Free for Craft CMS 5
Turn a Craft site into an app people can install
A browser installs a site when three things are right: a manifest describing the app, a service worker for when the network does not answer, and icons at the sizes each platform insists on. PWA builds all three from what Craft already knows. Pick one square image, reload the front end, and run preflight to see what the browser sees.
Features
Everything a browser checks before it offers to install, generated from your Craft install and checked again over HTTP.
A manifest per site
Name, short name, scope, start URL, display mode and colours, per site, because two sites on one install are two apps to a browser. Served live from a route, so it is never stale or half-deployed.
- Scope follows the site's base path, so /de/ stays /de/
- Images stored by UID, so a manifest synced from dev still finds them
One image, every icon
One square source in. Out come the twelve launcher sizes, a maskable pair inset to the safe zone so Android keeps your edges, an Apple touch icon, favicons and twenty-four iOS splash screens.
A service worker you can read
The worker's logic is one fixed file. Only its configuration is generated: a flight plan of ordered rules, first match wins. Pages network first, assets and images stale while revalidate, the control panel never cached.
- Separate limits for pages, assets and images
- Cached responses expire after 30 days by default
Offline, and an install prompt
An offline page precached before anyone needs it, and every page a visitor has seen still there without a connection. The install prompt waits for the browser's offer and asks with your copy. iOS visitors get Add to Home Screen instructions.
Preflight
Fetches the running site the way a browser does and grades what comes back: is the manifest reachable, is the worker served as JavaScript, does the start URL redirect, is the 512px icon actually there. Six checks block an install; each failure says what to do.
- Exits non-zero on the console, so a deploy can fail on it
- Pro runs it on a schedule and emails the report
Web push from your own server
Pro sends notifications from Craft straight to the browsers' push services. No third party and no per-message fee. Payloads are encrypted end to end, every delivery is recorded per device, and dead endpoints are dropped.
- Broadcasts go out in batches on the queue
- Optional broadcast when an entry is first published
Find out before your visitors do
Settings always look right, because they are what you just typed. Preflight checks the result instead, over HTTP, against the running site. A rewrite rule that 404s the icons fails a blocking check, and the command exits 1, which is enough to stop a deploy.
$ php craft pwa/preflight/run
Example — 74/100 NOT INSTALLABLE
ok Secure origin — Served over HTTPS.
ok Manifest link in the page — The home page links to the manifest.
ok Manifest served — Valid JSON, served from https://example.com/manifest.webmanifest.
ok Display mode — Set to standalone.
BLOCK Icons reachable — The manifest lists icons, but https://example.com/pwa/icons/9d1e…/icon-192.png responded 404.
→ The generated files are not being served. If the web root is read-only on this
environment they are in storage/ and need the fallback route, which means the
site's URL rules must reach Craft.
ok Service worker served — Served as JavaScript from https://example.com/sw.js.
warn Start URL — The start URL redirects (301 → https://example.com/home).
…
$ echo $?
1Frequently Asked Questions
The questions worth answering before you install it.
Lite is, and it is the whole installable app: manifest, icons, service worker, offline page, install prompt and every preflight check. Pro is a one-off $79 with a $59/year renewal, and adds web push, a flight plan you write yourself, and scheduled preflight with an emailed report.
No. The manifest link, theme colour, iOS tags and the worker registration are injected into <head> on every front-end page. Turn that off and use {{ pwa.head() }} if you would rather place them yourself.
Within Safari's limits. iOS installs from Share → Add to Home Screen and never offers an install event, so PWA shows iOS visitors those instructions. The manifest, icons, splash screens and offline support all work, and push works on iOS 16.4+ for an app on the home screen.
No. Pro signs and encrypts each message itself and sends it to the browsers' own push services (Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Apple). There is no account to open and no per-message fee.
No. The default flight plan sends the control panel and /actions/ requests straight to the network, and preflight fails a custom flight plan that would let either be cached.
Pages are network first, so anyone with a connection gets the current page. Scripts, styles and images are at most one visit behind. Changing the manifest or flight plan bumps the cache version, and the flight deck has a button that does it by hand.
Yes. Each site gets its own manifest, scope, start URL, icons and offline page, because two sites on one install are two apps to a browser.
Craft CMS 5.3+ and PHP 8.2+, with ext-openssl and GD or Imagick. An SVG icon source needs Imagick.
Pick one image and run preflight
Lite is free and makes the site installable. Pro is $79 with a $59/year renewal, and adds web push, your own caching rules and a preflight check that runs on a schedule.