A modern, production-ready CodeIgniter 4.6.3 starter kit designed for building secure, scalable, enterprise-grade web applications. Includes a robust authentication system powered by CodeIgniter Shield, a permission-aware sidebar menu system, a clean Bootstrap-based UI, reusable backend helpers, DataTables integration, and a developer-friendly structure ready for real business applications.
This project serves as a solid foundation for ERP systems, admin dashboards, internal business platforms, and modular multi-feature applications.
- Built on CodeIgniter 4.6.3 (latest stable version)
- PHP 8.3 compatible
- Clean and organized MVC structure
- Reusable
BaseModel, traits, helpers, and service extensions - Cache-buster helper for automatic asset versioning
- Environment-ready (
.env.example, debug settings, development/production modes) - Modular and scalable directory structure
- Integrated CodeIgniter Shield 1.2.0
- Secure login, logout, and session handling
- Role-based and permission-based access control
- Route protection using filters and aliases
- Developer-friendly: extendable identities, permissions, and user metadata
- Designed to support OAuth providers in the future (placeholder for expansion)
- Fully permission-aware dynamic menu
- Role-based menu visibility
- Organized into categories and sub-menus
- Icon support for visual clarity
- Easily extendable for modules, dashboards, or custom features
- Database-driven for long-term flexibility
-
Bootstrap-based layout (clean, professional, Volt-inspired styling)
-
Font Awesome icon pack included
-
Responsive multi-pane layout (top-nav + sidebar)
-
Prebuilt UI patterns:
- Modals
- Confirmation dialogs
- Alerts & notifications
-
SweetAlert2 integrated for toasts and confirmations
-
Custom CSS structure under
/assets/with cache-busting support
-
Server-side processing ready
-
Expandable child rows (invoice lines, quote lines, etc.)
-
Column sorting, filtering, pagination
-
Clean JS utilities for:
- CSRF token refresh
- AJAX abstraction
- Table teardown & reinitialization
-
Page-specific scripts to avoid global pollution
- Clean project structure for fast onboarding
sparkcommands ready for future expansion- Supports PHPUnit (Feature & Unit tests)
- Page-specific JavaScript organization for clean separation of concerns
- Consistent naming conventions
- Designed for maintainability and long-term upgrades
- Modular backend patterns for controllers, models, filters, helpers
-
Centralized settings using CodeIgniter Settings 2.2.0
-
Reusable custom helpers (
site(), CSRF helpers, string utilities, etc.) -
Custom BaseModel with:
- Automatic timestamps
- Soft deletes
- Dynamic validation rule structures
-
Optional audit logging structure
-
Preconfigured MySQL integration
- CSRF protection applied globally
- Hardened session handling
- Shield-based route protection
- Secure password hashing & user management
- Safe route grouping with explicit filters
This starter is perfect for building:
- Admin dashboards
- Inventory or ERP systems
- Internal company portals
- Multi-module business apps
- Quote / invoice management systems
- CRUD-based enterprise platforms
- Any long-term CI4 project requiring structure and security
app/
├── Config/ # App-level configuration
├── Controllers/ # HTTP controllers
├── Models/ # Database models
├── Views/ # Bootstrap-based UI views
├── Helpers/ # Custom helper functions
├── Filters/ # Shield filters, auth protection
├── Libraries/ # Extendable backend utilities
└── ...
public/
├── assets/ # CSS, JS, images (cache-busted)
└── index.php # Entry point
writable/
├── cache/
├── logs/
└── uploads/
- PHP 8.1+ (recommended PHP 8.3)
- MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB
- Composer
- Apache/Nginx with mod_rewrite enabled
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME//CI4-Admin-Starter.git
cd CI4-Admin-Starter
composer install
edit .env
php spark key:generate
php spark migrate
php spark db:seeddatabase.default.hostname = localhost database.default.database = ci4starter database.default.username = root database.default.password = root database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi
Manually import SQL File in \app\Database\
Serve the app:
```bash
php spark serve
Open: http://localhost:8080
Email: [email protected]
Password: 123456
Role: Developer
| Login | Dashboard |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Sidebar Menu | DataTables (Server-Side) |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Modal Form |
|---|
 |
- Complete OAuth provider integration
- Upgrade to Bootstrap 5.x
- Optional Tailwind/Flowbite/Alpine variant
- Expand Settings module
- Add demo modules (Users, Roles, Activity Logs, etc.)
- Add CLI generators
- Add PHPUnit feature tests
- Fork the repo
- Create a new feature branch
- Commit changes
- Submit a pull request
Issues and suggestions are welcome!
MIT — feel free to use this starter in personal or commercial projects.
Built with ❤️ using CodeIgniter 4, Shield, Bootstrap, and developer-focused best practices.