Mojolicious(3)

NAME
Mojolicious - Real-time web framework

SYNOPSIS
  # Application
  package MyApp;
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious', -signatures;

  # Route
  sub startup ($self) {
    $self->routes->get('/hello')->to('foo#hello');
  }

  # Controller
  package MyApp::Controller::Foo;
  use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Controller', -signatures;

  # Action
  sub hello ($self) {
    $self->render(text => 'Hello World!');
  }

DESCRIPTION
An amazing real-time web framework built on top of the powerful Mojo web development toolkit. With support for RESTful routes, plugins, commands, Perl-ish templates, content negotiation, session management, form validation, testing framework, static file server, "CGI"/"PSGI" detection, first class Unicode support and much more for you to discover.

Take a look at our excellent documentation in Mojolicious::Guides!

HOOKS
Mojolicious will emit the following hooks in the listed order.

  before_command
Emitted right before the application runs a command through the command line interface.

  $app->hook(before_command => sub ($command, $args) {...});

Useful for reconfiguring the application before running a command or to modify the behavior of a command. (Passed the command object and the command arguments)

  before_server_start
Emitted right before the application server is started, for web servers that support it, which includes all the built-in ones.

  $app->hook(before_server_start => sub ($server, $app) {...});

Useful for reconfiguring application servers dynamically or collecting server diagnostics information. (Passed the server and application objects)

  after_build_tx
Emitted right after the transaction is built and before the HTTP request gets parsed.

  $app->hook(after_build_tx => sub ($tx, $app) {...});

This is a very powerful hook and should not be used lightly, it makes some rather advanced features such as upload progress bars possible. Note that this hook will not work for embedded applications, because only the host application gets to build transactions. (Passed the transaction and application objects)

  around_dispatch
Emitted right after a new request has been received and wraps around the whole dispatch process, so you have to manually forward to the next hook if you want to continue the chain. Default exception handling with "reply->exception" in Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers is the first hook in the chain and a call to "dispatch" the last, yours will be in between.

  $app->hook(around_dispatch => sub ($next, $c) {
    ...
    $next->();
    ...
  });

This is a very powerful hook and should not be used lightly, it allows you to, for example, customize application-wide exception handling, consider it the sledgehammer in your toolbox. (Passed a callback leading to the next hook and the default controller object)

  before_dispatch
Emitted right before the static file server and router start their work.

  $app->hook(before_dispatch => sub ($c) {...});

Very useful for rewriting incoming requests and other preprocessing tasks. (Passed the default controller object)

  after_static
Emitted after a static file response has been generated by the static file server.

  $app->hook(after_static => sub ($c) {...});

Mostly used for post-processing static file responses. (Passed the default controller object)

  before_routes
Emitted after the static file server determined if a static file should be served and before the router starts its work.

  $app->hook(before_routes => sub ($c) {...});

Mostly used for custom dispatchers and collecting metrics. (Passed the default controller object)

  around_action
Emitted right before an action gets executed and wraps around it, so you have to manually forward to the next hook if you want to continue the chain. Default action dispatching is the last hook in the chain, yours will run before it.

  $app->hook(around_action => sub ($next, $c, $action, $last) {
    ...
    return $next->();
  });

This is a very powerful hook and should not be used lightly, it allows you for example to pass additional arguments to actions or handle return values differently. Note that this hook can trigger more than once for the same request if there are nested routes. (Passed a callback leading to the next hook, the current controller object, the action callback and a flag indicating if this action is an endpoint)

  before_render
Emitted before content is generated by the renderer. Note that this hook can trigger out of order due to its dynamic nature, and with embedded applications will only work for the application that is rendering.

  $app->hook(before_render => sub ($c, $args) {...});

Mostly used for pre-processing arguments passed to the renderer. (Passed the current controller object and the render arguments)

  after_render
Emitted after content has been generated by the renderer that will be assigned to the response. Note that this hook can trigger out of order due to its dynamic nature, and with embedded applications will only work for the application that is rendering.

  $app->hook(after_render => sub ($c, $output, $format) {...});

Mostly used for post-processing dynamically generated content. (Passed the current controller object, a reference to the content and the format)

  after_dispatch
Emitted in reverse order after a response has been generated. Note that this hook can trigger out of order due to its dynamic nature, and with embedded applications will only work for the application that is generating the response.

  $app->hook(after_dispatch => sub ($c) {...});

Useful for rewriting outgoing responses and other post-processing tasks. (Passed the current controller object)

ATTRIBUTES
Mojolicious implements the following attributes.

  commands
  my $commands = $app->commands;
  $app         = $app->commands(Mojolicious::Commands->new);

Command line interface for your application, defaults to a Mojolicious::Commands object.

  # Add another namespace to load commands from
  push @{$app->commands->namespaces}, 'MyApp::Command';

  controller_class
  my $class = $app->controller_class;
  $app      = $app->controller_class('Mojolicious::Controller');

Class to be used for the default controller, defaults to Mojolicious::Controller. Note that this class needs to have already been loaded before the first request arrives.

  exception_format
  my $format = $app->exception_format;
  $app       = $app->exception_format('txt');

Format for HTTP exceptions ("html", "json", or "txt"), defaults to "html".

  home
  my $home = $app->home;
  $app     = $app->home(Mojo::Home->new);

The home directory of your application, defaults to a Mojo::Home object which stringifies to the actual path.

  # Portably generate path relative to home directory
  my $path = $app->home->child('data', 'important.txt');

  log
  my $log = $app->log;
  $app    = $app->log(Mojo::Log->new);

The logging layer of your application, defaults to a Mojo::Log object. The level will default to either the "MOJO_LOG_LEVEL" environment variable, "trace" if the "mode" is "development", or "info" otherwise. All messages will be written to "STDERR" by default.

  # Log debug message
  $app->log->debug('It works');

  max_request_size
  my $max = $app->max_request_size;
  $app    = $app->max_request_size(16777216);

Maximum request size in bytes, defaults to the value of "max_message_size" in Mojo::Message. Setting the value to 0 will allow requests of indefinite size. Note that increasing this value can also drastically increase memory usage, should you for example attempt to parse an excessively large request body with the methods "dom" in Mojo::Message or "json" in Mojo::Message.

  mode
  my $mode = $app->mode;
  $app     = $app->mode('production');

The operating mode for your application, defaults to a value from the "MOJO_MODE" and "PLACK_ENV" environment variables or "development".

  moniker
  my $moniker = $app->moniker;
  $app        = $app->moniker('foo_bar');

Moniker of this application, often used as default filename for configuration files and the like, defaults to decamelizing the application class with "decamelize" in Mojo::Util.

  plugins
  my $plugins = $app->plugins;
  $app        = $app->plugins(Mojolicious::Plugins->new);

The plugin manager, defaults to a Mojolicious::Plugins object. See the "plugin" method below if you want to load a plugin.

  # Add another namespace to load plugins from
  push @{$app->plugins->namespaces}, 'MyApp::Plugin';

  preload_namespaces
  my $namespaces = $app->preload_namespaces;
  $app           = $app->preload_namespaces(['MyApp::Controller']);

Namespaces to preload classes from during application startup.

  renderer
  my $renderer = $app->renderer;
  $app         = $app->renderer(Mojolicious::Renderer->new);

Used to render content, defaults to a Mojolicious::Renderer object. For more information about how to generate content see Mojolicious::Guides::Rendering.

  # Enable compression
  $app->renderer->compress(1);

  # Add another "templates" directory
  push @{$app->renderer->paths}, '/home/sri/templates';

  # Add another "templates" directory with higher precedence
  unshift @{$app->renderer->paths}, '/home/sri/themes/blue/templates';

  # Add another class with templates in DATA section
  push @{$app->renderer->classes}, 'Mojolicious::Plugin::Fun';

  routes
  my $routes = $app->routes;
  $app       = $app->routes(Mojolicious::Routes->new);

The router, defaults to a Mojolicious::Routes object. You use this in your startup method to define the url endpoints for your application.

  # Add routes
  my $r = $app->routes;
  $r->get('/foo/bar')->to('test#foo', title => 'Hello Mojo!');
  $r->post('/baz')->to('test#baz');

  # Add another namespace to load controllers from
  push @{$app->routes->namespaces}, 'MyApp::MyController';

  secrets
  my $secrets = $app->secrets;
  $app        = $app->secrets([$bytes]);

Secret passphrases used for signed cookies and the like, defaults to the "moniker" of this application, which is not very secure, so you should change it!!! As long as you are using the insecure default there will be debug messages in the log file reminding you to change your passphrase. Only the first passphrase is used to create new signatures, but all of them for verification. So you can increase security without invalidating all your existing signed cookies by rotating passphrases, just add new ones to the front and remove old ones from the back.

  # Rotate passphrases
  $app->secrets(['new_passw0rd', 'old_passw0rd', 'very_old_passw0rd']);

  sessions
  my $sessions = $app->sessions;
  $app         = $app->sessions(Mojolicious::Sessions->new);

Signed cookie based session manager, defaults to a Mojolicious::Sessions object. You can usually leave this alone, see "session" in Mojolicious::Controller for more information about working with session data.

  # Enable encrypted sessions
  $app->sessions->encrypted(1);

  # Change name of cookie used for all sessions
  $app->sessions->cookie_name('mysession');

  # Disable SameSite feature
  $app->sessions->samesite(undef);

  static
  my $static = $app->static;
  $app       = $app->static(Mojolicious::Static->new);

For serving static files from your "public" directories, defaults to a Mojolicious::Static object.

  # Serve static files only with a "/static" prefix
  $app->static->prefix('/static');

  # Add another "public" directory
  push @{$app->static->paths}, '/home/sri/public';

  # Add another "public" directory with higher precedence
  unshift @{$app->static->paths}, '/home/sri/themes/blue/public';

  # Add another class with static files in DATA section
  push @{$app->static->classes}, 'Mojolicious::Plugin::Fun';

  # Remove built-in favicon
  delete $app->static->extra->{'favicon.ico'};

  types
  my $types = $app->types;
  $app      = $app->types(Mojolicious::Types->new);

Responsible for connecting file extensions with MIME types, defaults to a Mojolicious::Types object.

  # Add custom MIME type
  $app->types->type(twt => 'text/tweet');

  ua
  my $ua = $app->ua;
  $app   = $app->ua(Mojo::UserAgent->new);

A full featured HTTP user agent for use in your applications, defaults to a Mojo::UserAgent object.

  # Perform blocking request
  say $app->ua->get('example.com')->result->body;

  validator
  my $validator = $app->validator;
  $app          = $app->validator(Mojolicious::Validator->new);

Validate values, defaults to a Mojolicious::Validator object.

  # Add validation check
  $app->validator->add_check(foo => sub ($v, $name, $value) {
    return $value ne 'foo';
  });

  # Add validation filter
  $app->validator->add_filter(quotemeta => sub ($v, $name, $value) {
    return quotemeta $value;
  });

METHODS
Mojolicious inherits all methods from Mojo::Base and implements the following new ones.

  build_controller
  my $c = $app->build_controller;
  my $c = $app->build_controller(Mojo::Transaction::HTTP->new);
  my $c = $app->build_controller(Mojolicious::Controller->new);

Build default controller object with "controller_class".

  # Render template from application
  my $foo = $app->build_controller->render_to_string(template => 'foo');

  build_tx
  my $tx = $app->build_tx;

Build Mojo::Transaction::HTTP object and emit "after_build_tx" hook.

  config
  my $hash = $app->config;
  my $foo  = $app->config('foo');
  $app     = $app->config({foo => 'bar', baz => 23});
  $app     = $app->config(foo => 'bar', baz => 23);

Application configuration.

  # Remove value
  my $foo = delete $app->config->{foo};

  # Assign multiple values at once
  $app->config(foo => 'test', bar => 23);

  defaults
  my $hash = $app->defaults;
  my $foo  = $app->defaults('foo');
  $app     = $app->defaults({foo => 'bar', baz => 23});
  $app     = $app->defaults(foo => 'bar', baz => 23);

Default values for "stash" in Mojolicious::Controller, assigned for every new request.

  # Remove value
  my $foo = delete $app->defaults->{foo};

  # Assign multiple values at once
  $app->defaults(foo => 'test', bar => 23);

  dispatch
  $app->dispatch(Mojolicious::Controller->new);

The heart of every Mojolicious application, calls the "static" and "routes" dispatchers for every request and passes them a Mojolicious::Controller object.

  handler
  $app->handler(Mojo::Transaction::HTTP->new);
  $app->handler(Mojolicious::Controller->new);

Sets up the default controller and emits the "around_dispatch" hook for every request.

  helper
  $app->helper(foo => sub {...});

Add or replace a helper that will be available as a method of the controller object and the application object, as well as a function in "ep" templates. For a full list of helpers that are available by default see Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers and Mojolicious::Plugin::TagHelpers.

  # Helper
  $app->helper(cache => sub { state $cache = {} });

  # Application
  $app->cache->{foo} = 'bar';
  my $result = $app->cache->{foo};

  # Controller
  $c->cache->{foo} = 'bar';
  my $result = $c->cache->{foo};

  # Template
  % cache->{foo} = 'bar';
  %= cache->{foo}

  hook
  $app->hook(after_dispatch => sub {...});

Extend Mojolicious with hooks, which allow code to be shared with all requests indiscriminately, for a full list of available hooks see "HOOKS".

  # Dispatchers will not run if there's already a response code defined
  $app->hook(before_dispatch => sub ($c) {
    $c->render(text => 'Skipped static file server and router!')
      if $c->req->url->path->to_route =~ /do_not_dispatch/;
  });

  new
  my $app = Mojolicious->new;
  my $app = Mojolicious->new(moniker => 'foo_bar');
  my $app = Mojolicious->new({moniker => 'foo_bar'});

Construct a new Mojolicious application and call "startup". Will automatically detect your home directory. Also sets up the renderer, static file server, a default set of plugins and an "around_dispatch" hook with the default exception handling.

  plugin
  $app->plugin('some_thing');
  $app->plugin('some_thing', foo => 23);
  $app->plugin('some_thing', {foo => 23});
  $app->plugin('SomeThing');
  $app->plugin('SomeThing', foo => 23);
  $app->plugin('SomeThing', {foo => 23});
  $app->plugin('MyApp::Plugin::SomeThing');
  $app->plugin('MyApp::Plugin::SomeThing', foo => 23);
  $app->plugin('MyApp::Plugin::SomeThing', {foo => 23});

Load a plugin, for a full list of example plugins included in the Mojolicious distribution see "PLUGINS" in Mojolicious::Plugins.

  server
  $app->server(Mojo::Server->new);

Emits the "before_server_start" hook.

  start
  $app->start;
  $app->start(@ARGV);

Start the command line interface for your application. For a full list of commands that are available by default see "COMMANDS" in Mojolicious::Commands. Note that the options "-h"/"--help", "--home" and "-m"/"--mode", which are shared by all commands, will be parsed from @ARGV during compile time.

  # Always start daemon
  $app->start('daemon', '-l', 'http://*:8080');

  startup
  $app->startup;

This is your main hook into the application, it will be called at application startup. Meant to be overloaded in a subclass.

  sub startup ($self) {...}

  warmup
  $app->warmup;

Preload classes from "preload_namespaces" for future use.

HELPERS
In addition to the "ATTRIBUTES" and "METHODS" above you can also call helpers on Mojolicious objects. This includes all helpers from Mojolicious::Plugin::DefaultHelpers and Mojolicious::Plugin::TagHelpers. Note that application helpers are always called with a new default controller object, so they can't depend on or change controller state, which includes request, response and stash.

  # Call helper
  say $app->dumper({foo => 'bar'});

  # Longer version
  say $app->build_controller->helpers->dumper({foo => 'bar'});

BUNDLED FILES
The Mojolicious distribution includes a few files with different licenses that have been bundled for internal use.

  Mojolicious Artwork
  Copyright (C) 2010-2025, Sebastian Riedel.

Licensed under the CC-SA License, Version 4.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>.

  highlight.js
  Copyright (C) 2006, Ivan Sagalaev.

Licensed under the BSD License, <https://github.com/highlightjs/highlight.js/blob/master/LICENSE>.

  Bootstrap
  Copyright 2011-2020 The Bootstrap Authors.
  Copyright 2011-2020 Twitter, Inc.

Licensed under the MIT License, <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/MIT>.

  Font Awesome
Licensed under the CC-BY License, Version 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/> and SIL OFL, Version 1.1 <https://opensource.org/licenses/OFL-1.1>.

CODE NAMES
Every major release of Mojolicious has a code name, these are the ones that have been used in the past.

9.0, "Waffle" (U+1F9C7)

8.0, "Supervillain" (U+1F9B9)

7.0, "Doughnut" (U+1F369)

6.0, "Clinking Beer Mugs" (U+1F37B)

5.0, "Tiger Face" (U+1F42F)

4.0, "Top Hat" (U+1F3A9)

3.0, "Rainbow" (U+1F308)

2.0, "Leaf Fluttering In Wind" (U+1F343)

1.0, "Snowflake" (U+2744)

SPONSORS

•   Stix <https://stix.no> sponsored the creation of the Mojolicious logo (designed by Nicolai Graesdal) and transferred its copyright to Sebastian Riedel.

•   Some of the work on this distribution has been sponsored by The Perl Foundation <https://www.perlfoundation.org>.

AUTHORS
Mojolicious is an open source project that relies on the tireless support of its contributors.

  Project Founder
Sebastian Riedel, "kraih@mojolicious.org"

  Core Developers
Current voting members of the core team in alphabetical order:

    CandyAngel, "candyangel@mojolicious.org"

    Christopher Rasch-Olsen Raa, "christopher@mojolicious.org"

    Dan Book, "grinnz@mojolicious.org"

    Jan Henning Thorsen, "batman@mojolicious.org"

    Joel Berger, "jberger@mojolicious.org"

    Marcus Ramberg, "marcus@mojolicious.org"

The following members of the core team are currently on hiatus:

    Abhijit Menon-Sen, "ams@cpan.org"

    Glen Hinkle, "tempire@cpan.org"

  Contributors
In alphabetical order:

    Adam Kennedy

    Adriano Ferreira

    Al Newkirk

    Alex Efros

    Alex Salimon

    Alexander Karelas

    Alexander Kuehne

    Alexey Likhatskiy

    Anatoly Sharifulin

    Andre Parker

    Andre Vieth

    Andreas Guldstrand

    Andreas Jaekel

    Andreas Koenig

    Andrew Fresh

    Andrew Nugged

    Andrey Khozov

    Andrey Kuzmin

    Andy Grundman

    Andy Lester

    Aristotle Pagaltzis

    Ashley Dev

    Ask Bjoern Hansen

    Audrey Tang

    Ben Tyler

    Ben van Staveren

    Benjamin Erhart

    Bernhard Graf

    Breno G. de Oliveira

    Brian Duggan

    Brian Medley

    Burak Gursoy

    Ch Lamprecht

    Charlie Brady

    Chas. J. Owens IV

    Chase Whitener

    Chris Scheller

    Christian Hansen

    chromatic

    Curt Tilmes

    Daniel Kimsey

    Daniel Mantovani

    Danijel Tasov

    Dagfinn Ilmari Manns�ker

    Danny Thomas

    David Davis

    David Webb

    Diego Kuperman

    Dmitriy Shalashov

    Dmitry Konstantinov

    Dominik Jarmulowicz

    Dominique Dumont

    Dotan Dimet

    Douglas Christopher Wilson

    Elmar S. Heeb

    Ettore Di Giacinto

    Eugen Konkov

    Eugene Toropov

    Flavio Poletti

    Gisle Aas

    Graham Barr

    Graham Knop

    Heiko Jansen

    Henry Tang

    Hernan Lopes

    Hideki Yamamura

    Hiroki Toyokawa

    Ian Goodacre

    Ilya Chesnokov

    Ilya Rassadin

    James Duncan

    Jan Jona Javorsek

    Jan Schmidt

    Jaroslav Muhin

    Jesse Vincent

    Johannes Plunien

    John Kingsley

    Jonathan Yu

    Josh Leder

    Kamen Naydenov

    Karen Etheridge

    Kazuhiro Shibuya

    Kevin Old

    Kitamura Akatsuki

    Klaus S. Madsen

    Knut Arne Bjorndal

    Lars Balker Rasmussen

    Lee Johnson

    Leon Brocard

    Lukas Mai

    Magnus Holm

    Maik Fischer

    Mark Fowler

    Mark Grimes

    Mark Stosberg

    Martin McGrath

    Marty Tennison

    Matt S Trout

    Matthew Lineen

    Maksym Komar

    Maxim Vuets

    Michael Gregorowicz

    Michael Harris

    Michael Jemmeson

    Mike Magowan

    Mirko Westermeier

    Mons Anderson

    Moritz Lenz

    Neil Watkiss

    Nic Sandfield

    Nils Diewald

    Oleg Zhelo

    Oliver Kurz

    Olivier Mengue

    Pascal Gaudette

    Paul Evans

    Paul Robins

    Paul Tomlin

    Pavel Shaydo

    Pedro Melo

    Peter Edwards

    Pierre-Yves Ritschard

    Piotr Roszatycki

    Quentin Carbonneaux

    Rafal Pocztarski

    Randal Schwartz

    Rawley Fowler

    Richard Elberger

    Rick Delaney

    Robert Hicks

    Robert Rothenberg

    Robin Lee

    Roland Lammel

    Roy Storey

    Ryan Jendoubi

    Salvador Fandino

    Santiago Zarate

    Sascha Kiefer

    Scott Wiersdorf

    Sebastian Paaske Torholm

    Sergey Zasenko

    Simon Bertrang

    Simone Tampieri

    Shoichi Kaji

    Shu Cho

    Skye Shaw

    Stanis Trendelenburg

    Stefan Adams

    Steffen Ullrich

    Stephan Kulow

    Stephane Este-Gracias

    Stevan Little

    Steve Atkins

    Tatsuhiko Miyagawa

    Terrence Brannon

    Tianon Gravi

    Tomas Znamenacek

    Tudor Constantin

    Ulrich Habel

    Ulrich Kautz

    Uwe Voelker

    Veesh Goldman

    Viacheslav Tykhanovskyi

    Victor Engmark

    Viliam Pucik

    Wes Cravens

    William Lindley

    Yaroslav Korshak

    Yuki Kimoto

    Zak B. Elep

    Zoffix Znet

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright (C) 2008-2025, Sebastian Riedel and others.

This program is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Artistic License version 2.0.

SEE ALSO
<https://github.com/mojolicious/mojo>, Mojolicious::Guides, <https://mojolicious.org>.