PHP-CS-Fixer vs PHP_CodeSniffer

Also Known As

TL;DR

Explanation

PHP_CodeSniffer (phpcs/phpcbf): detects violations with phpcs, fixes them with phpcbf. Supports PSR-1/2/12, custom sniffs, ignoring specific rules. PHP-CS-Fixer: declarative configuration, auto-fixes everything — designed for full automation. Typically: PHP-CS-Fixer for auto-formatting (run in CI --dry-run, run locally to fix), PHPStan/Psalm for static analysis, PHP_CodeSniffer for project-specific custom sniffs. Configure once in .php-cs-fixer.dist.php committed to the repo.

Common Misconception

Why It Matters

Common Mistakes

• Running PHP-CS-Fixer with --fix in CI — CI should check (--dry-run), not auto-fix; fixes go in a local pre-commit hook.
• Not committing .php-cs-fixer.dist.php — team members use different configs, creating style inconsistencies.
• Running on the whole codebase at once when starting — fix incrementally with --path-mode=intersection to avoid massive diffs.
• Not using Prettier for JS alongside PHP-CS-Fixer for PHP — style tools should cover all file types in the project.

Code Examples

// No style enforcement — review noise:
// PR comments:
// 'Please add spaces around operators'
// 'Missing blank line before return'
// 'Use single quotes for strings'
// 'Closing brace should be on its own line'
// 10 style comments on every PR — reviewer time wasted

# .php-cs-fixer.dist.php:
<?php
$finder = PhpCsFixer\Finder::create()->in(__DIR__ . '/src');
return (new PhpCsFixer\Config())
    ->setRules([
        '@PSR12' => true,
        '@PHP82Migration' => true,
        'array_syntax' => ['syntax' => 'short'],
        'ordered_imports' => ['sort_algorithm' => 'alpha'],
    ])
    ->setFinder($finder);

# CI check:
php vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix --dry-run --diff

# Pre-commit hook: auto-fix locally
php vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix

References

• ↗ https://github.com/PHP-CS-Fixer/PHP-CS-Fixer

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