Control structures

Crema’s structural directives branch and repeat template regions. Outer blocks expand first so inner blocks see loop variables and child context.

Truthiness

Expressions in @if, @unless, @empty, @includeWhen, and similar treat a value as truthy unless it is:

null
false
a number equal to 0
an empty string
an empty collection, map, or array

Everything else (including non-empty strings, objects, and non-zero numbers) is truthy.

Conditionals

@if(n == 1)
  One
@elseif(n == 2)
  Two
@else
  Other
@endif

@unless(ok)
  Hidden when ok is truthy
@endunless

@isset(name)
  Name is present (non-null)
@endisset

@empty(items)
  No items (not truthy)
@endempty

Directive	Closer	Meaning
`@if(expr)`	`@endif`	Body when truthy; supports `@elseif` / `@else`
`@unless(expr)`	`@endunless`	Body when not truthy
`@isset(name)`	`@endisset`	Body when resolved value is non-null
`@empty(expr)`	`@endempty`	Body when value is not truthy

Nested @if blocks match the correct @endif. @hasSection / @sectionMissing also close with @endif — see Layouts.

Edge cases

@if(0)never@endif
@if('')never@endif
@if(nil)never@endif
@if(items)has items@endif

Compare with care: == and friends stringify both sides after evaluating, except numeric comparisons for < / > / <= / >= when both sides are numbers.

`@while`

@while(loop.iteration <= n)
  {{ loop.iteration }}
@endwhile

Each pass injects a loop map into a child context before evaluating the condition, so the first check already sees loop.iteration == 1. Hard cap: 10 000 iterations.

`@foreach` / `@each` / `@for`

Collection form

@foreach(items as item)
  <li>{{ item }} ({{ loop.iteration }})</li>
@endforeach

@each / @endeach and @for(items as item)…@endfor behave the same. Leading $ on the item name is optional (as $item).

Keyed form

@foreach(map as key => value)
  {{ key }}={{ value }}
@endforeach

For a Map, key / value are each entry. For a list (or other iterable), key is the zero-based index and value is the element.

Range and C-style `@for`

@for(i in 0..2)
  {{ i }}
@endfor

@for(i = 0; i < n; i++)
  {{ i }}
@endfor

0..2 is inclusive. The C-style form uses a strict < upper bound (i = 0; i < n; i++).

Scalars and weird values

Value passed to `@foreach`	Iteration
`null`	Zero iterations
Collection / array / `IntRange`	Elements
`CharSequence`	Characters
Any other single value	One iteration with that value

Loop metadata

Every loop iteration sets a loop map in the child context:

Key	Meaning
`index`	Zero-based index
`iteration`	One-based index
`first` / `last`	Booleans
`count`	Total size for this loop
`remaining`	Items after this one
`even` / `odd`	Based on zero-based index
`depth`	Nesting depth (`1` at the outermost loop)
`parent`	Outer loop map when nested, else null

@foreach(outer as o)
  @foreach(inner as i)
    depth={{ loop.depth }} parent={{ loop.parent.iteration }}
  @endforeach
@endforeach

`@forelse`

Like @foreach, but requires an @empty branch when the collection has no items:

@forelse(items as item)
  {{ item }}
@empty
  <p>None</p>
@endforelse

Nested @forelse blocks match the correct @empty / @endforelse. The empty branch does not receive loop metadata for a “current” item.

Auth and guest

@auth
  Signed in
@endauth

@guest
  Please sign in
@endguest

A visitor is treated as authenticated when the view data has any of:

__authenticated truthy
auth_user non-null
user non-null

Pass these from middleware or the controller after your auth layer runs. See Authentication.

Abilities

@can('edit')
  <button>Edit</button>
@endcan

@cannot('edit')
  <span>Read-only</span>
@endcannot

Crema checks, in order:

__abilities as a Set / List containing the ability string, or a Map whose value for that key is truthy
A can map in the data (can['edit'] truthy)

Wire real policies via Authorization; these directives only read the map you provide to the view.

`@switch`

@switch(status)
@case(1)
  Open
  @break
@case(2)
  Closed
  @break
@default
  Unknown
@endswitch

Cases compare stringified values ("1" matches 1). @break stops the active arm; without it, fall-through into the next arm’s text is possible until the next @case / @default / end. @default runs when no case matched.

Field errors

@error('field')…@enderror is documented with forms — see Forms.