Helpers

Helpers are integration modules and utility classes living in tiny/helpers/. Unlike extensions, helpers are not auto-loaded — you opt in by setting TINY_AUTOLOAD_HELPERS in your env file:

# Load specific helpers
TINY_AUTOLOAD_HELPERS=stripe,mailgun,utils

# Or load all helpers
TINY_AUTOLOAD_HELPERS=*

Once loaded, each helper is exposed as tiny::<name>() and returns a singleton instance.

$payment = tiny::stripe()->charge([...]);
$url     = tiny::spaces()->upload('bucket', 'key', $bytes);
$loc     = tiny::geos()->getLocation();

Catalog

Payments & storage

Helper	Accessor	Purpose	Detailed docs
Stripe	`tiny::stripe()`	Payments, subscriptions, customers, webhook signatures	stripe.md
Spaces / S3	`tiny::spaces()`	DigitalOcean Spaces / S3-compatible storage; signed URLs, CDN purging	spaces.md
Invoice	`tiny::invoice()`	Generates PDF invoices

Email

Helper	Accessor	Purpose
Mailgun	`tiny::mailgun()`	Send via Mailgun
Sendgrid	`tiny::sendgrid()`	Send via SendGrid
Email	`tiny::emailUtils()`	Generic email helper (formatting, parsing)
EmailValidator	`tiny::emailValidator($email)`	Validates emails, including a disposable-domain blacklist

Marketing & analytics

Helper	Accessor	Purpose
HubSpot	`tiny::hubspot()`	CRM sync
Customer.io	`tiny::customerio()`	Behavioural messaging
Encharge	`tiny::encharge()`	Marketing automation
GetResponse	`tiny::getresponse()`	Email marketing
Mixpanel	`tiny::mixpanel()`	Event analytics
Userflow	`tiny::userflow()`	Product tours
Logsnag	`tiny::logsnag()`	Event notifications

Messaging

Helper	Accessor	Purpose
Twilio	`tiny::twilio()`	SMS / voice
Vonage	`tiny::vonage()`	SMS / voice (formerly Nexmo)

Auth & identity

Helper	Accessor	Purpose	Detailed docs
OAuth	`tiny::oauth()`	OAuth providers (Google, GitHub, etc.)	oauth.md
Avatar	`tiny::avatar()`	Generate identicon-style avatars
Cypher	`tiny::cypher()`	AES-256 encryption with TTL
UUID	`tiny::uuidUtils()`	UUID v3 / v4 / v5 generation and validation

Geo

Helper	Accessor	Purpose	Detailed docs
Geos	`tiny::geos()`	GeoIP2 lookup, country/currency rules	geos.md

Files & media

Helper	Accessor	Purpose
DocReader	`tiny::docReader()`	Read text from PDF/DOCX/etc.
Markdown	`tiny::markdown()`	GFM-flavoured markdown with extensions
OpenGraph	`tiny::opengraph()`	Parse / emit Open Graph metadata, generate OG images
HTML	`tiny::html()`	HTML manipulation helpers
Caddy	`tiny::caddy()`	Generate Caddyfile snippets

Utilities

Helper	Accessor	Purpose	Detailed docs
Utils	`tiny::utils()`	String / array / date helpers	utils.md
Rate limiter	`tiny::rateLimiter($name, $reqs, $secs)`	Cache-backed request throttling	rate-limiter.md
Shell	`tiny::shell()`	Safe shell command execution

Rate limiter accessor signature. Unlike the other helpers, rateLimiter takes constructor arguments on every call — they’re forwarded to the underlying RateLimiter class. Usage:
$rl = tiny::rateLimiter('api', 10, 1);   // 10 requests per second
$rl->add(1000, 3600);                    // plus 1000 per hour
if (!$rl->check($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'])) {
    return $response->sendJSON(['error' => 'Too many requests'], 429);
}

Configuration

Each helper reads its credentials from environment variables. Convention is TINY_<HELPER>_<KEY>:

TINY_STRIPE_PK=pk_test_…
TINY_STRIPE_SK=sk_test_…
TINY_STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SIGNATURE=whsec_…

TINY_MAILGUN_API_KEY=…
TINY_MAILGUN_DOMAIN=m.example.com
TINY_MAILGUN_FROM_ADDRESS=noreply@example.com

TINY_S3_REGION=nyc3
TINY_S3_ENDPOINT=https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
TINY_S3_BUCKET=my-bucket
TINY_S3_KEY=…
TINY_S3_SECRET=…
TINY_S3_CDN=https://cdn.example.com

See Configuration reference for the full list.

Custom helpers

Two ways to add your own:

1. Drop a file in `tiny/helpers/`

<?php
// tiny/helpers/myservice.php
declare(strict_types=1);

class TinyMyservice
{
    public function ping(): bool { return true; }
}

Add TINY_AUTOLOAD_HELPERS=myservice (or *) to your env and call tiny::myservice()->ping().

2. Register a factory at runtime

For project-specific helpers you don’t want in the framework folder, register a factory closure (typically from app/common.php):

<?php
tiny::registerHelper('analytics', function () {
    return new \App\Services\Analytics($_SERVER['TINY_ANALYTICS_TOKEN']);
});

tiny::registerHelper('mailer', function () {
    return new \App\Services\Mailer();
});

Subsequent calls to tiny::analytics() return the singleton built by the closure. Arguments passed to the accessor are forwarded to the factory on first call.

Best practices

Only autoload what you use. TINY_AUTOLOAD_HELPERS=* is convenient but adds cold-start cost.
Wrap third-party calls with caching where possible — APIs are slow and rate-limited.
Don’t pass secrets through user-controlled input. Helper credentials should always come from env.
Build domain-specific facades on top of helpers. Don’t call tiny::stripe() directly from a controller; wrap it in a service that knows your business rules.

Tiny PHP Framework