Pick your stack
Banimark is a PHP application that runs on your own server. If your app is PHP it goes inside it; if it is not, Banimark runs quietly beside it on the same hostname. Every guide ends with a working chat widget and an AI that can answer from your database.
You only do this once. Every version after it installs itself from a button in your own admin panel — no terminal, no developer, and a way back if you need one.
Laravel
A first-class package: one composer require, one artisan command, done.
About 5 min
Read the guide →Custom PHP
One file in your web root and a browser installer. No framework, no build step - and Composer optional.
About 10 min
Read the guide →CodeIgniter
The standalone runtime inside CodeIgniter 4's public folder, with the token minted from your session.
About 10 min
Read the guide →Node.js
Banimark is PHP. Run it beside your Node app and mount it on the same origin with nginx.
About 25 min
Read the guide →Python
Same shape as Node: a small PHP service behind your Django, Flask or FastAPI app.
About 25 min
Read the guide →Docker
No PHP on the server? Bring your own: PHP-FPM, nginx and MySQL in three containers.
About 20 min
Read the guide →What every install needs
The same short list whatever your stack. If you are on shared hosting, the only line worth checking with your host in advance is the ionCube one.
| Needs | Why |
|---|---|
| PHP 8.2 or newer | The engine ships encoded for PHP 8.2, and an 8.2 build runs on 8.2 and later — it will not run on 8.1 at all. We test on 8.2 and 8.3. |
| ext-curl, ext-json, PDO plus a driver: pdo_mysql, pdo_pgsql or pdo_sqlite | Calling your AI provider, and talking to your database. |
| The ionCube loader | The engine ships encoded, so the free loader has to be active. Without it, Banimark shows a page saying exactly what to install — the rest of your site keeps working. How to install it. |
| A database MySQL 5.7+/8, MariaDB 10.4+, PostgreSQL 12+, or SQLite | Banimark keeps its own banimark_* tables. It never writes to yours. |
| Composer | How the package is installed. Banimark is not on Packagist; each guide shows the one line that tells Composer where it lives. |
| HTTPS (strongly recommended) | Chat transcripts and the signed visitor token travel over it. |
No queue worker, no Redis, no Node build step, no cron job required.
How it ends up running
Inside a PHP app
Laravel gets a real package — service provider, migrations, artisan commands. Everything else PHP gets the standalone runtime: one file in your web root that serves the panel, the widget and the chat endpoint.
Something not covered?
Go, Rails, .NET, a stack nobody has heard of — if it serves HTML and you can add one location block to your web server, it works. Tell us what you are running.