IxDF PHP Coding Standard

An opinionated coding standard for PHP and Laravel projects, built on PER-CS3.0. Focuses on:

• High signal-to-noise ratio (concise but informative PHPDoc, e.g. array shapes)
• Strict, explicit code: strict_types, strict comparisons, final by default, no magic
• Harmony with static analysis tools (PHPStan, Psalm, Rector, etc.)
• Auto-fixing over reporting (violations are not only reported but also fixed automatically, when possible)
• PHP and Laravel best practices (enforced, not just suggested)

Two tools, two roles, meant to run together:

• PHP-CS-Fixer (primary): fast auto-formatting and modernization rules.
• PHP_CodeSniffer (supplementary): structural and semantic checks PHP-CS-Fixer cannot express (complexity, Laravel conventions, naming).

Tip

This repository is a part of the IxDF toolchain for PHP: Rector ➝ Coding Standard Fixers ➝ PHPStan + Psalm.

1. Installation

composer require --dev interaction-design-foundation/coding-standard

2. Configuration

PHP-CS-Fixer

Primary formatter.

Create .php-cs-fixer.php in your project root:

<?php declare(strict_types=1);

use IxDFCodingStandard\PhpCsFixer\Config;

// @see https://mlocati.github.io/php-cs-fixer-configurator/ for ruleOverrides options.
return Config::create(__DIR__, ruleOverrides: []);

Customization (optional)

Config::create() ships a sensible default Finder and enables parallel runs, risky rules, and caching. You can customize it by using your Finder instance and by overriding individual rules:

use PhpCsFixer\Finder;

$finder = Finder::create()->in(__DIR__)->name('*.php');

// Override individual rules, your own Finder and use your cache path
return Config::create(__DIR__, finder: $finder, ruleOverrides: [
    'final_class' => true,
])->setCacheFile('./.cache/.php-cs-fixer.cache');

Need only the rule array (e.g. to compose your own config)?

$rules = \IxDFCodingStandard\PhpCsFixer\Rules::get();

Run it:

vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix

PHP_CodeSniffer

Supplementary (optional) formatter.

Create phpcs.xml in your project root:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="My Coding Standard">
    <file>app</file>
    <file>config</file>
    <file>database</file>
    <file>routes</file>
    <file>tests</file>

    <rule ref="IxDFCodingStandard"/>
</ruleset>

On top of the Generic, PSR and Slevomat rulesets, IxDFCodingStandard ships its own sniffs. Some run by default; some are opt-in. See docs/README.md for the full list and configuration.

Run it:

vendor/bin/phpcbf   # fix
vendor/bin/phpcs    # check (dry-run)

Composer scripts (recommended)

Wire both tools into composer.json so the whole team runs them the same way:

composer cs

cs fixes files in place. Edit composer.json:

{
    "scripts": {
        "cs": ["@php-cs-fixer", "@phpcbf"],
        "phpcbf": "phpcbf -p",
        "phpcs": "phpcs -p -s --report-full --report-summary",
        "php-cs-fixer": "php-cs-fixer fix --no-interaction --ansi --quiet"
    }
}

3. Continuous integration

Run the fixer in CI and commit the result back, so the branch is always formatted without blocking the build. This repository dogfoods that pattern; copy its workflow as a starting point: .github/workflows/coding-standard.yml.