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# Agent Guidelines

## Code and tooling

- All code must remain compatible with PHP 7.4. Run PHPStan and PHP-CS-Fixer
  only under a PHP 7.4.x runtime; never run either tool under any other PHP
  major.minor version.
- Use fully qualified `#[\SensitiveParameter]` on concrete executable
  parameters when their established role normally carries a secret,
  credential-bearing aggregate, or confidential Guzzle-owned container, and
  the active frame can throw or invoke throwing code.
- Repeat the attribute on every qualifying owned caller, callee, concrete trait
  method, and closure parameter. Do not add it to interfaces, abstract-only
  declarations, pure/no-realistic-throw helpers, assignment-only sites,
  arbitrary generic payloads, or completed non-recoverable derivatives.
- For PHP 7.4 compatibility, put `#[\SensitiveParameter]` on its own line and
  the parameter on the following line, expand the complete parameter list, and
  never add a comma after the final parameter. Native trace redaction starts on
  PHP 8.2 and does not redact logs, messages, properties, wire traffic, captured
  variables, return values, or the separate backtrace `$this`/`object`.
- Always pass an explicit character list to `trim()`, `ltrim()`, and `rtrim()`;
  never rely on the default characters.
- Handle `preg_*` engine failures: when the result is used as data, test for
  `false` or `null` and throw a `\RuntimeException` including
  `preg_last_error_msg()`; boolean validation guards must compare strictly, such
  as `=== 1`, so an engine failure can only ever fail closed. Diagnostic
  escaping is the narrow exception: use a deterministic bytewise fallback rather
  than throwing, so it cannot obscure the original exception.
- Anchor validation patterns to the true end of input with the `D` modifier or
  `\z`; a bare `$` accepts a trailing newline.
- Never embed raw control bytes in exception messages and other diagnostics;
  escape or redact the offending value first.
- Helper classes that expose only public static methods are `final` and have a
  private constructor.
- Resist native PHP serialization when a class holds live state (streams,
  resources, handles, callbacks, credentials) or when magic methods such as
  `__destruct()` have side effects that untrusted unserialized data could
  redirect, as with the file and session write fixes in Guzzle's persisting
  cookie jars. Plain data holders, such as Guzzle's in-memory cookie jar, remain
  serializable.
- To resist, `__serialize()` and `__unserialize()` both throw
  `\LogicException(static::class.' should never be serialized')` and its
  unserialized counterpart, usually via the `@internal` `NonSerializableTrait`.
  Where a `__destruct()` has such a side effect, it is enabled only by the
  constructor and disabled in `__wakeup()` and `__unserialize()` before
  throwing, so the protection holds even if the exception is swallowed.
- In general, numeric inputs should not accept non-finite floats. In situations
  where they are accepted and we need to cast to a string, we should branch on
  `\is_finite($value)`, using `(string) $value` for the finite case and
  `\is_nan($value) ? 'NAN' : ($value > 0 ? 'INF' : '-INF')` otherwise.
- Never call `strtolower()`, `strtoupper()`, `strcasecmp()`, `stripos()`, or
  other locale-sensitive case functions; use the locale-independent
  `GuzzleHttp\Psr7\Utils::asciiToLower()`, `asciiToUpper()`,
  `caselessEquals()`, and `caselessContains()` helpers instead.
- Changes in behavior need a `CHANGELOG.md` entry in the unreleased section of
  the target branch and an `UPGRADING.md` note when the behavior differs between
  major versions.

## Contributor references

- Read the [exception guidelines](docs/contributing/exception-guidelines.md)
  before deciding which exception a change should throw.
- Read the
  [cURL connection reuse reference](docs/contributing/curl-connection-reuse.md)
  before working on the cURL handlers or connection reuse and sharing behavior.

## Documentation

- Wrap markdown prose and PHPDoc text to 80 columns using greedy wrapping. Never
  split a markdown link or an inline code span across a line break; a line that
  cannot be broken may exceed the limit. Avoid em dashes.
- Keep PHPDoc and the corresponding `docs/` pages in sync: shared prose is
  deliberately word-for-word identical, including boilerplate copied verbatim
  between related functions, so apply the same edit to every copy. Only
  formatting and linking may differ, such as a docs link becoming a PHPDoc
  `@see` tag; the wording must never drift.