PHP Skills for AI Coding Agents

Best for: Day-to-day PHP implementation and refactoring on a known PHP 8.x target

PHP Best Practices begins by checking composer.json or the runtime so an agent does not recommend language features the project cannot run. Its rule set separates type-system, modern-PHP, PSR, SOLID, error-handling, performance, and security decisions rather than treating PHP style as one generic prompt.

Use it as the broad implementation card when a PHP task needs a consistent baseline. It is especially useful before local edits spread unchecked choices about strict types, null handling, exceptions, autoloading, prepared statements, or password handling through a project.

• Version detection before language-feature advice
• Modern PHP 8.x features mapped to supported versions
• Strict types, PSR conventions, and exception boundaries
• Security and performance rules beside implementation guidance

Best for: Reviewing a focused PHP change after its intended scope is already known

Review PHP is an atomic findings workflow rather than a broad architecture or security assessment. It checks strict declarations, error handling, resource cleanup, PSR conventions, namespaces, null safety, iterables, runtime compatibility, and testability within PHP code.

Choose it when a change needs a reviewable list of concrete PHP concerns. Its findings format keeps the card focused on language and runtime behavior, leaving threat modelling and system design to a separate, deliberate review step.

• Nine PHP language and runtime evaluation dimensions
• File-and-line findings with remediation suggestions
• Resource and handle lifecycle checks
• Explicit boundary from architecture and security audits

Best for: Planning or executing a PHP minor-version migration without skipping compatibility evidence

PHP Upgrade treats a runtime change as a staged migration. It starts with the official PHP migration notes, audits the current code and dependencies, uses tools such as PHPCompatibility and Rector where they fit, changes Composer platform constraints, then tests under the target binary.

Use it when a project is moving between supported PHP versions or clearing deprecations before a later move. It is different from normal maintenance because each minor-version boundary has its own language and extension traps.

• Official migration guide before implementation changes
• One minor version at a time
• Compatibility audit and Rector-assisted refactoring
• Target-runtime tests before release readiness

Best for: A PHP project that already uses PHPUnit for unit or integration testing

PHPUnit is the one testing-framework workflow in this guide. It covers PHPUnit 11+ conventions, including PHP attributes for tests and data providers, final test classes, Arrange-Act-Assert structure, and the difference between a stub that supplies state and a mock that verifies behavior.

Use it only where PHPUnit is the project test framework. It is not presented as a replacement for Pest, framework test harnesses, browser testing, or a general testing strategy, which keeps this catalog from collecting near-identical test cards.

• PHPUnit 11+ attribute-based test metadata
• Arrange-Act-Assert test structure
• Clear stub and mock responsibilities
• Data providers and environment requirement attributes

Best for: A PHP 8.3+ Symfony project that is intentionally adopting clean or hexagonal architecture

Clean Architecture PHP is an enterprise architecture specialist for PHP 8.3+ and Symfony 7.x. It separates Domain, Application, Adapter, and Infrastructure responsibilities so business rules can be tested without booting Symfony or connecting to a database.

Load it only for projects that have chosen this architecture. Its value is in enforcing ports, immutable value objects, repository adapters, and framework-free use-case tests, not in imposing a Symfony layout on every PHP repository.

• Domain, Application, Adapter, and Infrastructure layers
• Ports and adapters around persistence and delivery
• Immutable value objects and domain invariants
• In-memory adapters for framework-independent tests