README

Argora Foundry is a lightweight and extensible PHP boilerplate built to accelerate the development of modern control panels, SaaS platforms, and internal tools. Designed with developer productivity in mind, it combines a clean architecture, reusable components, and a ready-to-use user panel to help you launch faster—without compromising flexibility or quality.

Features

• Modular Architecture – Organize your code effortlessly with a clear, scalable structure inspired by proven patterns.
• Built-in Control Panel – A modern and customizable UI template for managing users, settings, and services out of the box.
• SaaS-Ready – Includes essential SaaS features like user authentication, roles & permissions, usage tracking, and more.
• Modern Stack – Powered by PHP 8+, Slim 4 Framework, Twig templates, and Tabler UI for a clean frontend.
• Argora Spark API – A dedicated, extensible API layer for advanced logic, automation, and integration beyond basic CRUD, ideal for smart provisioning and external system hooks.
• Extensible – Designed to be extended with custom modules.

Ideal For

• SaaS startups launching fast without reinventing the wheel
• Developers building internal dashboards or admin panels
• Agencies delivering multiple client control panels from a common core

Philosophy

Argora Foundry is not a full-stack framework, but a focused foundation. It gives you the essentials—routing, user management, templates, modular structure—without locking you in. You stay in control of your stack, while we handle the heavy lifting.

Installation Guide (Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 or Debian 12 / 13)

1. Install the required packages:

Follow the instructions for your operating system.

Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04

apt update
apt install -y curl software-properties-common ufw

add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/php
add-apt-repository -y ppa:ondrej/nginx
apt update

apt install -y bzip2 composer git net-tools php8.3 php8.3-bcmath php8.3-bz2 php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-curl php8.3-ds php8.3-fpm php8.3-gd php8.3-gmp php8.3-igbinary php8.3-imap php8.3-intl php8.3-mbstring php8.3-opcache php8.3-readline php8.3-redis php8.3-soap php8.3-swoole php8.3-uuid php8.3-xml php8.3-zip unzip wget whois

Debian 12 / 13

apt update
apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release ufw

# PHP (SURY repo)
curl -fsSL https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg \
 | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/sury-php.gpg] https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" \
 > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sury-php.list

# Nginx (official repo)
curl -fsSL https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key \
 | gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/nginx.gpg

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nginx.gpg] http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/debian $(lsb_release -sc) nginx" \
 > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx.list

apt update

apt install -y bzip2 composer git net-tools php8.3 php8.3-bcmath php8.3-bz2 php8.3-cli php8.3-common php8.3-curl php8.3-ds php8.3-fpm php8.3-gd php8.3-gmp php8.3-igbinary php8.3-imap php8.3-intl php8.3-mbstring php8.3-opcache php8.3-readline php8.3-redis php8.3-soap php8.3-swoole php8.3-uuid php8.3-xml php8.3-zip unzip wget whois

Configure PHP Settings:

1. Open the PHP-FPM configuration file:

nano /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini

Add or uncomment the following session security settings:

session.cookie_secure = 1
session.cookie_httponly = 1
session.cookie_samesite = "Strict"

1. Open the OPCache configuration file:

nano /etc/php/8.3/mods-available/opcache.ini

Verify or add the following OPCache and JIT settings:

opcache.enable=1
opcache.enable_cli=1
opcache.jit=1255
opcache.jit_buffer_size=100M

1. Restart PHP-FPM to apply the changes:

systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

2. Install and Configure Caddy and Adminer:

1. Execute the following commands:

curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' -o caddy-stable.gpg.key
gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg caddy-stable.gpg.key
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
apt update
apt install -y caddy

1. Edit /etc/caddy/Caddyfile and place the following content:

FOUNDRY.DOMAIN {
    bind YOUR_IPV4_ADDRESS YOUR_IPV6_ADDRESS
    root * /var/www/foundry/public
    php_fastcgi unix//run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
    encode zstd gzip
    file_server
    tls your-email@example.com
    header -Server
    log {
        output file /var/log/foundry/caddy.log
    }
    # Adminer Configuration
    route /adminer.php* {
        root * /usr/share/adminer
        php_fastcgi unix//run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
    }
    header * {
        Referrer-Policy "same-origin"
        Strict-Transport-Security max-age=31536000;
        X-Content-Type-Options nosniff
        X-Frame-Options DENY
        X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
        Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'none'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'; img-src https:; font-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://rsms.me; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/xlsx/0.18.5/; form-action 'self'; worker-src 'none'; frame-src 'none';
        Feature-Policy "accelerometer 'none'; autoplay 'none'; camera 'none'; encrypted-media 'none'; fullscreen 'self'; geolocation 'none'; gyroscope 'none'; magnetometer 'none'; microphone 'none'; midi 'none'; payment 'none'; picture-in-picture 'self'; usb 'none';"
        Permissions-Policy: accelerometer=(), autoplay=(), camera=(), encrypted-media=(), fullscreen=(self), geolocation=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), microphone=(), midi=(), payment=(), picture-in-picture=(self), usb=();
    }
}

Activate and reload Caddy:

mkdir -p /var/log/foundry
chown caddy:caddy /var/log/foundry
systemctl enable caddy
systemctl restart caddy

1. Install Adminer

mkdir /usr/share/adminer
wget "http://www.adminer.org/latest.php" -O /usr/share/adminer/latest.php
ln -s /usr/share/adminer/latest.php /usr/share/adminer/adminer.php

3. Install MariaDB:

curl -o /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp 'https://mariadb.org/mariadb_release_signing_key.pgp'

Create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mariadb.sources according to your system.

Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy)

X-Repolib-Name: MariaDB
Types: deb
URIs: https://mirror.nextlayer.at/mariadb/repo/11.rolling/ubuntu
Suites: jammy
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp

Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble)

X-Repolib-Name: MariaDB
Types: deb
URIs: https://mirror.nextlayer.at/mariadb/repo/11.rolling/ubuntu
Suites: noble
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp

Debian 12 (Bookworm)

X-Repolib-Name: MariaDB
Types: deb
URIs: https://mirror.nextlayer.at/mariadb/repo/11.rolling/debian
Suites: bookworm
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp

Debian 13 (Trixie)

X-Repolib-Name: MariaDB
Types: deb
URIs: https://mirror.nextlayer.at/mariadb/repo/11.rolling/debian
Suites: trixie
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/mariadb-keyring.pgp

4. Configure MariaDB:

1. Execute the following commands:

apt update
apt install -y mariadb-client mariadb-server php8.3-mysql
mysql_secure_installation

1. Access MariaDB:

mariadb -u root -p

1. Execute the following queries:

CREATE DATABASE foundry;
CREATE USER 'foundry'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'RANDOM_STRONG_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON foundry.* TO 'foundry'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace foundry with your desired username and RANDOM_STRONG_PASSWORD with a secure password of your choice.

Tune your MariaDB

5. Create a new project using Foundry:

cd /var/www
composer create-project argora/foundry your-project-name

6. Setup Foundry:

cd /var/www/foundry
cp env-sample .env
chmod -R 775 logs cache
chown -R www-data:www-data logs cache

Configure your .env with database and app settings, and set your admin credentials in bin/create-admin-user.php.

7. Install Database and Create Administrator:

php bin/install-db.php
php bin/create-admin-user.php

🙏 Acknowledgments

Argora Foundry is based on hezecom/slim-starter, an excellent Slim Framework 4 starter project by Hezekiah Omotsuebe.
We’ve extended and restructured it for SaaS platforms, admin panels, and modern boilerplate needs.