Phoenix Framework

Phoenix Framework Skill - Quick Reference

Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: 2025-10-22 | Agent: backend-developer

Quick reference for Phoenix and Elixir development patterns. For comprehensive documentation, see REFERENCE.md.

Table of Contents

1. Phoenix API Development
2. OTP Patterns
3. Phoenix LiveView
4. Ecto Database Operations
5. Phoenix Channels
6. Background Jobs (Oban)
7. Production Deployment
8. Testing with ExUnit
9. Security Best Practices
10. Performance Optimization

Phoenix API Development

RESTful Controller Pattern

defmodule MyAppWeb.PostController do
  use MyAppWeb, :controller
  alias MyApp.Blog
  alias MyApp.Blog.Post

  # List all posts
  def index(conn, _params) do
    posts = Blog.list_posts()
    render(conn, "index.json", posts: posts)
  end

  # Show single post
  def show(conn, %{"id" => id}) do
    post = Blog.get_post!(id)
    render(conn, "show.json", post: post)
  end

  # Create post
  def create(conn, %{"post" => post_params}) do
    case Blog.create_post(post_params) do
      {:ok, post} ->
        conn
        |> put_status(:created)
        |> render("show.json", post: post)
      {:error, changeset} ->
        conn
        |> put_status(:unprocessable_entity)
        |> render("error.json", changeset: changeset)
    end
  end

  # Update post
  def update(conn, %{"id" => id, "post" => post_params}) do
    post = Blog.get_post!(id)
    case Blog.update_post(post, post_params) do
      {:ok, updated_post} ->
        render(conn, "show.json", post: updated_post)
      {:error, changeset} ->
        conn
        |> put_status(:unprocessable_entity)
        |> render("error.json", changeset: changeset)
    end
  end

  # Delete post
  def delete(conn, %{"id" => id}) do
    post = Blog.get_post!(id)
    {:ok, _post} = Blog.delete_post(post)
    send_resp(conn, :no_content, "")
  end
end

Phoenix Context Pattern

defmodule MyApp.Blog do
  @moduledoc """
  The Blog context - business logic for blog operations
  """

  alias MyApp.Repo
  alias MyApp.Blog.Post
  import Ecto.Query

  # List all posts with associations preloaded
  def list_posts do
    Post
    |> preload(:author)
    |> order_by(desc: :inserted_at)
    |> Repo.all()
  end

  # Get single post with error handling
  def get_post!(id) do
    Post
    |> preload(:author)
    |> Repo.get!(id)
  end

  # Create post with validation
  def create_post(attrs) do
    %Post{}
    |> Post.changeset(attrs)
    |> Repo.insert()
  end

  # Update post
  def update_post(%Post{} = post, attrs) do
    post
    |> Post.changeset(attrs)
    |> Repo.update()
  end

  # Delete post
  def delete_post(%Post{} = post) do
    Repo.delete(post)
  end
end

Routing with Pipelines

# router.ex
defmodule MyAppWeb.Router do
  use MyAppWeb, :router

  pipeline :api do
    plug :accepts, ["json"]
  end

  pipeline :authenticated do
    plug MyAppWeb.Auth.Pipeline
  end

  scope "/api", MyAppWeb do
    pipe_through :api

    # Public routes
    post "/login", AuthController, :login
    post "/register", AuthController, :register

    # Authenticated routes
    pipe_through :authenticated
    resources "/posts", PostController
    resources "/comments", CommentController
  end
end

OTP Patterns

GenServer Pattern

defmodule MyApp.Cache do
  use GenServer

  # Client API
  def start_link(opts \\\\ []) do
    GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, %{}, opts)
  end

  def get(server, key) do
    GenServer.call(server, {:get, key})
  end

  def put(server, key, value) do
    GenServer.cast(server, {:put, key, value})
  end

  # Server Callbacks
  @impl true
  def init(_state) do
    {:ok, %{}}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_call({:get, key}, _from, state) do
    {:reply, Map.get(state, key), state}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_cast({:put, key, value}, state) do
    {:noreply, Map.put(state, key, value)}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info(:cleanup, state) do
    # Periodic cleanup
    {:noreply, %{}}
  end
end

Supervisor Tree

defmodule MyApp.Application do
  use Application

  @impl true
  def start(_type, _args) do
    children = [
      # Database connection pool
      MyApp.Repo,
      # PubSub for real-time features
      {Phoenix.PubSub, name: MyApp.PubSub},
      # Phoenix Endpoint
      MyAppWeb.Endpoint,
      # Custom GenServer
      {MyApp.Cache, name: MyApp.Cache},
      # Task Supervisor for async tasks
      {Task.Supervisor, name: MyApp.TaskSupervisor},
      # Oban for background jobs
      {Oban, Application.fetch_env!(:my_app, Oban)}
    ]

    opts = [strategy: :one_for_one, name: MyApp.Supervisor]
    Supervisor.start_link(children, opts)
  end
end

Task for Async Operations

# Fire and forget
Task.start(fn -> send_notification(user) end)

# Supervised task
Task.Supervisor.start_child(MyApp.TaskSupervisor, fn ->
  process_large_file(file_path)
end)

# Task with await
task = Task.async(fn -> fetch_external_data() end)
result = Task.await(task, 5000) # 5 second timeout

Phoenix LiveView

Basic LiveView Component

defmodule MyAppWeb.DashboardLive do
  use MyAppWeb, :live_view

  @impl true
  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    if connected?(socket) do
      # Subscribe to real-time updates
      Phoenix.PubSub.subscribe(MyApp.PubSub, "metrics:updates")
      # Schedule periodic refresh
      :timer.send_interval(30_000, self(), :refresh)
    end

    {:ok, assign(socket, :metrics, get_metrics())}
  end

  @impl true
  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <div class="dashboard">
      <h1>Dashboard</h1>
      <.metrics_display metrics={@metrics} />
      <button phx-click="refresh">Refresh</button>
    </div>
    """
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_event("refresh", _params, socket) do
    {:noreply, assign(socket, :metrics, get_metrics())}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info({:metric_update, new_metrics}, socket) do
    {:noreply, assign(socket, :metrics, new_metrics)}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info(:refresh, socket) do
    {:noreply, assign(socket, :metrics, get_metrics())}
  end

  defp get_metrics do
    # Fetch metrics from database or cache
  end
end

LiveView Form with Validation

defmodule MyAppWeb.UserLive.Form do
  use MyAppWeb, :live_view
  alias MyApp.Accounts
  alias MyApp.Accounts.User

  @impl true
  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    changeset = Accounts.change_user(%User{})
    {:ok, assign(socket, changeset: changeset)}
  end

  @impl true
  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <.form
      for={@changeset}
      phx-change="validate"
      phx-submit="save"
    >
      <.input field={@changeset[:name]} label="Name" />
      <.input field={@changeset[:email]} label="Email" type="email" />
      <.button>Save</.button>
    </.form>
    """
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_event("validate", %{"user" => user_params}, socket) do
    changeset =
      %User{}
      |> Accounts.change_user(user_params)
      |> Map.put(:action, :validate)

    {:noreply, assign(socket, changeset: changeset)}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_event("save", %{"user" => user_params}, socket) do
    case Accounts.create_user(user_params) do
      {:ok, user} ->
        {:noreply,
         socket
         |> put_flash(:info, "User created successfully")
         |> redirect(to: ~p"/users/#{user}")}

      {:error, changeset} ->
        {:noreply, assign(socket, changeset: changeset)}
    end
  end
end

LiveView Streams for Performance

defmodule MyAppWeb.PostsLive do
  use MyAppWeb, :live_view

  @impl true
  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    {:ok,
     socket
     |> stream(:posts, MyApp.Blog.list_posts())}
  end

  @impl true
  def render(assigns) do
    ~H"""
    <div id="posts" phx-update="stream">
      <div :for={{id, post} <- @streams.posts} id={id}>
        <%= post.title %>
      </div>
    </div>
    """
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info({:new_post, post}, socket) do
    {:noreply, stream_insert(socket, :posts, post, at: 0)}
  end
end

Ecto Database Operations

Ecto Schema

defmodule MyApp.Blog.Post do
  use Ecto.Schema
  import Ecto.Changeset

  schema "posts" do
    field :title, :string
    field :body, :text
    field :published, :boolean, default: false
    field :views, :integer, default: 0

    belongs_to :author, MyApp.Accounts.User
    has_many :comments, MyApp.Blog.Comment

    timestamps()
  end

  def changeset(post, attrs) do
    post
    |> cast(attrs, [:title, :body, :published, :author_id])
    |> validate_required([:title, :body, :author_id])
    |> validate_length(:title, min: 3, max: 255)
    |> validate_length(:body, min: 10)
    |> foreign_key_constraint(:author_id)
  end
end

Query Optimization (N+1 Prevention)

# ❌ Bad: N+1 query problem
def list_posts_bad do
  posts = Repo.all(Post)
  # Each access to post.author triggers a separate query
  Enum.map(posts, fn post ->
    %{title: post.title, author: post.author.name}
  end)
end

# ✅ Good: Preload association
def list_posts_good do
  Post
  |> preload(:author)
  |> Repo.all()
  |> Enum.map(fn post ->
    %{title: post.title, author: post.author.name}
  end)
end

# ✅ Better: Join with select for specific fields
def list_posts_optimized do
  from p in Post,
    join: a in assoc(p, :author),
    select: %{title: p.title, author_name: a.name}
  |> Repo.all()
end

Advanced Queries

# Pagination
def list_posts_paginated(page, per_page \\\\ 20) do
  from(p in Post,
    order_by: [desc: p.inserted_at],
    limit: ^per_page,
    offset: ^((page - 1) * per_page)
  )
  |> Repo.all()
end

# Search
def search_posts(query_string) do
  search_term = "%#{query_string}%"

  from(p in Post,
    where: ilike(p.title, ^search_term) or ilike(p.body, ^search_term)
  )
  |> Repo.all()
end

# Aggregation
def post_stats do
  from(p in Post,
    select: %{
      total: count(p.id),
      published: count(p.id, :distinct) |> filter(where: p.published),
      avg_views: avg(p.views)
    }
  )
  |> Repo.one()
end

Migrations

defmodule MyApp.Repo.Migrations.CreatePosts do
  use Ecto.Migration

  def change do
    create table(:posts) do
      add :title, :string, null: false
      add :body, :text, null: false
      add :published, :boolean, default: false
      add :views, :integer, default: 0
      add :author_id, references(:users, on_delete: :delete_all), null: false

      timestamps()
    end

    create index(:posts, [:author_id])
    create index(:posts, [:published])
    create index(:posts, [:inserted_at])
  end
end

Phoenix Channels

Channel Definition

defmodule MyAppWeb.RoomChannel do
  use MyAppWeb, :channel
  alias MyApp.Chat

  @impl true
  def join("room:" <> room_id, _params, socket) do
    if authorized?(socket, room_id) do
      send(self(), :after_join)
      {:ok, socket}
    else
      {:error, %{reason: "unauthorized"}}
    end
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_in("new_msg", %{"body" => body}, socket) do
    message = Chat.create_message(%{
      room_id: socket.assigns.room_id,
      user_id: socket.assigns.user_id,
      body: body
    })

    broadcast!(socket, "new_msg", %{
      id: message.id,
      body: message.body,
      user: message.user.name
    })

    {:noreply, socket}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info(:after_join, socket) do
    messages = Chat.list_recent_messages(socket.assigns.room_id, 50)
    push(socket, "messages", %{messages: messages})
    {:noreply, socket}
  end

  defp authorized?(socket, room_id) do
    # Check if user can access room
    socket.assigns[:user_id] != nil
  end
end

Phoenix Presence

defmodule MyAppWeb.Presence do
  use Phoenix.Presence,
    otp_app: :my_app,
    pubsub_server: MyApp.PubSub
end

# Track user in channel
def handle_info(:after_join, socket) do
  {:ok, _} = Presence.track(socket, socket.assigns.user_id, %{
    online_at: System.system_time(:second)
  })

  push(socket, "presence_state", Presence.list(socket))
  {:noreply, socket}
end

Background Jobs (Oban)

Oban Worker

defmodule MyApp.Workers.EmailWorker do
  use Oban.Worker,
    queue: :emails,
    max_attempts: 3,
    priority: 1

  @impl Oban.Worker
  def perform(%Oban.Job{args: %{"user_id" => user_id, "type" => type}}) do
    user = MyApp.Accounts.get_user!(user_id)

    case type do
      "welcome" -> MyApp.Mailer.send_welcome_email(user)
      "reset_password" -> MyApp.Mailer.send_password_reset(user)
      _ -> {:error, "unknown email type"}
    end
  end
end

Scheduling Jobs

# Immediate job
%{user_id: user.id, type: "welcome"}
|> MyApp.Workers.EmailWorker.new()
|> Oban.insert()

# Delayed job (1 hour)
%{user_id: user.id, type: "reminder"}
|> MyApp.Workers.EmailWorker.new(schedule_in: 3600)
|> Oban.insert()

# Scheduled at specific time
%{user_id: user.id, type: "newsletter"}
|> MyApp.Workers.EmailWorker.new(scheduled_at: ~U[2025-12-25 09:00:00Z])
|> Oban.insert()

# Unique job (prevent duplicates)
%{user_id: user.id, type: "daily_summary"}
|> MyApp.Workers.EmailWorker.new(
  unique: [period: 86400, fields: [:user_id, :type]]
)
|> Oban.insert()

Cron Jobs

# config/config.exs
config :my_app, Oban,
  repo: MyApp.Repo,
  queues: [default: 10, emails: 20, reports: 5],
  plugins: [
    {Oban.Plugins.Cron,
     crontab: [
       {"0 2 * * *", MyApp.Workers.DailyReportWorker},
       {"*/15 * * * *", MyApp.Workers.CacheWarmerWorker},
       {"0 0 * * 0", MyApp.Workers.WeeklyDigestWorker}
     ]}
  ]

Production Deployment

Runtime Configuration

# config/runtime.exs
import Config

if config_env() == :prod do
  database_url = System.get_env("DATABASE_URL") ||
    raise "DATABASE_URL not set"

  config :my_app, MyApp.Repo,
    url: database_url,
    pool_size: String.to_integer(System.get_env("POOL_SIZE") || "10"),
    ssl: true

  config :my_app, MyAppWeb.Endpoint,
    url: [host: System.get_env("PHX_HOST"), port: 443],
    http: [port: String.to_integer(System.get_env("PORT") || "4000")],
    secret_key_base: System.get_env("SECRET_KEY_BASE")
end

Health Checks

defmodule MyAppWeb.HealthController do
  use MyAppWeb, :controller

  def check(conn, _params) do
    checks = %{
      database: database_healthy?(),
      cache: cache_healthy?(),
      oban: oban_healthy?()
    }

    status = if Enum.all?(Map.values(checks), & &1), do: 200, else: 503

    conn
    |> put_status(status)
    |> json(checks)
  end

  defp database_healthy? do
    case MyApp.Repo.query("SELECT 1") do
      {:ok, _} -> true
      _ -> false
    end
  end

  defp cache_healthy? do
    # Check Redis or ETS cache
    true
  end

  defp oban_healthy? do
    # Check Oban queues
    true
  end
end

Telemetry Instrumentation

defmodule MyApp.Telemetry do
  use Supervisor
  import Telemetry.Metrics

  def start_link(arg) do
    Supervisor.start_link(__MODULE__, arg, name: __MODULE__)
  end

  def init(_arg) do
    children = [
      {:telemetry_poller, measurements: periodic_measurements(), period: 10_000}
    ]

    Supervisor.init(children, strategy: :one_for_one)
  end

  def metrics do
    [
      # Phoenix Metrics
      summary("phoenix.endpoint.stop.duration",
        unit: {:native, :millisecond}
      ),
      summary("phoenix.router_dispatch.stop.duration",
        tags: [:route],
        unit: {:native, :millisecond}
      ),

      # Database Metrics
      summary("my_app.repo.query.total_time",
        unit: {:native, :millisecond}
      ),
      summary("my_app.repo.query.queue_time",
        unit: {:native, :millisecond}
      ),

      # VM Metrics
      summary("vm.memory.total", unit: {:byte, :megabyte}),
      summary("vm.total_run_queue_lengths.total"),
      summary("vm.total_run_queue_lengths.cpu"),
      summary("vm.total_run_queue_lengths.io")
    ]
  end

  defp periodic_measurements do
    []
  end
end

Testing with ExUnit

Context Testing

defmodule MyApp.BlogTest do
  use MyApp.DataCase
  alias MyApp.Blog

  describe "posts" do
    test "list_posts/0 returns all posts" do
      post = post_fixture()
      assert Blog.list_posts() == [post]
    end

    test "get_post!/1 returns the post with given id" do
      post = post_fixture()
      assert Blog.get_post!(post.id) == post
    end

    test "create_post/1 with valid data creates a post" do
      attrs = %{title: "Title", body: "Body", author_id: author_fixture().id}
      assert {:ok, %Post{} = post} = Blog.create_post(attrs)
      assert post.title == "Title"
    end

    test "create_post/1 with invalid data returns error changeset" do
      assert {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{}} = Blog.create_post(%{})
    end
  end

  defp post_fixture(attrs \\\\ %{}) do
    {:ok, post} =
      attrs
      |> Enum.into(%{
        title: "some title",
        body: "some body",
        author_id: author_fixture().id
      })
      |> Blog.create_post()

    post
  end
end

Controller Testing

defmodule MyAppWeb.PostControllerTest do
  use MyAppWeb.ConnCase
  alias MyApp.Blog

  setup %{conn: conn} do
    {:ok, conn: put_req_header(conn, "accept", "application/json")}
  end

  describe "index" do
    test "lists all posts", %{conn: conn} do
      conn = get(conn, ~p"/api/posts")
      assert json_response(conn, 200)["data"] == []
    end
  end

  describe "create post" do
    test "renders post when data is valid", %{conn: conn} do
      attrs = %{title: "Title", body: "Body", author_id: author_fixture().id}
      conn = post(conn, ~p"/api/posts", post: attrs)
      assert %{"id" => id} = json_response(conn, 201)["data"]

      conn = get(conn, ~p"/api/posts/#{id}")
      assert %{"id" => ^id, "title" => "Title"} = json_response(conn, 200)["data"]
    end

    test "renders errors when data is invalid", %{conn: conn} do
      conn = post(conn, ~p"/api/posts", post: %{})
      assert json_response(conn, 422)["errors"] != %{}
    end
  end
end

LiveView Testing

defmodule MyAppWeb.DashboardLiveTest do
  use MyAppWeb.ConnCase
  import Phoenix.LiveViewTest

  test "displays dashboard metrics", %{conn: conn} do
    {:ok, view, html} = live(conn, ~p"/dashboard")
    assert html =~ "Dashboard"
    assert render(view) =~ "metrics"
  end

  test "refreshes metrics on button click", %{conn: conn} do
    {:ok, view, _html} = live(conn, ~p"/dashboard")
    assert view |> element("button", "Refresh") |> render_click()
    assert render(view) =~ "metrics"
  end

  test "receives real-time updates", %{conn: conn} do
    {:ok, view, _html} = live(conn, ~p"/dashboard")

    # Broadcast update
    Phoenix.PubSub.broadcast(MyApp.PubSub, "metrics:updates", {:metric_update, %{}})

    assert render(view) =~ "metrics"
  end
end

Security Best Practices

SQL Injection Prevention

# ❌ NEVER use string interpolation in queries
def get_user_bad(email) do
  Repo.query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '#{email}'")
end

# ✅ ALWAYS use Ecto parameterization
def get_user_good(email) do
  from(u in User, where: u.email == ^email)
  |> Repo.one()
end

Input Validation

def changeset(user, attrs) do
  user
  |> cast(attrs, [:email, :password])
  |> validate_required([:email, :password])
  |> validate_format(:email, ~r/@/)
  |> validate_length(:password, min: 8)
  |> validate_confirmation(:password)
  |> unique_constraint(:email)
  |> hash_password()
end

Authentication with phx.gen.auth

mix phx.gen.auth Accounts User users

Performance Optimization

Query Optimization Checklist

• ✅ Preload associations to prevent N+1 queries
• ✅ Use select to fetch only required fields
• ✅ Add database indexes for frequently queried columns
• ✅ Use join instead of preload for aggregations
• ✅ Implement pagination for large result sets
• ✅ Use Repo.stream for processing large datasets

LiveView Performance

# Use streams for large lists
socket |> stream(:posts, posts)

# Mark non-reactive assigns as temporary
socket |> assign(:large_data, value) |> assign(:temp_assigns, [:large_data])

# Optimize rendering with targeted updates
socket |> push_event("update_chart", %{data: chart_data})

Caching with ETS

defmodule MyApp.Cache do
  def get(key) do
    case :ets.lookup(:my_cache, key) do
      [{^key, value}] -> {:ok, value}
      [] -> :error
    end
  end

  def put(key, value, ttl \\\\ 3600) do
    :ets.insert(:my_cache, {key, value})
    schedule_expiry(key, ttl)
  end
end

Quick Reference Cheatsheet

Mix Commands

mix phx.new my_app                    # Create new Phoenix project
mix phx.server                        # Start development server
mix ecto.create                       # Create database
mix ecto.migrate                      # Run migrations
mix ecto.rollback                     # Rollback last migration
mix phx.gen.context Blog Post posts   # Generate context + schema
mix phx.gen.live Blog Post posts      # Generate LiveView CRUD
mix test                              # Run tests
mix test --cover                      # Run tests with coverage
mix format                            # Format code
mix deps.get                          # Install dependencies

IEx Helpers

iex -S mix phx.server                 # Start server with IEx
h Module                              # View module documentation
recompile                             # Recompile changed files
MyApp.Repo.all(User)                  # Query database

For More Details: See REFERENCE.md for comprehensive guides, advanced patterns, and production optimization strategies.