Handling Routes and Views in a NativePHP Desktop App


NativePHP brings Laravel’s power to the desktop — and guess what? Your familiar routes and views still play a huge role. In this post, we'll break down how routing and views work inside a NativePHP application and how you can structure them to build a polished, native-like experience.

🧠 The Core Idea

Even though you’re building a desktop application, NativePHP runs a Laravel application in the background — just like you would on the web. The Electron shell opens a window and points to a local Laravel server, usually something like http://localhost:8000.

What this means:
All your Laravel routing logic remains the same.

📁 Setting Up Routes in NativePHP

Routes in NativePHP are handled using Laravel’s standard route files, typically found in:

routes/web.php
routes/api.php

Example: Basic Route Setup

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return view('welcome');
});

Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
    return view('dashboard');
});

When you call Window::open('/') in NativePHP, it loads the root route (/) from your Laravel backend — just like a browser would.

🪟 Loading a View in a NativePHP Window

Inside your MainWindow.php (or any other NativePHP window class), you can define what route the window should load:

use Native\Laravel\Facades\Window;

public function launch(): void
{
    Window::open()
        ->title('My First NativePHP App')
        ->url('/') // This hits your Laravel route
        ->width(1000)
        ->height(700);
}

This means your Laravel view (like welcome.blade.php) will be rendered inside a native window. Super cool, right?

🔄 Dynamic Views and Data

You can pass data to your views just like in a normal Laravel app.

Route::get('/profile', function () {
    return view('profile', [
        'user' => Auth::user(),
    ]);
});

And then use the data inside your Blade view:

<h1>Welcome, {{ $user->name }}</h1>

🔁 Navigating Between Views

Since Electron wraps your Laravel app in a Chromium window, navigation works like a standard web browser. You can:

  • Use anchor tags (<a href="/settings">)

  • Use Inertia.js or Vue Router for SPA-like behavior

  • Handle redirects inside your controllers

You can even use window.location.href = '/some-route' in JavaScript.

🎯 Tips for Desktop-Like Experience

To make the UI feel more native:

  • Avoid full-page reloads — consider using Inertia.js or Livewire

  • Use custom Electron menus and tray icons with NativePHP

  • Keep transitions smooth and instant

  • Disable back/forward navigation if unnecessary

🔐 Route Protection & Middleware

You can still use middleware, authentication, and role-based access just like a web app.

Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return view('dashboard');
    });
});

Login sessions are stored locally, so users don’t need to connect to a remote server unless your app requires it.

🧪 Localhost Server Behavior

Behind the scenes:

  • NativePHP runs Laravel on a local development server.

  • Electron opens a window that hits this server via HTTP.

  • Laravel renders the view → Electron shows it in a native shell.

So yes, it’s technically a web view, but with native power, menus, and integrations.

🧰 Tools to Supercharge Your Views

Here are a few optional tools to make things snappy:

  • ✅ Inertia.js — for SPA-style routing and state management.

  • ✅ Vue.js or React — for component-based UI.

  • ✅ Tailwind CSS — for fast, responsive styling.

  • ✅ Livewire — if you want reactive behavior with PHP.

🧠 Summary

Feature Behavior in NativePHP
Routes Laravel’s normal routes/web.php
Views Blade, Inertia, Vue, etc.
Navigation Works like web app (hrefs, SPA, etc.)
Middleware Fully supported
Authentication Fully supported
Frontend Framework Use any: Vue, React, Alpine, etc.