Skill

php-project-guide

Name: php-project-guide
Author: JetBrains

manage PHP project development environments

Published by JetBrains Updated Jul 13

Covers PHP Local Development Engineering

Description

Foundational PHP project knowledge for AI agents. Use when working on a PHP project, setting up a PHP development environment, understanding PHP project structure, following PHP coding standards, running PHP tests, using Composer, or when guidance on PHP-specific tools and workflows in PhpStorm is needed.

SKILL.md

PHP Project Guide

Foundational knowledge for working effectively on any PHP project in PhpStorm. Provides project detection, coding standards, testing patterns, framework guidance, and MCP tool usage.

Quick Start: First Interaction with a PHP Project

Run these steps when encountering a new PHP project for the first time.

1. Detect PHP environment

get_php_project_config()

Returns the configured PHP language level, interpreter details (name, path, local/remote), and runtime information (exact PHP version, loaded extensions, php.ini path, debuggers). Use this to understand the PHP environment before generating code.

2. Identify dependencies and framework

get_composer_dependencies()

This returns all installed packages with exact versions from composer.lock. Use it to determine:

Framework: laravel/framework, symfony/framework-bundle, or neither
Test framework: phpunit/phpunit, pestphp/pest, codeception/codeception
Static analysis: phpstan/phpstan, vimeo/psalm
Code style: friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer, squizlabs/php_codesniffer

Use the optional nameFilter glob parameter to search for specific packages (e.g., nameFilter: "laravel/*").

3. Route to framework-specific guidance

Dependency	Project Type	Reference
`laravel/framework`	Laravel	See `references/framework-laravel.md`
`symfony/framework-bundle`	Symfony	See `references/framework-symfony.md`
Neither	Generic PHP	See `references/php-standards.md`

PhpStorm MCP Tools Quick Reference

Code Analysis

Tool	When to Use
`get_inspections`	After edits, for code review, to find problems with available quick fixes
`apply_quick_fix`	To resolve inspection problems automatically
`get_file_problems`	Quick error/warning check on any file type (no quick fixes returned)
`build_project`	Trigger project build and get compilation errors

Code Search

Tool	When to Use
`search_structural`	To find code patterns semantically using SSR (requires `fileType: "PHP"`)
`get_structural_patterns`	To discover predefined PHP search patterns by category
`search_text`	Fast text substring search across project files
`search_regex`	Regex search across project files with match coordinates
`search_symbol`	Semantic symbol lookup (classes, methods, fields)
`search_file`	Find files by glob pattern
`find_files_by_name_keyword`	Fast file search by name substring (uses indexes)
`find_files_by_glob`	Find files matching glob pattern recursively

Code Intelligence

Tool	When to Use
`get_symbol_info`	Get Quick Documentation for a symbol at a specific position
`rename_refactoring`	Safely rename a symbol across the entire project
`get_php_project_config`	Get PHP language level, interpreter, extensions, runtime info
`get_composer_dependencies`	Understand project dependencies, framework, and versions

File Operations

Tool	When to Use
`read_file`	Read file with advanced modes (slice, lines, offsets, indentation)
`get_file_text_by_path`	Read full file text by project-relative path
`replace_text_in_file`	Targeted find-and-replace in files
`create_new_file`	Create new files with content
`reformat_file`	Apply IDE code formatting rules

Execution

Tool	When to Use
`get_run_configurations`	List available run/test configurations
`execute_run_configuration`	Run a specific configuration and get results
`execute_terminal_command`	Run shell commands in IDE terminal

See references/mcp-tools-reference.md for detailed parameters and usage patterns.

Documentation Lookup

When you need documentation beyond what these references provide:

Context7 MCP: Use resolve-library-id then query-docs for any PHP framework or library — returns up-to-date docs and code examples
PHP official docs: https://www.php.net/manual
PhpStorm help: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/phpstorm/
phpstorm-stubs: https://github.com/JetBrains/phpstorm-stubs — PHP built-in function signatures and type info

Reference Documents

Reference	Content
`references/project-detection.md`	composer.json anatomy, PSR-4 autoloading, directory layouts
`references/php-standards.md`	PER/PSR coding standards, PHP version features, anti-patterns
`references/testing-guide.md`	PHPUnit, Pest, running tests, common mistakes
`references/framework-laravel.md`	Laravel directory structure, Eloquent, artisan, routes
`references/framework-symfony.md`	Symfony directory structure, Doctrine, console, services
`references/static-analysis.md`	PHPStan, Psalm, PHP CS Fixer, PHP CodeSniffer
`references/composer-guide.md`	Composer commands, version constraints, autoloading
`references/mcp-tools-reference.md`	Detailed PhpStorm MCP tool parameters and workflows

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