CodeIgniter 4 Settings & Feature Flags Library

Database-backed application settings and feature flags for CodeIgniter 4, with dot-notation support, automatic type casting, and optional caching.

This package gives you a simple settings() helper and a small Settings library so you can store configuration in the database instead of hard-coding everything in config files.

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Features

• Database-backed settings using a dedicated settings table
• Feature flags via a simple feature('flag_name') helper
• Dot-notation keys like app.name, mail.smtp.host, etc.
• Automatic type detection & casting
  • bool, int, float, string, json (arrays/objects)
• Nested settings & JSON
  • Store arrays/objects and access them via dot notation
• Optional caching via CodeIgniter’s cache system
• Convenience helpers
  • settings() – get/set/delete settings
  • feature() – check if a feature flag is enabled
• Smart delete
  • Can remove nested keys from JSON settings (e.g. remove app.mail.host from a stored app.mail JSON blob)

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Requirements

• PHP 8.0+
• CodeIgniter 4.x
• A database supported by CodeIgniter 4

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Installation

1. Install via Composer

composer require olajideolamide/ci4-settings

2. Register the namespace (if needed)

In most Composer-based CodeIgniter 4 apps, Composer’s autoloader is already wired up.
If you are using modules and explicit namespaces, add the package namespace to app/Config/Autoload.php:

// app/Config/Autoload.php

public $psr4 = [
    APP_NAMESPACE => APPPATH,
    'Config'      => APPPATH . 'Config',

    // Add this line (keep your existing entries)
    'Jide\Settings' => ROOTPATH . 'vendor/olajideolamide/ci4-settings/src',
];

3. Run the migration

This package ships with a migration that creates the settings table.

Run:

php spark migrate -n Jide\Settings

This will create a table named settings with columns:

• id (INT, PK, auto-increment)
• key (VARCHAR, unique)
• value (TEXT)
• type (VARCHAR – string, bool, int, float, json, etc.)
• group (VARCHAR, nullable) – optional grouping for your own use
• is_feature (TINYINT(1)) – marks a setting as a feature flag
• created_at, updated_at (DATETIME, nullable)

4. Load the helper

To use the settings() and feature() helpers, load the helper:

Per controller / per use:

helper('settings');

Globally (recommended):

In app/Config/Autoload.php:

public $helpers = ['settings'];

Or in a base controller:

protected $helpers = ['settings'];

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Quick Start

Once installed, migrated, and the helper is loaded, you can start using it immediately.

Get a setting

// Get 'app.name', return 'My App' if it doesn't exist
$appName = settings('app.name', 'My App');

Set a setting

// Using the helper to get the library instance
settings()->set('app.name', 'My Awesome App');

Check if a setting exists

if (settings()->has('app.name')) {
    // do something
}

Delete a setting

settings()->delete('app.name');

Access all settings

$config = settings()->all(); // returns nested array of all settings

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Feature Flags

Feature flags make it easy to toggle functionality on or off without redeploying code.

Enable a feature flag

Feature flags are stored as keys under the feature. namespace, for example: feature.new_checkout.

// Create or update a feature flag
settings()->set(
    'feature.new_checkout',
    true,                // value
    'checkout',          // optional group
    true                 // is_feature = true
);

Check if a feature is enabled (helper)

if (feature('new_checkout')) {
    // show new checkout flow
} else {
    // fallback to old flow
}

You can also pass the full key:

if (feature('feature.new_checkout')) {
    // also works
}

Check with a default value

if (feature('beta_banner', false)) {
    // only runs if explicitly enabled
}

Under the hood, feature('something'):

• Ensures the key is prefixed with feature. if you didn’t add it
• Reads the setting
• Casts it to a boolean using common truthy representations: 1, true, yes, on (case-insensitive)

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Dot-Notation & Nested Settings

This library supports dot-notation for keys, and can store arrays/objects as JSON.

Storing a nested array

settings()->set('mail', [
    'host'       => 'smtp.example.com',
    'port'       => 587,
    'encryption' => 'tls',
    'username'   => 'user@example.com',
    'password'   => 'secret',
]);

Internally this is saved as:

• key = mail
• type = json
• value = JSON encoding of the array

Reading nested values

$host = settings('mail.host');       // "smtp.example.com"
$port = settings('mail.port');       // 587 (int)
$enc  = settings('mail.encryption'); // "tls"

Updating part of a JSON setting

You can overwrite the whole array:

settings()->set('mail', [
    'host' => 'smtp2.example.com',
] + settings('mail', []));

Or add nested configuration piece by piece using a more granular key:

$config = settings()->all(); // or build what you need

// For example, to create a grouped "app" config
settings()->set('app', [
    'name' => 'My App',
    'mail' => [
        'host' => 'smtp.example.com',
    ],
]);

// Later, read:
$host = settings('app.mail.host');

When JSON values are loaded, they are decoded into arrays and merged into the full settings structure so that dot-paths like app.mail.host work as expected.

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Type Handling

The library automatically detects and casts types based on the value you set.

Detection

When you call set($key, $value, ...), the library determines:

• bool → stored as '1' or '0', returned as bool
• int → stored as string, returned as int
• float → stored as string, returned as float
• array / object → stored as JSON (type = json), returned as array
• anything else → stored and returned as string

Casting on read

When you call get() or settings('key'):

• If type = bool it’s converted using a liberal boolean parser:
  • 1, true, yes, on → true
  • Anything else → false
• If type = int → (int)$value
• If type = float → (float)$value
• If type = json → json_decode() to an array
• Otherwise → raw string

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Settings Helper & Library API

settings(?string $key = null, mixed $default = null)

• If no key is passed (settings()):
  • Returns an instance of Jide\Settings\Libraries\Settings
• If a key is passed (settings('app.name')):
  • Returns the setting value (typed) or $default if not found

Examples:

// Get instance
$settings = settings();

// Get value
$appName = settings('app.name', 'My App');

// Chain methods
settings()->set('app.name', 'My App');

feature(string $flag, bool $default = false): bool

Convenience wrapper around Settings::featureEnabled().

• Accepts either new_checkout or feature.new_checkout
• Returns bool

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Jide\Settings\Libraries\Settings methods

If you prefer to work with the library directly:

use Jide\Settings\Libraries\Settings;

$settings = new Settings(); // uses default config and model

Available methods:

• get(string $key, $default = null): mixed
  Get a setting by key (supports dot notation).

• set(string $key, $value, ?string $group = null, bool $isFeature = false): bool
  Create or update a setting.

• all(): array
  Get all settings as a nested array.

• has(string $key): bool
  Check if a setting exists (supports dot notation).

• delete(string $key): bool
  Delete a setting by key.
  Also attempts to remove nested keys from JSON parent entries (e.g. app.mail.host inside app.mail).

• featureEnabled(string $flag, bool $default = false): bool
  Check if a feature flag is enabled.

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Caching

This library uses a small config class to control caching:

// Jide\Settings\Config\Settings

public string $table    = 'settings';
public bool   $useCache = true;
public int    $cacheTTL = 600;        // seconds
public string $cacheKey = 'ci4_settings';

By default:

• All settings are cached in memory on first request
• If CodeIgniter’s cache() function is available and $useCache is true:
  • The settings array is stored under $cacheKey for $cacheTTL seconds
• Any set() or delete() call automatically clears the cache

If you want to customise these values at runtime, you can instantiate the library with your own config:

use Jide\Settings\Config\Settings as SettingsConfig;
use Jide\Settings\Libraries\Settings;

// Create custom config
$config = new SettingsConfig();
$config->useCache = false;
$config->cacheTTL = 0;
$config->table    = 'app_settings'; // if you also customised the migration

$settings = new Settings($config);

Note: the helper('settings') uses new Settings() with the default config.
If you need a customised config, create your own Settings instance as above.

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Building an Admin UI (Optional)

The table contains extra metadata to help you build an admin/settings UI:

• group – group related settings (e.g. mail, app, billing)
• is_feature – mark which rows are feature flags so you can list them separately

Example: only list feature flags:

use Jide\Settings\Models\SettingModel;

$model = new SettingModel();

$flags = $model
    ->where('is_feature', 1)
    ->orderBy('key', 'ASC')
    ->findAll();

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License

This project is open-source software licensed under the MIT license.

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Author

Olanrewaju “Jide” Olajide

• Package: olajideolamide/ci4-settings
• PRs, issues and suggestions are welcome!