mevdschee/php-crud-api

PHP-CRUD-API is a single PHP file that turns any SQL database into a REST API instantly. A REST API is an interface that lets other software read and write data from your database over the web, using standard web requests. Normally building one requires significant coding work. With this project, you upload one file to your web server, edit a few lines to point it at your database, and the API is live. It works with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and SQLite. The setup instructions are straightforward: download the file, configure a username, password, and database name at the bottom of the file, and deploy. There is also an option to set those values through environment variables, which is common when running applications in containers or cloud environments. The API supports all the standard operations: reading records, creating new ones, updating existing ones, and deleting them. Beyond the basics, it handles filtering records by multiple criteria, sorting, pagination, and returning only specific columns. It can also read data from related tables in a single request, automatically detecting how tables are connected through foreign key relationships. Authentication is built in, with support for API keys, JWT tokens (a standard web security format), and username and password login. There is also a permission system that controls which users or roles can access which tables, columns, or individual records. Geographic and map data is supported through GIS field types. The API can also generate its own documentation automatically in the OpenAPI format, which is a widely used standard for describing APIs. The project explicitly lists what it does not support: complex database transactions across multiple operations, queries using SQL functions like aggregations, and composite primary keys. These are trade-offs in exchange for the simplicity of a single-file deployment. The full README is longer than what was shown.