An HTTP cookie (web cookie, browser cookie) is a small piece of data that a server sends to the user’s web browser. The browser may store it and send it back with later requests to the same server. Typically, it’s used to tell if two requests came from the same browser - keeping a user logged-in, for example. It remembers stateful information for the stateless HTTP protocol.
Cookies are mainly used for three purposes:
Session management: Logins, shopping carts, game scores, or anything else the server should remember
Personalization: User preferences, themes, and other settings
Tracking: Recording and analyzing user behavior
To help you efficiently send cookies to browsers,
CodeIgniter provides the CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie class to abstract the
cookie interaction.
There are currently four ways to create a new Cookie value object.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use DateTime;
// Using the constructor
$cookie = new Cookie(
'remember_token',
'f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6',
[
'expires' => new DateTime('+2 hours'),
'prefix' => '__Secure-',
'path' => '/',
'domain' => '',
'secure' => true,
'httponly' => true,
'raw' => false,
'samesite' => Cookie::SAMESITE_LAX,
],
);
// Supplying a Set-Cookie header string
$cookie = Cookie::fromHeaderString(
'remember_token=f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6; Path=/; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax',
false, // raw
);
// Using the fluent builder interface
$cookie = (new Cookie('remember_token'))
->withValue('f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6')
->withPrefix('__Secure-')
->withExpires(new DateTime('+2 hours'))
->withPath('/')
->withDomain('')
->withSecure(true)
->withHTTPOnly(true)
->withSameSite(Cookie::SAMESITE_LAX);
// Using the global function `cookie` which implicitly calls `new Cookie()`
$cookie = cookie('remember_token', 'f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6');
When constructing the Cookie object, only the name attribute is required. All other else are optional.
If the optional attributes are not modified, their values will be filled up by the default values saved in
the Cookie class.
To override the defaults currently stored in the class, you can pass a Config\Cookie
instance or an array of defaults to the static Cookie::setDefaults() method.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use Config\Cookie as CookieConfig;
// pass in a Config\Cookie instance before constructing a Cookie class
Cookie::setDefaults(config(CookieConfig::class));
$cookie = new Cookie('login_token');
// pass in an array of defaults
$myDefaults = [
'expires' => 0,
'samesite' => Cookie::SAMESITE_STRICT,
];
Cookie::setDefaults($myDefaults);
$cookie = new Cookie('login_token');
Passing the Config\Cookie instance or an array to Cookie::setDefaults() will effectively
overwrite your defaults and will persist until new defaults are passed.
If you do not want this
behavior but only want to change defaults for a limited time, you can take advantage of
Cookie::setDefaults() return which returns the old defaults array.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use Config\Cookie as CookieConfig;
$oldDefaults = Cookie::setDefaults(config(CookieConfig::class));
$cookie = new Cookie('my_token', 'muffins');
// return the old defaults
Cookie::setDefaults($oldDefaults);
Once instantiated, you can easily access a Cookie’s attribute by using one of its getter methods.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use DateTime;
use DateTimeZone;
$cookie = new Cookie(
'remember_token',
'f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6',
[
'expires' => new DateTime('2025-02-14 00:00:00', new DateTimeZone('UTC')),
'prefix' => '__Secure-',
'path' => '/',
'domain' => '',
'secure' => true,
'httponly' => true,
'raw' => false,
'samesite' => Cookie::SAMESITE_LAX,
],
);
$cookie->getName(); // 'remember_token'
$cookie->getPrefix(); // '__Secure-'
$cookie->getPrefixedName(); // '__Secure-remember_token'
$cookie->getExpiresTimestamp(); // UNIX timestamp
$cookie->getExpiresString(); // 'Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT'
$cookie->isExpired(); // false
$cookie->getMaxAge(); // the difference from time() to expires
$cookie->isRaw(); // false
$cookie->isSecure(); // true
$cookie->getPath(); // '/'
$cookie->getDomain(); // ''
$cookie->isHTTPOnly(); // true
$cookie->getSameSite(); // 'Lax'
// additional getter
$cookie->getId(); // '__Secure-remember_token;;/'
// when using `setcookie()`'s alternative signature on PHP 7.3+
// you can easily use the `getOptions()` method to supply the
// $options parameter
$cookie->getOptions();
A new Cookie instance is an immutable value object representation of an HTTP cookie. Being immutable,
modifying any of the instance’s attributes will not affect the original instance. The modification always
returns a new instance. You need to retain this new instance in order to use it.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
$cookie = new Cookie('login_token', 'admin');
$cookie->getName(); // 'login_token'
$cookie->withName('remember_token');
$cookie->getName(); // 'login_token'
$new = $cookie->withName('remember_token');
$new->getName(); // 'remember_token'
An HTTP cookie is regulated by several specifications that need to be followed in order to be
accepted by browsers. Thus, when creating or modifying certain attributes of the Cookie,
these are validated in order to check if these follow the specifications.
A CookieException is thrown if violations were reported.
A cookie name can be any US-ASCII character, except for the following:
control characters;
spaces or tabs;
separator characters, such as ( ) < > @ , ; : \ " / [ ] ? = { }
If setting the $raw parameter to true this validation will be strictly made. This is because
PHP’s setcookie()
and setrawcookie()
will reject cookies with invalid names. Additionally, cookie
names cannot be an empty string.
When using the __Secure- prefix, cookies must be set with the $secure flag set to true. If
using the __Host- prefix, cookies must exhibit the following:
$secure flag set to true
$domain is empty
$path must be /
The SameSite attribute accepts three values:
Lax: Cookies are not sent on normal cross-site subrequests (for example to load images or frames into a third party site), but are sent when a user is navigating to the origin site (i.e. when following a link).
Strict: Cookies will only be sent in a first-party context and not be sent along with requests initiated by third party websites.
None: Cookies will be sent in all contexts, i.e. in responses to both first-party and cross-origin requests.
CodeIgniter, however, allows you to set the SameSite attribute to an empty string. When an empty string is
provided, the default SameSite setting saved in the Cookie class is used. You can change the default SameSite
by using the Cookie::setDefaults() as discussed above.
Recent cookie specifications have changed such that modern browsers are being required to give a default SameSite
if nothing was provided. This default is Lax. If you have set the SameSite to be an empty string and your
default SameSite is also an empty string, your cookie will be given the Lax value.
If the SameSite is set to None you need to make sure that Secure is also set to true.
When writing the SameSite attribute, the Cookie class accepts any of the values case-insensitively. You can
also take advantage of the class’s constants to make it not a hassle.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
Cookie::SAMESITE_LAX; // 'Lax'
Cookie::SAMESITE_STRICT; // 'Strict'
Cookie::SAMESITE_NONE; // 'None'
Set the Cookie objects in the CookieStore of the Response object, and
the framework will automatically send the cookies.
Use CodeIgniter\HTTP\Response::setCookie() to set:
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
$response = service('response');
$cookie = new Cookie(
'remember_token',
'f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6',
[
'max-age' => 3600 * 2, // Expires in 2 hours
],
);
$response->setCookie($cookie);
You can also use the set_cookie() helper function:
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
helper('cookie');
$cookie = new Cookie(
'remember_token',
'f699c7fd18a8e082d0228932f3acd40e1ef5ef92efcedda32842a211d62f0aa6',
[
'max-age' => 3600 * 2, // Expires in 2 hours
],
);
set_cookie($cookie);
Note
Normally, there is no need to use CookieStore directly.
The CookieStore class represents an immutable collection of Cookie objects.
The CookieStore
instance can be accessed from the current Response object.
<?php
$cookieStore = service('response')->getCookieStore();
CodeIgniter provides three other ways to create a new instance of the CookieStore.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\CookieStore;
// Passing an array of `Cookie` objects in the constructor
$store = new CookieStore([
new Cookie('login_token'),
new Cookie('remember_token'),
]);
// Passing an array of `Set-Cookie` header strings
$store = CookieStore::fromCookieHeaders([
'remember_token=me; Path=/; SameSite=Lax',
'login_token=admin; Path=/; SameSite=Lax',
]);
// using the global `cookies` function
$store = cookies([new Cookie('login_token')], false);
// retrieving the `CookieStore` instance saved in our current `Response` object
$store = cookies();
Note
When using the global cookies() function, the passed Cookie array will only be considered
if the second argument, $getGlobal, is set to false.
To check whether a Cookie object exists in the CookieStore instance, you can use several ways:
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\CookieStore;
// check if cookie is in the current cookie collection
$store = new CookieStore([
new Cookie('login_token'),
new Cookie('remember_token'),
]);
$store->has('login_token');
// check if cookie is in the current Response's cookie collection
cookies()->has('login_token');
service('response')->hasCookie('remember_token');
// using the cookie helper to check the current Response
// not available to v4.1.1 and lower
helper('cookie');
has_cookie('login_token');
Retrieving a Cookie instance in a cookie collection is very easy:
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\CookieStore;
use Config\Services;
// getting cookie in the current cookie collection
$store = new CookieStore([
new Cookie('login_token'),
new Cookie('remember_token'),
]);
$store->get('login_token');
// getting cookie in the current Response's cookie collection
cookies()->get('login_token');
service('response')->getCookie('remember_token');
// using the cookie helper to get cookie from the Response's cookie collection
helper('cookie');
get_cookie('remember_token');
When getting a Cookie instance directly from a CookieStore, an invalid name
will throw a CookieException.
<?php
// throws CookieException
$store->get('unknown_cookie');
When getting a Cookie instance from the current Response’s cookie collection,
an invalid name will just return null.
<?php
cookies()->get('unknown_cookie'); // null
If no arguments are supplied in when getting cookies from the Response, all Cookie objects
in store will be displayed.
<?php
cookies()->display(); // array of Cookie objects
// or even from the Response
service('response')->getCookies();
Note
The helper function get_cookie() gets the cookie from the current Request object, not
from Response. This function checks the $_COOKIE array if that cookie is set and fetches it
right away.
As previously mentioned, CookieStore objects are immutable. You need to save the modified instance
in order to work on it. The original instance is left unchanged.
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\CookieStore;
$store = new CookieStore([
new Cookie('login_token'),
new Cookie('remember_token'),
]);
// adding a new Cookie instance
$new = $store->put(new Cookie('admin_token', 'yes'));
// removing a Cookie instance
$new = $store->remove('login_token');
Note
Removing a cookie from the store DOES NOT delete it from the browser. If you intend to delete a cookie from the browser, you must put an empty value cookie with the same name to the store.
When interacting with the cookies in store in the current Response object, you can safely add or delete
cookies without worrying the immutable nature of the cookie collection. The Response object will replace
the instance with the modified instance.
<?php
service('response')->setCookie('admin_token', 'yes');
service('response')->deleteCookie('login_token');
// using the cookie helper
helper('cookie');
set_cookie('admin_token', 'yes');
delete_cookie('login_token');
Important
This method was deprecated as of version 4.1.6 and was removed in 4.6.0.
More often than not, you do not need to concern yourself in manually sending cookies. CodeIgniter will do this
for you. However, if you really need to manually send cookies, you can use the dispatch method. Just like
in sending other headers, you need to make sure the headers are not yet sent by checking the value
of headers_sent().
<?php
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\Cookie;
use CodeIgniter\Cookie\CookieStore;
$store = new CookieStore([
new Cookie('login_token'),
new Cookie('remember_token'),
]);
$store->dispatch(); // After dispatch, the collection is now empty.
Sane defaults are already in place inside the Cookie class to ensure the smooth creation of cookie
objects. However, you may wish to define your own settings by changing the following settings in the
Config\Cookie class in app/Config/Cookie.php file.
Setting |
Options/Types |
Default |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
$prefix |
|
|
Prefix to prepend to the cookie name. |
$expires |
|
|
The expires timestamp. |
$path |
|
|
The path property of the cookie. |
$domain |
|
|
The domain property of the cookie.with trailing slash. |
$secure |
|
|
If to be sent over secure HTTPS. |
$httponly |
|
|
If not accessible to JavaScript. |
$samesite |
|
|
The SameSite attribute. |
$raw |
|
|
If to be dispatched using |
In runtime, you can manually supply a new default using the Cookie::setDefaults() method.
$config (\Config\Cookie|array) – The configuration array or instance
array
The old defaults
Set the default attributes to a Cookie instance by injecting the values from the Config\Cookie config or an array.
$header (string) – The Set-Cookie header string
$raw (bool) – Whether this cookie is not to be URL encoded and sent via setrawcookie()
Cookie
Cookie instance
CookieException
Create a new Cookie instance from a Set-Cookie header.
$name (string) – The cookie name
$value (string) – The cookie value
$options (array) – The cookie options
Cookie
Cookie instance
CookieException
Construct a new Cookie instance.
string
The ID used in indexing in the cookie collection.
$raw (bool)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with URL encoding option updated.
$prefix (string)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new prefix.
$name (string)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new name.
$value (string)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new value.
$expires (DateTimeInterface|string|int)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new cookie expires time.
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie that will expire from the browser.
Important
This method was deprecated as of version 4.2.6 and was removed in 4.6.0.
$name (string)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie that will virtually never expire.
$domain (string|null)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new domain.
$path (string|null)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new path.
$secure (bool)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new “Secure” attribute.
$httponly (bool)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new “HttpOnly” attribute.
$samesite (string)
Cookie
new Cookie instance
Creates a new Cookie with new “SameSite” attribute.
string
Returns the string representation that can be passed as a header string.
array
Returns the array representation of the Cookie instance.
$header (array) – Array of Set-Cookie headers
$raw (bool) – Whether not to use URL encoding
CookieStore
CookieStore instance
CookieException
Creates a CookieStore from an array of Set-Cookie headers.
$cookies (array) – Array of Cookie objects
CookieStore
CookieStore instance
CookieException
$name (string) – Cookie name
$prefix (string) – Cookie prefix
$value (string|null) – Cookie value
bool
Checks if a Cookie object identified by name and prefix is present in the collection.
$name (string) – Cookie name
$prefix (string) – Cookie prefix
Cookie
Retrieves an instance of Cookie identified by a name and prefix.
CookieException
$cookie (Cookie) – A Cookie object
CookieStore
new CookieStore instance
Store a new cookie and return a new collection. The original collection is left unchanged.
$name (string) – Cookie name
$prefix (string) – Cookie prefix
CookieStore
new CookieStore instance
Removes a cookie from a collection and returns an updated collection. The original collection is left unchanged.
Important
This method was deprecated as of version 4.1.6 and was removed in 4.6.0.
void
Dispatches all cookies in store.
array
Returns all cookie instances in store.
void
Clears the cookie collection.