- What is dreamfactory/df-core?
- dreamfactory/df-core is the extracted core of the DreamFactory platform, packaged for Composer so the vendor's application shell and connector packages can assemble into a runnable product. It provides foundational service and resource abstractions, service contracts, authentication hooks, system resources, API definition and Swagger/OpenAPI generation, and shared utilities. It is not a general-purpose library, and installing it alone yields a non-functional artifact.
- Can I install dreamfactory/df-core on its own with Composer?
- Yes, composer require dreamfactory/df-core resolves under Apache-2.0, but functionally it does nothing useful without the DreamFactory application shell and sibling packages such as df-system and df-database. The supported integration path is the DreamFactory installer or Docker image with a configured .env and backing database, not a bare Composer install in an arbitrary Laravel app. Any other path is effectively a fork.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does dreamfactory/df-core support?
- The package is released in lockstep with the DreamFactory platform, and there is no validated public compatibility matrix. PHP and Laravel major-version pins must be read directly from the package's composer.json before estimating work. Mixing a df-core version with an incompatible app shell or connector set is the most likely first failure.
- Does dreamfactory/df-core require the V8js PHP extension?
- The server-side scripting subsystem requires the V8js PHP extension or an equivalent, which is notoriously difficult to build on modern PHP runtimes. This is a known operational liability that constrains container images and upgrade paths. Validate this dependency early before committing to an estimate.
- What other DreamFactory packages do I need alongside df-core?
- You need the dreamfactorysoftware/dreamfactory application shell plus at least df-system and df-database, along with whichever per-connector packages match your data sources. These siblings depend on df-core heavily and are versioned alongside it. Installing df-core alone gives you the internal spine without the routing, configuration, migrations, and bootstrap the shell normally wires.
- Is df-core suitable for adding API management to an existing Laravel application?
- Probably not. df-core is a framework-within-a-framework that implements its own service lifecycle, request routing, scripting hooks, and API documentation pipeline on top of Laravel, so it sits across the whole app rather than inside a bounded context. It fits only when the requirement is literally API generation or an API façade over many heterogeneous data sources and you intend to run DreamFactory as a product.
- How does df-core handle authentication and API security?
- df-core supplies authentication hooks, service contracts, and the shared plumbing the platform uses to enforce access, but the actual auth, rate limiting, and request validation are configured through DreamFactory services and the app shell. Because the platform generates and exposes APIs against customer data sources, treat the security surface as something you must review and harden yourself. There is no evidence of a public stability or deprecation guarantee for these internal APIs.
- How actively maintained is dreamfactory/df-core?
- The only realistic maintainer is DreamFactory Software Inc., and adoption metrics are near zero with about 16 stars and no dependents. There is no public evidence of a stability guarantee, deprecation policy, or semantic-versioning discipline across the df-* family. If the OSS core is de-prioritized relative to the commercial platform, you inherit the maintenance burden with no community to share it.
- How do I test services built on dreamfactory/df-core?
- The meaningful test surface is integration-level and requires real database backends; unit-isolating core behavior is not the package's design intent. Plan for containerized integration environments that mirror production, including the scripting extension and connector dependencies. Standard Laravel package testing patterns will only cover a thin slice.
- What are alternatives to dreamfactory/df-core for building APIs in Laravel?
- If you do not need DreamFactory's product, a standard Laravel application with domain packages and dedicated OpenAPI tooling is a better architectural fit and avoids the framework-within-a-framework coupling. df-core only makes sense when the requirement is literally governed API access over many heterogeneous data sources. Evaluate the full DreamFactory platform, not the package in isolation.