendering a View

Rendering a Specific Template

Content Type Negotiation

Content Type Negotiation Fallbacks

Using AjaxView

Redirecting to Other Pages

Loading Additional Tables/Models

fetchModel()

Paginating a Model

Configuring Components to Load

Request Life-cycle Callbacks

Controller Callback Methods

beforeFilter()

beforeRender()

afterFilter()

Using Redirects in Controller Events

Controller Middleware

More on Controllers

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Controllers

The App Controller

Request Flow

Controller Actions

Interacting with Views

Setting View Variables

Setting View Options

Config Merge Strategy

Rendering a View

Rendering a Specific Template

Content Type Negotiation

Content Type Negotiation Fallbacks

Using AjaxView

Redirecting to Other Pages

Loading Additional Tables/Models

fetchModel()

Paginating a Model

Configuring Components to Load

Request Life-cycle Callbacks

Controller Callback Methods

beforeFilter()

beforeRender()

afterFilter()

Using Redirects in Controller Events

Controller Middleware

More on Controllers