- What is anahkiasen/html-object used for in Laravel?
- It is an HTML-as-object-graph abstraction: Node, Element, Text, and specialized tags such as Link, Input, Image, and Form compose into a mutable tree that renders to a markup string. It suits code paths where the DOM structure is computed at runtime rather than authored by hand, like reusable UI widgets, email builders, and CMS-driven markup. It is a programmatic alternative to Blade, not a replacement for your normal view layer.
- How do I install anahkiasen/html-object?
- Install it with Composer using composer require anahkiasen/html-object, then use the HtmlObject facade or the core classes directly. On modern Laravel the bundled service provider and facade are auto-discovered. Pin the exact version in composer.json rather than using a caret constraint, since the last release was in 2017.
- Does anahkiasen/html-object support Laravel 10 or Laravel 11?
- Not officially. The last release was 2017-05-30, which predates Laravel 9 and PHP 8, so the illuminate/support constraint is untested on current versions. Run a short compatibility spike on your target PHP and Laravel version before committing to it, and assume dynamic-property deprecation warnings on PHP 8.2 or later. If you need Laravel 11 support, plan for a patched fork behind your own interface.
- Does HtmlObject work on PHP 8.2 or 8.3?
- Behaviorally the HTML generation logic is small and stable, so it will likely keep producing the same output. The practical blockers are PHP 8.2 dynamic-property deprecations and any removed idioms in a package last touched in 2017. Verify on your exact runtime in CI during week one, and prefer a scoped patch via cweagans/composer-patches or a thin vendored fork over an unpatchable fork-of-a-fork.
- Is anahkiasen/html-object safe against XSS and does it escape output?
- No, it does not guarantee attribute or content escaping for untrusted input, so the escaping obligation lands on your call sites. Treat it like raw string concatenation: escape user-supplied values explicitly and enforce that with tests. This is the risk most worth naming in a design review if any rendered content comes from users or third parties.
- What are the best alternatives to HtmlObject in Laravel?
- For most greenfield Laravel work, Blade anonymous components plus Illuminate\Support\HtmlString cover the common cases with no extra dependency. If you genuinely need a programmatic fluent builder, spatie/laravel-html is the actively maintained Laravel-native option. A small immutable value object of your own is also viable when immutable construction is enough.
- Is anahkiasen/html-object still maintained?
- Effectively no. No one is going to ship a PHP 8.3 or Laravel 11 fix, and while Packagist availability and transitive conflicts are unlikely, they can strand you with no upstream recourse. The risk is asymmetric: behavioral risk is low because HTML generation is a stable surface, but maintenance risk is high. Name an internal owner for the dependency if you keep it.
- When should I use HtmlObject instead of Blade partials?
- Use it only where the markup shape is not known at template-authoring time and where mutation after construction is a genuine requirement, such as rule-driven or CMS-generated structures. For ordinary views, Blade partials and components are simpler and better supported. If tree mutation is not really needed, an immutable value object plus HtmlString usually covers the same ground.
- How should I test code built with anahkiasen/html-object?
- Write characterization tests that snapshot render() output so any future swap is provably behavior-preserving. Wrap every HtmlObject usage, HTML:: facade call, and helper function behind an internal interface such as a MarkupBuilder returning HtmlString, then test against that seam. This keeps both the keep-it and replace-it decisions open until you have data.
- How do I migrate away from anahkiasen/html-object safely?
- Start with a seam, not a rewrite: wrap all usages behind an internal interface, then inventory call sites and count the blast radius. Add snapshot tests on render() output, implement the replacement behind the same interface, swap it, and only then remove the dependency. Sequence it as a compatibility spike, a documented go/no-go gate, then the seam and snapshot work.