Reading And Writing Values

Reading & Writing Values

These methods wrap the $_SESSION superglobal. They live on GetterSetter and are reachable through the facade — Session::get(...) — or on the object returned by set()/Session::createImmutable().

All reads are null-safe: if the session has not been started (so $_SESSION is not populated), reads return their defaults instead of raising a type error.

has(string $key): bool

Session::has('user'); // true / false

set(string $key, mixed $value): GetterSetter

Stores a value and returns the GetterSetter, so writes chain:

Session::set('user', 'ada')
    ->set('role', 'admin')
    ->set('prefs', ['theme' => 'dark']);

Any serialisable value is allowed — strings, ints, arrays, objects:

Session::set('cart', ['sku-1', 'sku-2']);

get(string $key, mixed $default = null): mixed

Returns the stored value, or $default when the key is missing:

Session::get('user');           // 'ada'
Session::get('missing');        // null
Session::get('locale', 'en');   // 'en'

A stored null is a real value and is returned as-is:

Session::set('mute', null);
Session::get('mute', false);    // null, not false

push(string $key, mixed $value): mixed

Like set(), but returns the value rather than the bag — handy in expressions:

$token = Session::push('csrf', bin2hex(random_bytes(16)));
header('X-CSRF: ' . $token);

pull(string $key, mixed $default = null): mixed

Reads a key and removes it — the canonical "flash" primitive:

Session::set('flash', 'Saved!');

// ... next request ...
$message = Session::pull('flash');   // 'Saved!', then gone
Session::has('flash');               // false

If the key is absent, pull() returns $default and changes nothing.

remove(string ...$keys): GetterSetter and delete(...)

Removes one or more keys. delete() is an exact alias of remove(). Removing a missing key is a silent no-op.

Session::remove('csrf');
Session::remove('a', 'b', 'c');
Session::delete('legacy');           // same thing

all(): array

Returns the entire session payload as an array:

foreach (Session::all() as $key => $value) {
    // ...
}

Before the session is started this returns [].

setAssoc(array $assoc, bool $reset = false): GetterSetter

Bulk-writes an associative array. Only string keys are written — numeric keys are silently skipped, so you can pass mixed arrays safely.

Session::setAssoc([
    'user' => 'ada',
    'role' => 'admin',
    0      => 'ignored',   // numeric key → skipped
]);

With $reset = true, the session is replaced by $assoc rather than merged:

Session::setAssoc(['only' => 'this'], true);
Session::all(); // ['only' => 'this']

Falling back to $_SESSION

The facade does not replace the superglobal — mix and match freely:

$_SESSION['counter'] = ($_SESSION['counter'] ?? 0) + 1;
echo Session::get('counter');

Summary

Method	Returns	Removes?	Default on miss
has	bool	—	—
get	value	—	✅
set	GetterSetter	—	—
push	the value	—	—
pull	value	✅	✅
remove / delete	GetterSetter	✅	—
all	array	—	[]
setAssoc	GetterSetter	optional ($reset)	—

Next

• Session Lifecycle — start, regenerate, destroy.
• Recipe: Flash Messages — pull() in practice.
• API Reference — exhaustive signatures.