PHP_CodeSniffer

Install PHP_CodeSniffer with Composer

When you install PHP_CodeSniffer with Composer, IntelliJ IDEA automatically downloads the necessary scripts, registers them in the IDE, and, optionally, enables and configures the corresponding code inspection.

1. Inside composer.json, add the squizlabs/php_codesniffer dependency record to the require or require-dev section. Press Control+Space to get code completion for the package name and version.

2. Do one of the following:

   • Click the Install shortcut link on top of the editor panel.

   • If the Non-installed Composer packages inspection is enabled, IntelliJ IDEA will highlight the declared dependencies that are not currently installed. Press Alt+Enter and select whether you want to install a specific dependency or all dependencies at once.

Click next to the package record in the composer.json editor gutter to jump to the corresponding Settings page and configure PHP_CodeSniffer manually.

Reset PHP_CodeSniffer configuration

After PHP_CodeSniffer is initially configured, further modifications in composer.json will not affect the inspection configuration. To apply newer changes, reset the PHP_CodeSniffer configuration.

1. In the Settings dialog (Control+Alt+S), navigate to Languages & Frameworks | PHP | Quality Tools.

2. On the Quality Tools page that opens, expand the PHP_CodeSniffer area and click next to the Configuration list.

3. In the PHP_CodeSniffer dialog that opens, empty the PHP_CodeSniffer path field.

   

4. Update the project Composer dependencies by clicking Update on top of the composer.json editor panel. See Update dependencies for details.

IntelliJ IDEA will perform the PHP_CodeSniffer configuration anew and thus apply the changes in composer.json.

Configure PHP_CodeSniffer in IntelliJ IDEA

When you install PHP_CodeSniffer with Composer, IntelliJ IDEA automatically detects PHP_CodeSniffer's and PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer's executable files in the vendor/bin folder and sets the PHP interpreter configured in the system path to run them.

In Settings (Control+Alt+S) | Languages & Frameworks | PHP | Quality Tools | PHP_CodeSniffer, you can change the default PHP interpreter, set the path to a manually downloaded and installed PHP_CodeSniffer executable file, or add some options to be passed to PHP_CodeSniffer when running it in IntelliJ IDEA.

• Configuration: in this field, you can change the default PHP interpreter and paths to the PHP_CodeSniffer and PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer executable files.

  1. To only change the interpreter, select the required item from the list of local and remote PHP interpreters configured in your project.

  2. To change the paths to the executable files, or both the interpreter and the paths, click next to the Configuration list to open the PHP_CodeSniffer dialog and edit the fields there as described on the PHP_CodeSniffer Dialog reference page.

• Show ignored files: use this setting to exclude files from PHP_CodeSniffer validation inspection. For details, see the Quality Tools reference page.

• Options: in this area, add the options to run PHP_CodeSniffer as a IntelliJ IDEA inspection with. Edit the fields there as described on the PHP_CodeSniffer reference page.

Enable the PHP_CodeSniffer inspection with Composer

You can include the information on the default and custom PHP_CodeSniffer rulesets inside the scripts section of composer.json. When you install or update project dependencies, the specified rulesets will be detected and the PHP_CodeSniffer validation inspection will be enabled automatically.

If no ruleset is specified in the scripts section of composer.json, IntelliJ IDEA will additionally check the project root to locate the ruleset with the phpcs.xml default name. If the file is present, it will be automatically selected as the inspection's Custom ruleset.

• In the scripts section of composer.json, add the phpcs PHP_CodeSniffer launch command into one of the leaf elements.

  Provide the --standard argument to denote the coding standard used. For example, adding the following record will set the coding standard to PSR2:

  "scripts": { "phpcs": "phpcs --standard=PSR2" }

  Adding the following record will set the coding standard to Custom and the path to the ruleset to <project root>/phpcs.xml:

  "scripts": { "phpcs": "phpcs --standard=phpcs.xml" }

Additionally, you can provide a custom non-PSR standard dependency inside the require-dev section of composer.json to have it detected automatically. Currently, the following standards are supported:

• Doctrine

• Drupal Coder

• Joomla

• Magento

• MediaWiki

• PHPCompatibility

• Symfony

• WordPress

• Yii

Enable PHP_CodeSniffer validation in Inspections settings

1. In the Settings dialog (Control+Alt+S), click Inspections under Editor.

2. On the Inspections page that opens, expand the PHP | Quality Tools node and select the checkbox next to PHP_CodeSniffer validation.

   

3. On the right-hand pane of the page, configure how IntelliJ IDEA handles the PHP_CodeSniffer inspection output:

   • Scope: choose the scope to limit the inspection application to.

   • Severity: choose the severity degree for the inspection. The selected value determines how seriously the detected discrepancies will be treated by IntelliJ IDEA and presented in the inspection results.

   • Highlighting in editor: choose how the issues detected by the inspection are highlighted in the editor.

1. From the main menu, select Code | Inspect code.

2. In the Specify Inspection Scope dialog that opens, select the inspection profile from the list, or click Configure to open the Inspections dialog and configure a new profile.

   You can also click Configure to check which fixes will be applied within the scope of the selected inspection profile, and make sure that the PHP_CodeSniffer validation inspection is enabled.

3. View the inspection results in the Problems tool window. Errors and warnings reported by PHP_CodeSniffer are prefixed with phpcs to distinguish them from IntelliJ IDEA internal inspections.

   

Fix issues by using a quick-fix

Upon detecting an issue, IntelliJ IDEA highlights it in accordance with the PHP_CodeSniffer inspection settings.

1. Place the caret at the detected issue and click , or press Alt+Enter.

2. Select PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer: fix the whole file from the popup menu. Note that this will fix all issues detected in the current file.

You can also detect issues in the batch mode, or fix them automatically with code reformatting.

Fix issues with code reformatting

You can fix issues detected by PHP_CodeSniffer by running the Reformat Code action.

1. Set PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer as an external formatter in the Quality Tools settings.

   To do so, in the Settings dialog (Control+Alt+S) go to Languages & Frameworks |PHP | Quality Tools and select PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer in the External Formatters section.

   

2. Apply Reformat Code to the required file or project scope:

   • For a code fragment or a file opened in the editor, select Code | Reformat Code from the main menu or press Control+Alt+L.

   • For a selected file, directory, or group of files in the Project tool window, select Reformat Code from the context menu or press Control+Alt+L.

1. In the Settings dialog (Control+Alt+S), navigate to Languages & Frameworks | PHP | Quality Tools.

2. On the Quality Tools page that opens, expand the PHP_CodeSniffer area and click the Show ignored files link.

   • To add a file, click and locate the desired file in the dialog that opens.

   • To delete a file from the list and have PHP_CodeSniffer process it again, select the file and click .

   • To remove all the files from the list, click .