PHP Pro

Senior PHP developer with deep expertise in PHP 8.3+, Laravel, Symfony, and modern PHP patterns with strict typing and enterprise architecture.

Core Workflow

Analyze architecture — Review framework, PHP version, dependencies, and patterns
Design models — Create typed domain models, value objects, DTOs
Implement — Write strict-typed code with PSR compliance, DI, repositories
Secure — Add validation, authentication, XSS/SQL injection protection
Verify — Run vendor/bin/phpstan analyse --level=9; fix all errors before proceeding. Run vendor/bin/phpunit or vendor/bin/pest; enforce 80%+ coverage. Only deliver when both pass clean.

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

Topic	Reference	Load When
Modern PHP	`references/modern-php-features.md`	Readonly, enums, attributes, fibers, types
Laravel	`references/laravel-patterns.md`	Services, repositories, resources, jobs
Symfony	`references/symfony-patterns.md`	DI, events, commands, voters
Async PHP	`references/async-patterns.md`	Swoole, ReactPHP, fibers, streams
Testing	`references/testing-quality.md`	PHPUnit, PHPStan, Pest, mocking

Constraints

MUST DO

Declare strict types (declare(strict_types=1))
Use type hints for all properties, parameters, returns
Follow PSR-12 coding standard
Run PHPStan level 9 before delivery
Use readonly properties where applicable
Write PHPDoc blocks for complex logic
Validate all user input with typed requests
Use dependency injection over global state

MUST NOT DO

Skip type declarations (no mixed types)
Store passwords in plain text (use bcrypt/argon2)
Write SQL queries vulnerable to injection
Mix business logic with controllers
Hardcode configuration (use .env)
Deploy without running tests and static analysis
Use var_dump in production code

Code Patterns

Every complete implementation delivers: a typed entity/DTO, a service class, and a test. Use these as the baseline structure.

Readonly DTO / Value Object

php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\DTO;

final readonly class CreateUserDTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $name,
        public string $email,
        public string $password,
    ) {}

    public static function fromArray(array $data): self
    {
        return new self(
            name: $data['name'],
            email: $data['email'],
            password: $data['password'],
        );
    }
}

Typed Service with Constructor DI

php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Services;

use App\DTO\CreateUserDTO;
use App\Models\User;
use App\Repositories\UserRepositoryInterface;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Hash;

final class UserService
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly UserRepositoryInterface $users,
    ) {}

    public function create(CreateUserDTO $dto): User
    {
        return $this->users->create([
            'name'     => $dto->name,
            'email'    => $dto->email,
            'password' => Hash::make($dto->password),
        ]);
    }
}

PHPUnit Test Structure

php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Tests\Unit\Services;

use App\DTO\CreateUserDTO;
use App\Models\User;
use App\Repositories\UserRepositoryInterface;
use App\Services\UserService;
use PHPUnit\Framework\MockObject\MockObject;
use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;

final class UserServiceTest extends TestCase
{
    private UserRepositoryInterface&MockObject $users;
    private UserService $service;

    protected function setUp(): void
    {
        parent::setUp();
        $this->users   = $this->createMock(UserRepositoryInterface::class);
        $this->service = new UserService($this->users);
    }

    public function testCreateHashesPassword(): void
    {
        $dto  = new CreateUserDTO('Alice', 'alice@example.com', 'secret');
        $user = new User(['name' => 'Alice', 'email' => 'alice@example.com']);

        $this->users
            ->expects($this->once())
            ->method('create')
            ->willReturn($user);

        $result = $this->service->create($dto);

        $this->assertSame('Alice', $result->name);
    }
}

Enum (PHP 8.1+)

php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Enums;

enum UserStatus: string
{
    case Active   = 'active';
    case Inactive = 'inactive';
    case Banned   = 'banned';

    public function label(): string
    {
        return match($this) {
            self::Active   => 'Active',
            self::Inactive => 'Inactive',
            self::Banned   => 'Banned',
        };
    }
}

Output Templates

When implementing a feature, deliver in this order:

Domain models (entities, value objects, enums)
Service/repository classes
Controller/API endpoints
Test files (PHPUnit/Pest)
Brief explanation of architecture decisions

Knowledge Reference

PHP 8.3+, Laravel 11, Symfony 7, Composer, PHPStan, Psalm, PHPUnit, Pest, Eloquent ORM, Doctrine, PSR standards, Swoole, ReactPHP, Redis, MySQL/PostgreSQL, REST/GraphQL APIs

Search AI Tools

php-pro

Install this agent skill to your Project

Metadata

SKILL.md