PHPackages horde/sessionhandler - PHPackages - PHPackages [Skip to content](#main-content)[PHPackages](/)[Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Leaderboard](/leaderboard)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)[Collections](/collections)[Log in](/login)[Sign up](/register) 1. [Directory](/) 2. / 3. [Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) 4. / 5. horde/sessionhandler ActiveHorde-library[Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) horde/sessionhandler ==================== Session handler library v3.0.0(3d ago)23.8k↑14.6%5[1 issues](https://github.com/horde/SessionHandler/issues)1LGPL-2.1-onlyPHPPHP ^8 Since Aug 27Pushed 3d ago5 watchersCompare [ Source](https://github.com/horde/SessionHandler)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/horde/sessionhandler)[ Docs](https://www.horde.org/libraries/Horde_SessionHandler)[ RSS](/packages/horde-sessionhandler/feed)WikiDiscussions FRAMEWORK\_6\_0 Synced yesterday READMEChangelog (6)Dependencies (21)Versions (27)Used By (1) Horde\\SessionHandler ===================== [](#hordesessionhandler) Session management with typed objects, capability-detected backends, and no framework opinions. This library is right for people who like Symfony's rigor, Aura's cleanliness, all my own bugs and PSR-style composability but don't want a framework in their session layer. Install ------- [](#install) ``` composer require horde/sessionhandler ``` Quick start ----------- [](#quick-start) ``` use Horde\SessionHandler\SessionHandler; use Horde\SessionHandler\Storage\FileBackend; $handler = new SessionHandler( backend: new FileBackend('/var/sessions'), ); // Create, read, write, done. $session = $handler->create(); $session->set('user', 'alice'); $handler->save($session); // Later... $session = $handler->load($session->getId()); echo $session->get('user'); // alice ``` Or register it as PHP's native handler and keep using `$_SESSION`: ``` session_set_save_handler($handler, true); session_start(); $_SESSION['user'] = 'alice'; ``` Architecture ------------ [](#architecture) The library is built around three ideas: **Typed value objects.** Session IDs are `SessionId`, not strings that might be empty. Payloads are `SerializedSessionPayload`, not strings that might be JSON or might be PHP-serialized. Metadata is `SessionMetadata` with `DateTimeImmutable` fields, not integer timestamps cast from database columns. **Capability interfaces.** A backend declares what it can do through the interfaces it implements. The core asks the type system, not a method that returns `true`: InterfaceWhat it means`SessionStorageBackend`load / save / delete (required)`IterableSessionBackend`can list active sessions`SessionMetadataBackend`can report created/modified/expires times`AdministrativeSessionBackend`can force-expire a session`LockingSessionBackend`can acquire/release per-session locksThe orchestrator (`SessionHandler`) checks `instanceof` before calling capability methods and throws `CapabilityException` when the backend does not support the requested operation. **PSR composability.** The handler takes an optional PSR-14 `EventDispatcherInterface` for lifecycle events and a PSR-20 `ClockInterface` for deterministic time in tests. Backends -------- [](#backends) ClassCapabilitiesRequires`FileBackend`all fivewritable directory`SqlBackend`storage, iteration, metadata, admin`horde/db``HashtableBackend`storage, iteration\*, admin`horde/hashtable``StackBackend`storage onlytwo or more backends`ExternalBackend`storage onlythree closures`BuiltinBackend`storage onlyPHP's default handler\*HashtableBackend iteration requires `track: true` at construction. ### Constructors [](#constructors) ``` new FileBackend(string $path) new SqlBackend(Horde\Db\Adapter $db, string $table = 'horde_sessionhandler') new HashtableBackend(Horde_HashTable_Base & Horde_HashTable_Lock $ht, bool $track = false) new StackBackend(SessionStorageBackend ...$backends) // last is master new ExternalBackend(Closure $read, Closure $write, Closure $delete) new BuiltinBackend(string $path = '') ``` The Session object ------------------ [](#the-session-object) `Session` is an interface. The default implementation (`DefaultSession`) is an in-memory key-value store with dirty tracking: ``` $session->set('cart', []); // marks dirty $session->get('cart'); // [] $session->has('cart'); // true $session->remove('cart'); // marks dirty $session->keys(); // ['remaining', 'keys'] $session->isDirty(); // true ``` `SessionHandler::save()` is a no-op when `isDirty()` returns false. Events ------ [](#events) When an `EventDispatcherInterface` is provided, the handler dispatches: - `SessionCreated` -- after `create()` - `SessionLoaded` -- after `load()` - `SessionSaved` -- after `save()` - `SessionDestroyed` -- after `destroySession()` - `SessionExpired` -- after `expire()` - `SessionIdRegenerated` -- after `regenerate()`, carries both old and new IDs Two informational event classes (`BackendError`, `LockFailed`) exist for application-level error monitoring. Extending --------- [](#extending) Custom backends implement `SessionStorageBackend` and optionally the capability interfaces they support. Custom serializers implement `SessionSerializer`. Custom session objects implement `Session` and come with a matching `SessionFactory`. The Horde application framework provides `HordeSession` (in `horde/core`, namespace `Horde\Core\Session`) which extends `DefaultSession` with scoped key access, authentication metadata via `SessionMetaInterface`, and transparent per-key encryption via `EncryptedValuesInterface`. `HordeSession` stores data in the same two-level `$data[$app][$name]`structure as PHP's native `$_SESSION`, so sessions written by the legacy handler are readable without conversion. A `NativePhpSessionSerializer` bridges sessions stored through `$_SESSION`with the object API. See [doc/EXTENDING.md](doc/EXTENDING.md) for the full guide. Upgrading from the legacy Horde\_SessionHandler ----------------------------------------------- [](#upgrading-from-the-legacy-horde_sessionhandler) The `lib/` tree ships alongside `src/` for backward compatibility. Both autoload paths are active in `composer.json`. Existing code using `Horde_SessionHandler` and `Horde_SessionHandler_Storage_*` continues to work without changes. New code should use the `Horde\SessionHandler` namespace. The storage format is wire-compatible for file and SQL backends, but the serialization path differs between the native `$_SESSION` interface and the explicit object API -- do not mix both for the same session. See [doc/UPGRADING.md](doc/UPGRADING.md) for the detailed migration guide. License ------- [](#license) LGPL-2.1-only. See [LICENSE](LICENSE). ### Health Score 58 — FairBetter than 98% of packages Maintenance89 Actively maintained with recent releases Popularity29 Limited adoption so far Community31 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity73 Established project with proven stability Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 59.4% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~293 days Recently: every ~19 days Total 17 Last Release 3d ago Major Versions 2.3.0 → 3.0.0alpha22021-02-24 PHP version history (7 changes)2.2.4PHP >=5.3.0 2.2.5PHP >=5.3.0,<=6.0.0alpha1 2.2.7PHP >=5.3.0,<=8.0.0alpha1 2.3.0PHP ^5.3 || ^7 3.0.0alpha2PHP ^7 v3.0.0alpha3PHP ^7.4 || ^8 v3.0.0beta1PHP ^8 ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c943a083635c28520599075eaea7ede2d743b7697b76e84d6bdc37e52cc8249b?d=identicon)[yunosh](/maintainers/yunosh) ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c931cd02664859360478593450d6c473a05bb12b209dfacfc534cd13257cc7ef?d=identicon)[ralflang](/maintainers/ralflang) ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e4f6c6771993db2ed500959b42353f6cf6a2ca0406d9617f7ae680f4504faa4a?d=identicon)[horde](/maintainers/horde) ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/a7767adb66b45f2f05bcd44d49bc4e67efacd9ce05b161ce2d481d5dd6af025c?d=identicon)[mrubinsk](/maintainers/mrubinsk) ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/816e2b926f25f8cd2939054c7a7173011b4303d690e25ab61bf33cf8c7cf71ae?d=identicon)[tdannhauer](/maintainers/tdannhauer) --- Top Contributors [![yunosh](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/379318?v=4)](https://github.com/yunosh "yunosh (177 commits)")[![slusarz](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/381003?v=4)](https://github.com/slusarz "slusarz (71 commits)")[![ralflang](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/646976?v=4)](https://github.com/ralflang "ralflang (28 commits)")[![mrubinsk](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/66822?v=4)](https://github.com/mrubinsk "mrubinsk (14 commits)")[![bklang](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/167131?v=4)](https://github.com/bklang "bklang (3 commits)")[![thomasjfox](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1146758?v=4)](https://github.com/thomasjfox "thomasjfox (1 commits)")[![wrobel](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/10232?v=4)](https://github.com/wrobel "wrobel (1 commits)")[![KimTheFirst](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/15432758?v=4)](https://github.com/KimTheFirst "KimTheFirst (1 commits)")[![selsky](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/380337?v=4)](https://github.com/selsky "selsky (1 commits)")[![TDannhauer](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/6716033?v=4)](https://github.com/TDannhauer "TDannhauer (1 commits)") --- Tags sessionssessionless\_sessions ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/horde-sessionhandler/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/horde-sessionhandler/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/horde-sessionhandler) ``` ### Alternatives [horde/horde Horde base application 583.0k70](/packages/horde-horde)[horde/kronolith Calendar and scheduling application 101.5k4](/packages/horde-kronolith)[horde/imp Webmail application 261.3k](/packages/horde-imp)[horde/imap_client IMAP client library 275.5k19](/packages/horde-imap-client) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)