Craft CMS 5 PHP Guidelines

Complete PHP coding standards and conventions for Craft CMS 5 plugin and module development. These extend Craft's official coding guidelines with project-specific conventions.

Core principles: PHPDocs on everything — classes, methods, and properties — regardless of type hints. No declare(strict_types=1) in plugin source files (matching Craft core convention).

Companion Skills — Always Load Together

• craftcms — Architecture patterns, element lifecycle, controllers, events, migrations. Required for any Craft plugin or module development.
• ddev — All commands run through DDEV. Required for running ECS, PHPStan, scaffolding, and tests.

Documentation

• Official coding guidelines: https://craftcms.com/docs/5.x/extend/coding-guidelines.html
• Class reference: https://docs.craftcms.com/api/v5/
• Generator reference: https://craftcms.com/docs/5.x/extend/generator.html

When unsure about a convention, WebFetch the coding guidelines page for the authoritative answer.

Common Pitfalls

• addSelect() is the convention in beforePrepare() — safely additive when multiple extensions contribute columns.
• $_instances is not a Craft convention — private properties use underscore prefix but meaningful names like $_items, $_sections.
• Records use the same class name as models (namespace distinguishes). Alias when importing both: use ...\records\MyEntity as MyEntityRecord;.
• Queue jobs have no "Job" suffix — ResaveElements, not ResaveElementsJob.
• declare(strict_types=1) is NOT used in plugin source files. Only in standalone config files like ecs.php.
• @author goes on classes and methods only — never on properties. (Craft core puts @author at the class level only; placing it on methods too is this project's house convention, not core style.)
• Don't use string|null — use ?string (short nullable notation).
• Forget parent::defineRules() and you lose all inherited validation.
• Using [$this, '_validateFoo'] callable arrays or inline closures in defineRules() — Craft core uses string method names: [['attr'], 'validateAttr']. The validator method is public, no underscore — Yii invokes it by name.
• DateTimeHelper in elements/queries, Carbon in services — never mix in the same class.
• Missing @throws chains — document exceptions from called methods too, not just your own throws.
• Using magic property access ($plugin->settings, $app->view) instead of explicit getters ($plugin->getSettings(), $app->getView()) — PHPStan can't resolve __get() calls, so magic access passes at runtime but fails static analysis. Always use explicit getters for Yii2 components and Craft plugin properties.
• Calling Craft-specific methods directly on Craft::$app (Craft::$app->getConfig()) — PHPStan can't resolve them because the static type is Yii's base union. Narrow with a typed local: /** @var \craft\web\Application $app */ $app = Craft::$app;. Don't use @phpstan-ignore-line.
• Duplicating contract constants as private const across multiple classes with "keep in lockstep" comments — PHPStan can't detect drift. Declare public const on the owning service, reference as OwnerService::CONSTANT_NAME everywhere else.

Reference Files

Read the relevant reference file(s) for your task:

Critical Rules

1. PHPDocs on everything: classes, methods, properties. No exceptions.
2. @throws chains: document every exception including uncaught from called methods.
3. @author and @since at the bottom of class/method docblocks, after a blank line.
4. Section headers with // ========================================================================= on every class. (Craft core itself uses dash separators — // ---- — with functional/domain labels like // Statuses or // Events. The ===== separators and visibility labels below are a deliberate house convention for consistency across this project's plugins, not core style.)
5. declare(strict_types=1) is NOT used in plugin source files — Craft's internal type coercion depends on PHP's default weak typing mode.
6. Private methods/properties prefixed with underscore: _registerCpUrlRules(), $_items.
7. addSelect() convention in beforePrepare() — additive across extensions, prevents column conflicts.
8. DateTimeHelper in elements/queries, Carbon in services — separate concerns prevent mixing date APIs in the same class.
9. Always scaffold with ddev craft make <type> --with-docblocks, then customize.
10. ddev composer check-cs and ddev composer phpstan must pass before every commit.

PHP Standards

• Minimum PHP 8.2 (Craft CMS 5 requirement).
• PSR-12 baseline with Craft modifications (trailing commas, constant visibility).
• craftcms/ecs with SetList::CRAFT_CMS_4 preset (covers both Craft 4 and 5).
• Short nullable notation: ?string not string|null.
• Always specify void return types.
• Typed properties everywhere. No untyped public properties.
• Strict comparison always: $foo === null, in_array($x, $y, true).
• Casts over functions: (int)$foo not intval($foo).

Section Header Order

// Traits
// Const Properties
// Static Properties
// Public Properties
// Protected Properties
// Private Properties
// Public Methods
// Protected Methods
// Private Methods

Only include sections that have content. Blank line after the separator, before the first item.

Control Flow

• Happy path last. Handle error conditions first with early returns.
• Avoid else — use early returns instead.
• Prefer match over switch for value-mapping and returns. The official guideline is "don't use switch when a single if suffices"; switch remains acceptable where it reads more clearly (and is common in core).
• Always use curly brackets even for single statements.
• Separate compound conditions into nested if statements for readability.
• Named arguments when calling methods with 3+ parameters.

Date Handling

• Elements and element queries: craft\helpers\DateTimeHelper.
• Services (date arithmetic): Carbon\Carbon.
• Never mix both in the same class.

Database Conventions

• [[column]] quoting in Yii2 join conditions.
• addSelect() in beforePrepare() — safely additive.
• postDate and expiryDate in addSelect() and indexed on element tables.
• Db::parseParam() for query parameters. Db::parseDateParam() for dates.
• Foreign keys with explicit CASCADE / SET NULL behavior.

Naming Quick-Reference

For the complete naming reference including file structure conventions, read references/naming-conventions.md.

Verification Checklist

Before every commit:

1. ddev composer check-cs passes
2. ddev composer phpstan passes
3. Tests green
4. PHPDocs comp