Thelia 3

Thelia is an open-source e-commerce platform built on PHP 8.3+, Symfony 7.4 LTS, API Platform 4.3 (standalone), and Propel ORM.

Version 3 introduces a modern front-office powered by Twig and Symfony UX, a full REST API, and a domain-layer architecture. The back-office has been ported to a Twig bundle (default-twig) on the same stack.

At a glance

Layer	Technology
Framework	Symfony 7.4 LTS
ORM	Propel 2 (not Doctrine)
API	API Platform 4.3 standalone (api-platform/symfony), JWT authentication
Front-office	Twig, LiveComponents, TwigComponent, Stimulus
Back-office	Twig (default-twig bundle), Repositories + UiComponents, Hooks
Default front theme	Flexy (Tailwind CSS, ~50 components)

How data flows

Browser → Symfony Router → Twig Template
                              ↓
                     resources('/api/front/products')
                              ↓
                     DataAccessService (no HTTP overhead)
                              ↓
                     API Platform → Propel ORM → Database

Templates call the API internally through DataAccessService. External clients (mobile apps, SPAs) call the same API over HTTP.

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/thelia/thelia.git && cd thelia

# With DDEV (recommended)
ddev start && ddev composer install
ddev exec php bin/install \
  --frontoffice_theme=flexy --backoffice_theme=default-twig \
  --pdf_theme=default --email_theme=default \
  --with-demo --with-admin \
  --admin_login=thelia --admin_password=thelia \
  --admin_first_name=thelia --admin_last_name=thelia \
  --admin_email=thelia@example.com

# Without DDEV
composer install
DATABASE_HOST=localhost DATABASE_NAME=thelia DATABASE_USER=root DATABASE_PASSWORD=secret \
  php bin/install \
  --frontoffice_theme=flexy --backoffice_theme=default-twig \
  --pdf_theme=default --email_theme=default

The theme flags pick the front-office theme (flexy) and the Twig back-office bundle (default-twig). When the install finishes, open the front-office in your browser and the back-office at /admin.

What's new in Thelia 3

Compared to Thelia 2:

• Twig replaces Smarty in the front-office.
• API Platform provides a full REST API (it was "coming soon" in v2).
• LiveComponents enable reactive UIs without JavaScript.
• Domain facades (Cart, Customer, Checkout) encapsulate business logic.
• bin/install is a standalone installer that runs without the Symfony kernel.
• A testing framework ships with IntegrationTestCase and FixtureFactory.

The back-office has been ported to a Twig bundle (default-twig) built on Bootstrap 5, Twig and Stimulus. This is the reference back-office. The legacy Smarty back-office (default) is transitional and likely to be dropped in a future release.

Documentation structure

The sections build on each other, from installation to reference:

1. Getting Started: install and configure Thelia
2. Architecture: understand the system design
3. Front-Office: build pages with Twig and Symfony UX
4. API: REST endpoints, resources, filters
5. Back-Office: Twig admin bundle, repositories, hooks
6. Modules: create and distribute extensions
7. Testing: write tests with IntegrationTestCase
8. Reference: events, forms, CLI commands, i18n

Requirements

• PHP 8.3+ with extensions: PDO_MySQL, openssl, intl, gd, curl, dom
• MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+
• Composer 2+

Community

• GitHub: source code and issues
• Forum: community discussions
• Discord: real-time chat

Thelia is licensed under LGPL v3.