# PHP_CodeSniffer > [!NOTE] > This package is the official continuation of the now abandoned [PHP_CodeSniffer package which was created by Squizlabs](https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer). ## About PHP_CodeSniffer is a set of two PHP scripts; the main `phpcs` script that tokenizes PHP, JavaScript and CSS files to detect violations of a defined coding standard, and a second `phpcbf` script to automatically correct coding standard violations. PHP_CodeSniffer is an essential development tool that ensures your code remains clean and consistent. ## Requirements PHP_CodeSniffer requires PHP version 5.4.0 or greater, although individual sniffs may have additional requirements such as external applications and scripts. See the [Configuration Options manual page](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/wiki/Configuration-Options) for a list of these requirements. If you're using PHP_CodeSniffer as part of a team, or you're running it on a [CI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration) server, you may want to configure your project's settings [using a configuration file](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/wiki/Advanced-Usage#using-a-default-configuration-file). ## Installation The easiest way to get started with PHP_CodeSniffer is to download the Phar files for each of the commands: ```bash # Download using curl curl -OL https://phars.phpcodesniffer.com/phpcs.phar curl -OL https://phars.phpcodesniffer.com/phpcbf.phar # Or download using wget wget https://phars.phpcodesniffer.com/phpcs.phar wget https://phars.phpcodesniffer.com/phpcbf.phar # Then test the downloaded PHARs php phpcs.phar -h php phpcbf.phar -h ``` These Phars are signed with the official Release key for PHPCS with the fingerprint `689D AD77 8FF0 8760 E046 228B A978 2203 05CD 5C32`. ### Composer If you use Composer, you can install PHP_CodeSniffer system-wide with the following command: ```bash composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer=*" ``` Make sure you have the composer bin dir in your PATH. The default value is `~/.composer/vendor/bin/`, but you can check the value that you need to use by running `composer global config bin-dir --absolute`. Or alternatively, include a dependency for `squizlabs/php_codesniffer` in your `composer.json` file. For example: ```json { "require-dev": { "squizlabs/php_codesniffer": "^3.0" } } ``` You will then be able to run PHP_CodeSniffer from the vendor bin directory: ```bash ./vendor/bin/phpcs -h ./vendor/bin/phpcbf -h ``` ### Phive If you use Phive, you can install PHP_CodeSniffer as a project tool using the following commands: ```bash phive install --trust-gpg-keys 689DAD778FF08760E046228BA978220305CD5C32 phpcs phive install --trust-gpg-keys 689DAD778FF08760E046228BA978220305CD5C32 phpcbf ``` You will then be able to run PHP_CodeSniffer from the `tools` directory: ```bash ./tools/phpcs -h ./tools/phpcbf -h ``` ### Git Clone You can also download the PHP_CodeSniffer source and run the `phpcs` and `phpcbf` commands directly from the Git clone: ```bash git clone https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer.git cd PHP_CodeSniffer php bin/phpcs -h php bin/phpcbf -h ``` ## Getting Started The default coding standard used by PHP_CodeSniffer is the PEAR coding standard. To check a file against the PEAR coding standard, simply specify the file's location: ```bash phpcs /path/to/code/myfile.php ``` Or if you wish to check an entire directory you can specify the directory location instead of a file. ```bash phpcs /path/to/code-directory ``` If you wish to check your code against the PSR-12 coding standard, use the `--standard` command line argument: ```bash phpcs --standard=PSR12 /path/to/code-directory ``` If PHP_CodeSniffer finds any coding standard errors, a report will be shown after running the command. Full usage information and example reports are available on the [usage page](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/wiki/Usage). ## Documentation The documentation for PHP_CodeSniffer is available on the [GitHub wiki](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/wiki). ## Issues Bug reports and feature requests can be submitted on the [GitHub Issue Tracker](https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHP_CodeSniffer/issues). ## Contributing See [CONTRIBUTING.md](.github/CONTRIBUTING.md) for information. ## Versioning PHP_CodeSniffer uses a `MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH` version number format. The `MAJOR` version is incremented when: - backwards-incompatible changes are made to how the `phpcs` or `phpcbf` commands are used, or - backwards-incompatible changes are made to the `ruleset.xml` format, or - backwards-incompatible changes are made to the API used by sniff developers, or - custom PHP_CodeSniffer token types are removed, or - existing sniffs are removed from PHP_CodeSniffer entirely The `MINOR` version is incremented when: - new backwards-compatible features are added to the `phpcs` and `phpcbf` commands, or - backwards-compatible changes are made to the `ruleset.xml` format, or - backwards-compatible changes are made to the API used by sniff developers, or - new sniffs are added to an included standard, or - existing sniffs are removed from an included standard > NOTE: Backwards-compatible changes to the API used by sniff developers will allow an existing sniff to continue running without producing fatal errors but may not result in the sniff reporting the same errors as it did previously without changes being required. The `PATCH` version is incremented when: - backwards-compatible bug fixes are made > NOTE: As PHP_CodeSniffer exists to report and fix issues, most bugs are the result of coding standard errors being incorrectly reported or coding standard errors not being reported when they should be. This means that the messages produced by PHP_CodeSniffer, and the fixes it makes, are likely to be different between PATCH versions.