Winter Libraries: Ecosystem Overview and Selection Guide

The Winter library ecosystem is a set of optional packages that extend the Winter Boot framework with integrations for databases, message queues, object storage, search, and distributed infrastructure. Every library implements the framework’s module system contract and registers beans automatically, so once you enable a module in application.yml you can #[Autowired] its templates and clients anywhere in your code.

Choose a library

Match your use case to a library and package.

Need	Use	Package
Relational database with ORM entities	Doctrine	suvera/winter-doctrine
Redis client for cache or key/value work	Redis	suvera/winter-modules
Memcached client for lightweight caching	Memcache	suvera/winter-modules
Embedded in-memory DB launched with the app (Redis, Ignite, Memcached, Hazelcast)	Memdb	suvera/winter-memdb
Event streaming and pub/sub	Kafka	suvera/winter-modules
Managed AWS message queue	SQS	suvera/winter-modules
S3-compatible object storage	S3	suvera/winter-modules
Full-text search and analytics	OpenSearch	suvera/winter-modules
Background task orchestration across nodes	DTCE	suvera/winter-modules
Service discovery (Consul or Netflix Eureka)	Eureka	suvera/winter-eureka
Application security policies	Security (planned)	suvera/winter-modules

Grouped by domain

Data

Client libraries that connect to external data stores.

Doctrine ORM & DBALDoctrine entities, DBAL connections, and multi-tenant datasource routing.

Redis ClientPhpRedis templates for singles, clusters, arrays, sentinels, and Dynomite token rings.

Memcached ClientMemcached and Memcache extension clients for lightweight remote caching.

Messaging

Apache KafkaProducer and consumer integration for event streaming pipelines.

Amazon SQSSQS producer and consumer with IAM role and EKS IRSA support.

Storage & search

Amazon S3Upload, download, and manage S3-compatible object storage from any bean.

OpenSearchOpenSearch indexing and querying with basic auth or AWS SigV4 signing.

Distributed systems

Service DiscoveryRegister and discover services via Consul or Netflix Eureka.

Distributed Tasks (DTCE)Cross-node background task orchestration with pluggable queue and store backends.

Embedded in-memory servers EXPERIMENTAL

Libraries where the framework launches and manages the server process as part of the app lifecycle.

Winter MemdbAuto-start Redis, Apache Ignite, Memcached, or Hazelcast alongside the application.

Planned

SecurityReserved for the upcoming security module. Not yet released; see the page for interim guidance.

Installation patterns

Winter libraries are distributed as three separate composer packages so you install only what you need:

Install patterns

# Framework only
composer require suvera/winter-boot

# Framework plus one standalone library
composer require suvera/winter-boot suvera/winter-doctrine

# Framework plus the 8-module monorepo
composer require suvera/winter-boot suvera/winter-modules

Note

The library composer files do not currently declare suvera/winter-boot as a dependency, so you must install it explicitly. Every library uses framework classes at runtime.

PHP extension matrix

Some libraries require additional PHP extensions. Install them before enabling the module.

Library	Required extensions	Optional
Doctrine	one of pdo_sqlite, pdo_mysql, pdo_pgsql, pdo_sqlsrv, pdo_oci
Redis	redis (phpredis)
Memcache	memcached or memcache
Memdb	swoole, posix; plus the engine’s own binary on PATH	redis, memcached
Kafka	swoole, rdkafka
SQS	swoole
S3	none (uses aws/aws-sdk-php)
OpenSearch	none (uses opensearch-project/opensearch-php)
DTCE	swoole; plus redis or rdkafka depending on backend
Eureka	swoole

Enabling a library

Every library plugs in through the same module system. Declare the module class in your application.yml under modules::

application.yml

modules:
    - module: 'dev\winterframework\kafka\KafkaModule'
      enabled: true
      configFile: 'config/kafka-config.yml'

Read The Module System for the full contract, load order, and how to build your own modules.