Getting started

After installation, use the plugin component in src/Controller/AppController.php. Replace an existing $this->loadComponent('Flash'); line with the plugin line below; keep your other initialization code.

public function initialize(): void {
    parent::initialize();

    $this->loadComponent('Flash.Flash');
}

Use the matching helper in src/View/AppView.php. Replace an existing explicit loadHelper('Flash') call rather than loading the same alias twice:

public function initialize(): void {
    parent::initialize();

    $this->loadHelper('Flash.Flash');
}

Create the message templates

Create templates/element/flash/info.php:

<?php
if (($params['escape'] ?? true) !== false) {
    $message = h($message);
}
?>
<div class="flash-message" role="status"><?= $message ?></div>

Copy that file to default.php, success.php, error.php and warning.php in the same directory. These templates work without a CSS framework. Add your own styles later; see Templates for a shared template.

In templates/layout/default.php, place this before the page content. A CakePHP application usually already has this call:

<?= $this->Flash->render() ?>
<?= $this->fetch('content') ?>

Display a message

Add this to a controller action that renders a page:

$this->Flash->success('Your changes were saved.');

Load that page. The layout displays the message once and removes it from the session. To keep a message until the next page after a redirect:

$this->Flash->success('Your changes were saved.');

return $this->redirect(['action' => 'index']);

To share a stack key or limit between the component and helper, use the Flash configuration key.

For a message that only belongs to the current response, use transient messages. For fetch() requests, follow AJAX responses.