Coding Standards Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install the package as a dev dependency and initialize the config with the built-in CLI tool — no manual file editing needed.

1. Run: composer require --dev phlak/coding-standards
   • Requires PHP 8.2+ — confirm your environment matches this minimum.
2. Initialize config: composer exec cs init
   • This generates .php-cs-fixer.dist.php with sensible defaults for Laravel projects.
3. Run fixes: ./vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix src tests
   • Add to composer.json scripts for routine use (e.g., "cs:fix": "php-cs-fixer fix").

Implementation Patterns

• Leverage ConfigFactory::make() for dynamic config — use it in .php-cs-fixer.dist.php instead of static arrays.

  return PHLAK\CodingStandards\ConfigFactory::make($finder)
      ->setIndent("\t") // Laravel uses tabs; tweak if needed
      ->setRiskyAllowed(); // Enable for modern PHP upgrades (e.g., PHP 8.3+ features)
  

• Override rules selectively via merge — append project-specific rules as the second argument.

  ConfigFactory::make($finder, [
      'phpdoc_summary' => false, // Disable_summary formatting (e.g., for Doctrine annotations)
      'global_namespace_import' => ['import_classes' => true],
  ]);
  

• Integrate with Laravel’s test suite — run fixes in CI before test runs:

  # .github/workflows/ci.yaml
  - name: Fix coding standards
    run: composer cs:fix
  - name: Check standards (CI guard)
    run: ./vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix --dry-run
  

Gotchas and Tips

• PHP 8.2+ mandatory — no fallback for legacy projects; avoid if stuck on PHP 8.0/8.1.
• Factory overrides config files — .php-cs-fixer.dist.php created by cs init is replaced by ConfigFactory::make() logic — don’t mix static config definitions.
• Rule overrides replace entire options — passing 'ordered_imports' => [...] replaces the default config, not merges it. Use ConfigFactory::make()->getRules() to fetch defaults first if partial customization is needed.
• Cache issues cause inconsistent results — clear manually if rules change:
  ./vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix --clear-cache
• Low adoption (0 dependents) — tread carefully in critical pipelines; test upgrades thoroughly. Check GitHub Discussions for niche edge cases.
• Laravel-specific tip — disable Laravel’s no_unused_imports override if using ConfigFactory, as this package already enforces import ordering — conflicts otherwise cause noisy diffs.