PHP_CodeSniffer Documentation

You can install PHP_CodeSniffer globally or as a development dependency in your project using Composer.

Global Installation: Ensure your composer bin directory (e.g., ~/.composer/vendor/bin/) is in your PATH.

Project Dependency: Add it to your composer.json to run it via the local vendor/bin directory.

# Global installation
composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer=*"

# Project dependency (composer.json)
{
    "require-dev": {
        "squizlabs/php_codesniffer": "3.*
    }
}

# Running from vendor bin
./vendor/bin/phpcs -h
./vendor/bin/phpcbf -h

PHP_CodeSniffer can be installed using several other methods:

• Phive: Install as project tools using phive install phpcs and phive install phpcbf.
• PEAR: Use the PEAR installer with pear install PHP_CodeSniffer.
• Git Clone: Clone the repository directly and run the scripts from the bin/ directory.

# Phive
phive install phpcs
phive install phpcbf
./tools/phpcs -h

# PEAR
pear install PHP_CodeSniffer

# Git Clone
git clone https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer.git
cd PHP_CodeSniffer
php bin/phpcs -h
php bin/phpcbf -h

The quickest way to install PHP_CodeSniffer is to download the standalone Phar files for the phpcs (detector) and phpcbf (corrector) commands using curl or wget. After downloading, you can verify the installation by running the -h flag.

# Download using curl
curl -OL https://squizlabs.github.io/PHP_CodeSniffer/phpcs.phar
curl -OL https://squizlabs.github.io/PHP_CodeSniffer/phpcbf.phar

# Or download using wget
wget https://squizlabs.github.io/PHP_CodeSniffer/phpcs.phar
wget https://squizlabs.github.io/PHP_CodeSniffer/phpcbf.phar

# Then test the downloaded PHARs
php phpcs.phar -h
php phpcbf.phar -h

The Notifysend report allows PHP_CodeSniffer to send desktop notifications via the notify-send CLI tool. You can customize its behavior using the following configuration parameters in your phpcs.xml file or via command line configuration:

• notifysend_path: The full path to the notify-send executable.
• notifysend_timeout: The timeout for the notification in milliseconds (default is 3000).
• notifysend_showok: A boolean (0/1) determining whether to show an "ok, all fine" message when no errors or warnings are found (default is true).

The Generic.WhiteSpace.ScopeIndent sniff enforces correct indentation for control structures. You can customize its behavior in your ruleset.xml file using the following properties:

• indent: The number of spaces used for indentation (default: 4).
• exact: If set to true, the indentation must match the indent value exactly. If false, the indentation must be at least the indent value but can be more.
• tabIndent: If set to true, the sniff will use tabs instead of spaces for indentation. Note that the width of the tabs is determined by the --tab-width CLI argument.
• ignoreIndentationTokens: A list of tokens that should be ignored by this sniff.

If you are troubleshooting why indentation is being flagged or how the sniff is calculating expected indents, you can enable debug mode. When debug is true, the sniff outputs detailed information to the console, including:

• The line number and type of token being processed.
• The calculated expected indentation.
• Whether a closure, method prefix, or JS object was found.
• Adjustments being made to the indentation levels.

Note: This is typically controlled via the sniff's configuration properties within your ruleset.xml.

To use the Notifysend report, specify it using the --report flag when running phpcs. This will trigger desktop notifications based on the results of the scan.

phpcs --report=Notifysend /path/to/code

When defining the Generic.WhiteSpace.ScopeIndent sniff in a ruleset, you can set these properties: