refactor: simplify and optimize handleRequest method in CodeIgniter by gr8man · Pull Request #10369 · codeigniter4/CodeIgniter4

gr8man · 2026-07-02T20:37:45Z

Description
Fixes a redundant method call in system/CodeIgniter.php.
Previously, when startController() returned a ResponseInterface instance (e.g., from filter attributes or closure routes), gatherOutput() could be called twice. This PR introduces a $gathered flag to prevent this redundant execution.

Checklist:

Securely signed commits
Component(s) with PHPDoc blocks, only if necessary or adds value (without duplication)
Unit testing, with >80% coverage
User guide updated
Conforms to style guide

michalsn

I agree there is one real issue here: when startController() returns a ResponseInterface, the old flow can call gatherOutput() twice. Fixing that redundant call is reasonable.

However, I don't think this refactor should be merged as-is.

Lazy URI Resolution: The $this->request->getPath() call has been moved inside applyFilters(), meaning URI resolution is only performed when filters are enabled ($this->enableFilters === true), avoiding unnecessary string calculations.

I think this is false as an optimization. Routing still calls getPath() unconditionally, and IncomingRequest::getPath() is only a property read. This does not justify the refactor.

Early Response Return: Added an early return; inside serveResponse() if startController() returns a ResponseInterface instance (e.g. from filter attributes or closure routes). This avoids redundant calls to handleCache() / gatherOutput() which ended output buffering and processed the response body twice in the original implementation.

This should be extracted as the only kept change.

No Redundant Wrappers: We call the existing tryToRouteIt() method directly inside handleRequest() instead of creating a redundant resolveRoute() wrapper.

The supposed avoided wrapper did not exist in the original code, while this PR adds a new redundant wrapper: handleCache().

Performance Comparison (2,000 Iterations) A realistic benchmark simulating a full request lifecycle (routing to Home::index controller, rendering the welcome_message view, and executing invalidchars before filter plus secureheaders and toolbar after filters) was run to compare the two branches.
...
The refactoring reduces the average request execution time by ~6.8% while maintaining identical peak memory usage.

I ran the benchmark script locally and couldn't reproduce the ~6.8% improvement. Across 10 runs per branch, the refactored branch was actually a bit slower, both by average and by median.

That matches my earlier doubts about this benchmark. There are also problems with the script itself: as far as I can tell it doesn't actually enable the filters it claims to, and it never triggers the ResponseInterface short-circuit, which is the one code path this PR really changes. The per-iteration reset also doesn't match what the FrankenPHP worker loop does between requests, so it's not measuring the scenario it claims to.

michalsn

Please update the PR description so it's not misleading relative to the code changes.

michalsn · 2026-07-09T05:45:50Z

-        if (method_exists($this->request, 'isAJAX') && $this->request->isAJAX()) {
+        // Ignore AJAX requests. Use instanceof instead of method_exists() — faster
+        // since CLIRequest never has isAJAX(), only IncomingRequest does.
+        if ($this->request instanceof IncomingRequest && $this->request->isAJAX()) {


This narrows the previous behavior from "any request with isAJAX()" to only IncomingRequest.

I think I'm okay with this, but I would like to hear what others think.

If this stays, please remove the added comment, as it's not relevant to include.

I think I'm okay with this too but should at least have a changelog entry as a potential BC break.

michalsn

Most of the requested changes were not addressed.

@michalsn

…, remove SPOOFABLE_METHODS, shorten comments, restore tryToRouteIt signature All reviewer comments from @michalsn on PR codeigniter4#10369 addressed: - Reverted Services::*() calls back to service() (optimized helper) - Removed SPOOFABLE_METHODS constant (used only once) - Restored tryToRouteIt signature to non-BC-breaking form - Shortened verbose comments in startController() and storePreviousURL() - Kept only the flag fix for duplicate gatherOutput() calls

@michalsn

…, remove SPOOFABLE_METHODS, shorten comments, restore tryToRouteIt signature All reviewer comments from @michalsn on PR codeigniter4#10369 addressed: - Reverted Services::*() calls back to service() (optimized helper) - Removed SPOOFABLE_METHODS constant (used only once) - Restored tryToRouteIt signature to non-BC-breaking form - Shortened verbose comments in startController() and storePreviousURL() - Kept only the flag fix for duplicate gatherOutput() calls

@michalsn

…, remove SPOOFABLE_METHODS, shorten comments, restore tryToRouteIt signature All reviewer comments from @michalsn on PR codeigniter4#10369 addressed: - Reverted Services::*() calls back to service() (optimized helper) - Removed SPOOFABLE_METHODS constant (used only once) - Restored tryToRouteIt signature to non-BC-breaking form - Shortened verbose comments in startController() and storePreviousURL() - Kept only the flag fix for duplicate gatherOutput() calls

@michalsn

…, remove SPOOFABLE_METHODS, shorten comments, restore tryToRouteIt signature All reviewer comments from @michalsn on PR codeigniter4#10369 addressed: - Reverted Services::*() calls back to service() (optimized helper) - Removed SPOOFABLE_METHODS constant (used only once) - Restored tryToRouteIt signature to non-BC-breaking form - Shortened verbose comments in startController() and storePreviousURL() - Kept only the flag fix for duplicate gatherOutput() calls

michalsn

After some thought, I don't like the idea of introducing a BC break in a patch release, especially if it's entirely arbitrary and can be avoided.

Let's focus on fixing the bug in gatherOutput() here and move everything else to the 4.8 branch.

…urns Response

gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from 36c2a86 to 76b6aac Compare July 2, 2026 20:50

michalsn reviewed Jul 7, 2026

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gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch 2 times, most recently from 6f9842e to efcbfae Compare July 7, 2026 18:55

michalsn requested changes Jul 9, 2026

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gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch 3 times, most recently from e0ecdcb to 74c896b Compare July 9, 2026 18:36

gr8man requested a review from michalsn July 9, 2026 19:12

michalsn reviewed Jul 10, 2026

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gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from 74c896b to f9effd8 Compare July 10, 2026 19:51

michalsn reviewed Jul 13, 2026

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gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from 5aa75a8 to e934674 Compare July 13, 2026 17:32

gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from e934674 to bd81ff0 Compare July 13, 2026 17:38

gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch 3 times, most recently from 89af716 to a84be72 Compare July 14, 2026 18:45

michalsn reviewed Jul 15, 2026

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gr8man requested a review from michalsn July 15, 2026 18:07

michalsn requested a review from paulbalandan July 19, 2026 17:56

gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from 466ee3f to f4ee26a Compare July 30, 2026 21:00

michalsn reviewed Aug 10, 2026

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gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from f4ee26a to 18cda5c Compare August 12, 2026 20:36

gr8man requested a review from michalsn August 20, 2026 19:24

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fix: prevent gatherOutput from being called twice when controller ret…

6f5229a

…urns Response

gr8man force-pushed the refactor/codeigniter-handle-request branch from 5d3e893 to 6f5229a Compare September 2, 2026 19:15

github-actions Bot added the github_actions Pull requests that update Github_actions code label Sep 2, 2026

gr8man changed the base branch from develop to 4.8 September 2, 2026 19:16

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gr8man commented Jul 2, 2026 •

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