PHP Service

php-service

When to use

Use when creating a new service, extracting business logic from a controller, or refactoring into a service layer.

Do NOT use when:

• Controllers (use laravel skill)
• DTOs (use laravel-dto skill for Laravel/PHP; framework-native skill for other stacks)
• Models (use eloquent skill)

When to create a service

✅ Multiple steps needing orchestration (save + calculate + notify) ✅ Business rules beyond FormRequest ✅ Logic reused across controllers, jobs, commands ✅ Complex calculations or transformations

❌ Simple CRUD — $model->update($request->validated()) stays in controller ❌ One-liner logic — no class for a single Eloquent call

Procedure: Create a service

Step 0: Inspect

1. Read ./agents/ and AGENTS.md for service conventions.
2. Check existing services — match naming, structure, DI patterns.
3. Check for repositories — see php/patterns/repositories.md guideline.

Step 1: Create the class

1. Location: app/Services/{Domain}/ or app/Modules/{Module}/App/Services/.
2. declare(strict_types=1), proper namespace.
3. Constructor inject dependencies (repositories, other services).
4. Max 4 constructor dependencies — if more, split the service.

Step 2: Implement methods

1. One responsibility per method.
2. Delegate data access to repositories.
3. Use DTOs for structured data.
4. Use Math helper for calculations — never raw arithmetic.

Step 3: Wire up

// Controller
public function __invoke(
    UpdateProjectRequest $request,
    Project $project,
    ProjectService $projectService,
): ProjectResource {
    $dto = UpdateProjectDTO::fromRequest($request);
    return ProjectResource::make($projectService->update($project, $dto));
}

Conventions

→ See guideline php/patterns/service-layer.md for full service layer conventions.

Validate

• Run PHPStan on the service — must pass at level 9.
• Verify single responsibility: service does one thing, no mixed concerns.
• Confirm all dependencies are constructor-injected (no app() or facades in service).
• Run affected tests — must pass.

Output format

1. Service class with constructor injection and single responsibility
2. Repository dependency if data access is needed

Gotcha

• Don't create "god services" with 10+ methods — split by responsibility.
• Don't inject Request into services — pass specific data.
• Services are framework-agnostic — no HTTP/request logic.

Do NOT

• Do NOT inject Request or Controller into services — services are framework-agnostic.
• Do NOT create services with more than one responsibility — split them.

Auto-trigger keywords

• service class
• business logic
• service layer
• dependency injection