README

Expert patterns for modernizing PHP applications to PHP 8.x with type safety, Symfony best practices, and static analysis compliance.

Features

PHP 8.x Features: Constructor property promotion, readonly properties and classes, named arguments, enums and match expressions, attributes (replacing annotations), union and intersection types, nullsafe operator
Type Safety Patterns: Generic collection typing via PHPDoc, ArrayTypeHelper for type-safe array operations, strict typing enforcement, PHPStan level 9+ compliance, runtime type validation
Symfony Integration: Dependency injection patterns, service configuration (YAML → PHP), event dispatcher and PSR-14, form handling modernization, security component updates
Static Analysis: PHPStan level 9 configuration and compliance strategies
Migration Strategies: Version upgrade planning and systematic modernization approaches

Installation

Option 1: Via Netresearch Marketplace (Recommended)

/plugin marketplace add netresearch/claude-code-marketplace

Option 2: Download Release

Download the latest release and extract to ~/.claude/skills/php-modernization-skill/

Option 3: Composer (PHP projects)

composer require netresearch/agent-php-modernization-skill

Requires: netresearch/composer-agent-skill-plugin

Usage

This skill is automatically triggered when:

Modernizing PHP codebases to PHP 8.1/8.2/8.3
Implementing type safety and strict typing
Adopting Symfony best practices
Achieving PHPStan level 9+ compliance
Upgrading from older PHP versions
Implementing generic collection patterns

Example queries:

"Modernize this PHP class to PHP 8.2"
"Add strict type safety with PHPStan level 9"
"Convert YAML service configuration to PHP"
"Implement readonly class with constructor promotion"
"Create type-safe array helper with generics"

Structure

php-modernization-skill/
├── SKILL.md                              # Skill metadata and core patterns
├── references/
│   ├── php8-features.md                  # PHP 8.0-8.4 feature adoption patterns
│   ├── type-safety.md                    # Type system maximization strategies
│   ├── symfony-patterns.md               # Modern Symfony architecture
│   ├── phpstan-compliance.md             # Static analysis configuration
│   └── migration-strategies.md           # Version upgrade planning
└── scripts/
    └── verify-php-project.sh             # Verification script

Expertise Areas

PHP 8.x Features

Constructor property promotion
Readonly properties and classes
Named arguments
Enums and match expressions
Attributes (replacing annotations)
Union and intersection types
Nullsafe operator

Type Safety Patterns

Generic collection typing via PHPDoc
ArrayTypeHelper for type-safe array operations
Strict typing enforcement
PHPStan level 9+ compliance
Runtime type validation

Symfony Integration

Dependency injection patterns
Service configuration (YAML → PHP)
Event dispatcher and PSR-14
Form handling modernization
Security component updates

Migration Checklist

PHP Version Upgrade

Update composer.json PHP requirement
Enable strict_types in all files
Replace annotations with attributes
Convert to constructor property promotion
Use readonly where applicable
Replace switch with match expressions
Adopt enums for status/type constants
Update PHPStan to highest stable level

Type Safety Enhancement

Add return types to all methods
Add parameter types to all methods
Use union types instead of mixed
Implement ArrayTypeHelper for collections
Add @template annotations for generics
Remove @var annotations where inferrable
Configure PHPStan strict rules

Related Skills

security-audit-skill: Security patterns for PHP applications
typo3-testing-skill: PHPUnit patterns (applicable to any PHP project)

License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.

Credits

Developed and maintained by Netresearch DTT GmbH.

Made with ❤️ for Open Source by Netresearch

netresearch / agent-php-modernization

Maintainers

Details