CakePHP InteractInteractive pages. Written in PHP.

A PHP class, a template, one mount call ​

An island owns a region of your page. A button calls its PHP action, and Interact updates that region with freshly rendered HTML.

These three files work together after installation:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Island;

use Interact\Attribute\Action;
use Interact\Attribute\State;
use Interact\Island;

/**
 * Keeps a count for one region and changes it through a server action.
 *
 * Save as src/Island/CounterIsland.php.
 */
class CounterIsland extends Island
{
    #[State]
    public int $count = 0;

    /**
     * Increase this island's count when its button is pressed.
     */
    #[Action]
    public function increment(): void
    {
        $this->count++;
    }
}

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

/**
 * templates/island/counter.php
 *
 * @var int $count
 */
?>
<p aria-live="polite">Count: <?= (string)$count ?></p>
<button
    type="button"
    @click="$server.call('increment')"
    :disabled="$server.busy"
>
    Add one
</button>
<p role="alert" x-text="$server.error ? $server.error.message : ''"></p>

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

/**
 * templates/Articles/index.php
 *
 * @var \Cake\View\View $this
 */
?>
<h1>Articles</h1>
<?= $this->Interact->render('Counter') ?>

Use the same approach for live search, editable forms, and independent nested editors. CakePHP continues to own queries, validation, authorization, and saving.

See HTML directives and $server for syntax and options, or Examples for complete implementations.

Interact is a development preview for PHP 8.5 and CakePHP 6 development builds. Install dev-main from Packagist; there is no stable release yet. Start with installation, or run the included demo to try the interactions before integrating it into an application.