Version 3.6.8 introduces broad cleanup, optimizations, renames, and new features across Luminova’s core modules. This guide walks you through the key changes and what you need to adjust when migrating.

Core Changes

• Significant renaming and restructuring of core classes for consistency.
• Optimizations and bug fixes across all modules.
• Improved template view engine performance.
• Enhanced exception handling system.

Before You Start

Before upgrading, backup your project.A migration always has the chance of breaking custom code, so you want a safe way back if something goes wrong.

Step 1: Install or Update

Option A: Fresh Installation

Create a new folder for your project and run:

composer create-project luminovang/luminova .

Option B: Update an Existing Project

Inside your current project directory:

composer update

This pulls in the latest 3.6.8 changes.

Step 2: Enable Debug Output

After installation or update, open your .env file and temporarily enable debugging:

debug.display.errors = true
debug.show.tracer = true

This makes it easier to spot issues during migration.Turn them off later when everything is stable.

Step 3: Move Your Files Back (For Fresh Installs)

If you installed a clean copy of the framework, now copy your project files into the new structure.

Resources

Move your old view files:

old-project/resources/Views/* → new-project/resources/Views/*

Then apply these changes:

• Rename 404.php → 4xx.php
• Rename 500.php → 5xx.php
• Delete the old system_errors folder and any files inside it

If you updated instead of reinstalling:Make sure the view directory is now named Views (capital V).The old lowercase views is no longer valid.

Step 4: Update Your Controllers

Copy your controllers:

old-project/app/Controllers/* → new-project/app/Controllers/*

Controller Namespace Change

The base controller class has moved:

Old:

Luminova\Base\BaseController // for HTTP Controller
Luminova\Base\BaseCommand    // for CLI Controller

New:

Luminova\Base\Controller // for HTTP Controller
Luminova\Base\Command    // for CLI Controller

Update any affected controllers.

HTTP Controllers Update

Before:

namespace App\Controller\Http;

use Luminova\Base\BaseController;

class YourController extends BaseController
{}

After:

namespace App\Controller\Http;

use Luminova\Base\Controller;

class YourController extends Controller
{}

CLI Controllers Update

Before:

namespace App\Controller\Cli;

use Luminova\Base\BaseCommand;

class YourCommand extends BaseCommand
{}

After:

namespace App\Controller\Cli;

use Luminova\Base\Command;

class YourCommand extends Command
{}

If Your Controller Name Is Already "Controller"

If your file/class is literally named Controller or Command for CLI controller, you have two options:

Option A: Rename your class/fileSimple and clean.

Option B: Use an alias

in HTTP controllers:

use Luminova\Base\Controller as BaseController;

class Controller extends BaseController
{}

in CLI controllers:

use Luminova\Base\Command as BaseCommand;

class Command extends BaseCommand
{}

This avoids naming conflicts.

If Your HTTP Controller Used Validation

The validation system in Luminova 3.6.8 has been updated.Controllers using the older validation methods must be adjusted.

1. Property Renamed

The validation handler has been renamed:

• Old: $validate
• New: $input

Any controller referring to $this->validate must now use $this->input.

2. Validation Method Signature Changed

The old validate() method accepted an array of data.This is no longer supported.

New behavior:

• validate() now requires the full request object.
• If you still want to validate from an array, use the new setBody() method before calling validate().

3. New Validation Rules Added

The validation engine now supports additional rules, including:

between, lat, lng, latlng, length, limit, size, and others.

You can extend your validation logic with these improved checks.

Before (Old Version)

namespace App\Controller\Cli;

use Luminova\Base\BaseCommand;

class YourCommand extends BaseCommand
{
    public function yourMethod(): int
    {
      if($this->validate->validate($this->request->getBody())){
        // ...
      }
    }
}

After (Updated Version: Using Request Object)

namespace App\Controller\Cli;

use Luminova\Base\BaseCommand;

class YourCommand extends BaseCommand
{
    public function yourMethod(): int
    {
      if$this->input->validate($this->request){
        // ...
      }
    }
}

After (Updated Version: Using Array Body)

If your logic depends on validating a raw array:

namespace App\Controller\Cli;

use Luminova\Base\BaseCommand;

class YourCommand extends BaseCommand
{
    public function yourMethod(): int
    {
      $this->input->setBody($this->request->getBody());
      if($this->input->validate()){
        // ...
      }
    }
}

Step 5: Update Your Application Class

The core Luminova application class has been moved to a new namespace.Any project extending it must update its import path.

Application Namespace Change

Old location:

Luminova\Core\CoreApplication

New location:

Luminova\Foundation\Core\Application

Required Update

Before:

namespace App;

use Luminova\Core\CoreApplication;

class Application extends CoreApplication
{}

After:

// /app/Application.php

namespace App;

use Luminova\Foundation\Core\Application as CoreApplication;

class Application extends CoreApplication
{}

The alias keeps your class name the same while pointing it to the updated framework class.

Step 6: Stop and Check

At this point you should have updated:

• Your controllers
• Your application class
• Your view structure

Open the project in your browser and make sure it loads without errors.If everything runs, you can continue following the latest Luminova documentation for any new features you want to adopt.

If you do see errors, they usually come from:

• Old namespaces
• Moved classes
• Methods that have been relocated to dedicated modules

Update them as needed, then continue with the remaining migration steps.

Other Important Changes

Several helper classes were moved into new namespaces.You will need to update your use statements accordingly.

Helper Function Changes

Luminova 3.6.8 reorganized how helper functions are accessed.

Most helper functions now require importing from the Luminova\Funcs\* namespace unless they are core PHP functions or part of the limited set of Luminova global helpers listed below.

Global Helper Functions (No Namespace Required)

These functions remain globally available and do not require any namespace import.

Any other Luminova helper functions must be accessed using the Luminova\Funcs namespace.

Using Namespaced Helper Functions

Update all reference to helper function with correct namespace import.

Direct Fully-Qualified Call

Luminova\Funcs\href('about');

Import a Single Function

use function Luminova\Funcs\href;

href('about');

Import Multiple Functions

use function Luminova\Funcs\{href, root};

href('about');
root('writeable/tmp/', 'file.txt');

This pattern keeps your code cleaner and avoids repeating long namespace paths.

Helper Class Changes

Update any old imports in your project.

Encryption Changes

The encryption module has been reorganized.

Crypter Namespace Change

Old:

use Luminova\Security\Crypter;

New:

use Luminova\Security\Encryption\Crypter;

No behavior changes, only location.

Password Handling Changes

Password functions were removed from Crypter and placed into a dedicated class.

Before:

use Luminova\Security\Crypter;

Crypter::password();
Crypter::isPassword();

After:

use Luminova\Security\Password;

Password::hash();
Password::verify();   // same as isValid()

This keeps password handling clean and independent.

Key Management Changes

Key generation and validation have also been moved out of Crypter.

Before:

use Luminova\Security\Crypter;

Crypter::generateKey();
Crypter::isKeyMatch();
Crypter::isPrivateKey();

After:

use Luminova\Security\Encryption\Key;

Key::newPublic();
Key::newPrivate();
Key::newKeyPair();
Key::newRandom();

Key::isMatch();
Key::isPrivate();

This separates encryption keys from password utilities, making both clearer and easier to maintain.

Exception Handling

Luminova 3.6.8 introduces a dedicated class for all exception and error codes.Older exception classes previously carried their own constants. That is no longer the case.

A new ErrorCode class centralizes these values, and all framework exceptions now reference it.

Before

use Luminova\Exceptions\RuntimeException;

throw new RuntimeException('Error', RuntimeException::INVALID);

After (Updated)

use Luminova\Exceptions\RuntimeException;
use Luminova\Exceptions\ErrorCode;

throw new RuntimeException('Error', ErrorCode::INVALID);

Every exception type that previously used its own code constants must now use ErrorCode::* instead.

Cookies

The framework dropped the longer name CookieFileJar to keep the cookie storage classes consistent. If your project used the old class, you must update the import.

Before

use Luminova\Cookies\CookieFileJar;

$jar = new CookieFileJar();

After

use Luminova\Cookies\FileJar;

$jar = new FileJar();