PHP Quality Tooling

Includes a decision guide for greenfield vs legacy codebases (PHPStan level + baseline strategy, Rector's withPhpSets()/withPhpLevel(), PHP-CS-Fixer rule sets), plus ready-to-copy templates for phpstan.neon, rector.php, .php-cs-fixer.dist.php, and a composer-scripts CI pipeline.

Do NOT use this skill on Laravel projects — Laravel uses Pint (a thin wrapper over PHP-CS-Fixer) and Larastan instead, both owned by laravel-expert. Do NOT use it for test framework setup (php-testing) or language syntax questions (php-language-modern).

PHP Quality Tooling

Three complementary tools. PHPStan finds type bugs, Rector rewrites code (upgrades + refactors), PHP-CS-Fixer formats to a coding standard. They do not overlap — run all three.

Agent Workflow (MANDATORY)

Before ANY implementation, spawn 3 agents in parallel, one Agent call each with a name:

1. fuse-ai-pilot:explore-codebase - Detect existing config (phpstan.neon, rector.php, .php-cs-fixer.dist.php), PHP version in composer.json
2. fuse-ai-pilot:research-expert - Verify latest PHPStan/Rector/PHP-CS-Fixer docs via Context7/Exa
3. mcp__context7__query-docs - Check current config API surface

After implementation, run fuse-ai-pilot:sniper for validation.

Overview

Scope note: Laravel Pint is a thin opinionated wrapper around PHP-CS-Fixer. On a Laravel project use Pint (→ laravel-expert); everywhere else use PHP-CS-Fixer directly, which is what this skill covers.

Critical Rules

1. Pick one style tool - PHP-CS-Fixer OR Pint, never both on one repo
2. Rector runs --dry-run first - Review the diff before applying; commit before a bare run
3. Baseline, don't lower the level - Adopt a high PHPStan level + baseline the debt, not level 4
4. Style before analysis in CI - Fixer check → PHPStan → tests; a formatting diff should fail fast
5. Pin tool versions - --dev in composer.json; a minor bump can add rules and break CI

Decision Guide

New project from scratch?
├── Static analysis → PHPStan level 8-9+ from day one (our default; nothing to baseline yet)
├── Style → PHP-CS-Fixer @PER-CS (always-latest) or @PER-CS3.0 (pinned)
└── Rector → withPhpSets() (reads composer.json) + deadCode/codeQuality prepared sets

Legacy codebase?
├── PHPStan → start at a level that passes, generate baseline, raise 1 level per PR
├── Rector → withPhpLevel(n) / withTypeCoverageLevel(n), one level at a time
└── Style → @PER-CS + fix once, then enforce check in CI

Reference Guide

Concepts

Templates

Quick Start

composer require --dev phpstan/phpstan rector/rector friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer

vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer check      # style gate (no writes)
vendor/bin/phpstan analyse         # type analysis
vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run # preview refactors

→ Full config in references/templates/

Best Practices

DO

• Enable phpstan-strict-rules + Bleeding Edge on greenfield projects
• Let Rector read the PHP version from composer.json via withPhpSets()
• Add framework/library PHPStan extensions (Doctrine, Symfony) for accurate types

DON'T

• Run Rector on an uncommitted working tree
• Mix PHP-CS-Fixer and Pint in the same repo
• Silence PHPStan with @phpstan-ignore where a real type fix is cheap