Global Helpers

Global Helpers (utils.php)

Function	Description
e($value)	Escapes HTML to prevent XSS
env($key, $default)	Reads a variable from .env
view($name, $data)	Renders a view inside the layout
url($path)	Absolute URL: url('/about') → http://localhost:8050/about
redirect($path)	Redirects and stops execution
current_uri()	Current normalized path (single source of truth for router + views)
session_ensure()	Starts the session if not already started
flash($key)	Reads and clears a flash message
old($key, $default)	Retrieves a previous input value (for re-populating forms)
keep_old($data)	Saves data to the session so old() can retrieve it after a redirect
format_date($datetime)	Formats a date according to the active locale (en → m/d/Y, es → d/m/Y)
t($key, $replace = [])	Translates a dot-notation key — see Internationalization
current_locale()	Active locale: session override if set, otherwise APP_LOCALE from .env
locale_switch_url($code)	Builds the URL for switching to a given language, preserving the current path
accepted_locales()	List of enabled language codes from ACCEPTED_LANGUAGES, or empty if unset
locale_switcher_enabled()	true if the language switcher should be shown at all
csrf_field()	Renders a hidden <input> with the current CSRF token
csrf_verify($token)	Timing-safe verification of a submitted CSRF token

Auth helpers (auth.php, requires tanuki_login)

Function	Description
auth_check()	true if a user is currently logged in
auth_user()	The logged-in user's record, or null
auth_login($user)	Logs a user in (regenerates the session ID)
auth_logout()	Logs the current user out
auth_require()	Redirects to /login if not authenticated; call as the first line of a protected controller method

Mail (config/mail.php, requires tanuki_login)

Mail::send($to, $subject, $htmlBody); // → bool

Thin wrapper around PHPMailer, same lazy-connect pattern as Database/Redis/Mongo — nothing connects to SMTP until send() is called.