unused-public PHPStan Extension

Install the package as a development dependency using Composer. This package requires PHP 7.2 or higher.

composer require tomasvotruba/unused-public --dev

If a public element is intentionally designed to be part of a public API (e.g., in an open-source library) and should not be reported as unused, mark the class or the specific element with the @api PHPDoc annotation.

final class Book
{
    /**
     * @api
     */
    public function getName()
    {
        return $this->name;
    }
}

Use the local_methods option to identify public methods that are only called within the same class or local scope. These are candidates to be refactored to private or protected modifiers.

# phpstan.neon
parameters:
    unused_public:
        local_methods: true

To prevent false positives caused by methods being called exclusively in Twig or Blade templates, provide the directories containing your templates in the template_paths configuration key.

# phpstan.neon
parameters:
    unused_public:
        template_paths:
            - templates

To handle large numbers of reported unused methods gradually, you can set a maximum allowed percentage of unused methods instead of a boolean toggle. If the percentage of unused methods exceeds this value, PHPStan will alert you; otherwise, it will be tolerated.

# phpstan.neon
parameters:
    unused_public:
        methods: 2.5

If you are using the PHPStan extension installer, the package is automatically registered. You can enable detection for specific public elements (methods, properties, or constants) in your phpstan.neon configuration file.

# phpstan.neon
parameters:
    unused_public:
        methods: true
        properties: true
        constants: true