To get current controller name use this code : <?php $controllerId = Yii :: app () -> controller -> id ; //or $controllerId = $this -> getId (); ?> To get current action name/id being executed, if you are inside beforeAction() or afterAction(), use the received CAction argument <?php //inside beforeAction or afterAction public function beforeAction ( $action ) { $actionId = $action -> id ; ... ?> or just elsewhere inside your controller <?php $actionId = $this -> getAction () -> getId (); ?> To get name of currently called controller action anywhere in the code you can use : <?php print CController :: getAction () -> id ; ?>