README

Modern PHP package skeleton with strict quality rules and best practices baked in. Supports PHP 8.4 and 8.5.

Start your next PHP package with confidence. This skeleton comes pre-configured with industry-standard tools for static analysis, testing, and code quality — and includes an interactive installer that configures everything for you.

Features

Tool	Purpose
Pest	Elegant testing framework with 100% coverage requirement
PHPStan	Static analysis at maximum level
Laravel Pint	Opinionated PHP code style fixer
Rector	Automated code refactoring
PHP CodeSniffer	Coding standard enforcement
Security Advisories	Dependency vulnerability checking
Interactive Installer	Automatic project configuration

Installation

composer create-project pekral/php-skeleton my-package

The interactive installer will guide you through the configuration process.

Interactive Installer

When you run composer create-project, an interactive installer automatically starts and helps you configure your new package.

What the Installer Does

Collects Project Information
- Package name (vendor/package format)
- Root PSR-4 namespace (auto-suggested from package name)
- Test namespace (auto-suggested as {Namespace}Test)
- Display name (auto-suggested from package name)
- GitHub repository URL (auto-suggested from package name)
Optional: Project Specification
- Paste multi-line project specification text
- Creates SPEC.md file (automatically added to .gitignore)
- End input with two empty lines or skip with Enter
Performs Automatic Configuration
- Updates composer.json with your package details
- Replaces namespaces across all PHP files
- Clears README.md and CHANGELOG.md for your content
- Updates LICENSE with your information
- Cleans up phpstan.neon (removes build-package path)
- Cleans up rector.php (removes build-package path)
- Moves all dependencies to require-dev (except PHP)
- Removes skeleton-specific scripts and autoload entries
Creates Example Files
- src/{ClassName}.php — Example class with greet() method
- tests/Unit/{ClassName}Test.php — Pest test for the example class
Runs Quality Pipeline
- Installs dependencies with composer update
- Runs composer fix to apply code style fixes
- Runs composer check to verify all quality checks pass
Optional Features
- GitHub Actions — Keep or remove CI/CD workflows
- Cursor Rules — Install AI coding assistant rules via pekral/cursor-rules
- Git Repository — Initialize with custom branch name
- Push to Remote — Force push initial commit to GitHub (converts HTTPS to SSH URL)

Installer Flow Example

 ⚡   PHP Skeleton
 Project Configuration

📝  Package Configuration
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌
   Package name (vendor/package): acme/my-package
   Root namespace [Acme\MyPackage]: 
   Test namespace [Acme\MyPackageTest]: 
   Display name [My Package]: 
   GitHub URL [https://github.com/acme/my-package]: 

📋 Review Configuration
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌
   GitHub          https://github.com/acme/my-package
   Name            My Package
   Namespace       Acme\MyPackage
   Package         acme/my-package
   Tests           Acme\MyPackageTest

   Proceed? [yes]: 

⚡  Processing Files
   ✓ Updated: composer.json
   ✓ Updated: README.md
   ✓ Created src/MyPackage.php
   ✓ Created tests/Unit/MyPackageTest.php

🚀  GitHub Actions
   Install GitHub Actions? [yes]: 

📋  Cursor Rules
   Install cursor rules? [yes]: 

📦  Git Repository
   Initialize git? [yes]: 
   Default branch [main]: 
   ✓ Initialized with initial commit

 ✓   Done!
     Your project is ready.

Cancellation & Cleanup

If you press Ctrl+C during installation, the installer will:

Display a cancellation message
Automatically delete the partially created project directory
Exit cleanly

Available Commands

Run All Quality Checks

composer check

This runs the complete quality pipeline:

Composer normalize
PHP CodeSniffer
Laravel Pint
Rector
PHPStan
Security audit
Tests with 100% coverage

Apply All Fixes

composer fix

Automatically fixes code style and applies refactoring:

Composer normalize
Rector refactoring
Laravel Pint formatting
PHP CodeSniffer fixes

Individual Commands

Command	Description
`composer test:coverage`	Run tests with coverage (min 100%)
`composer analyse`	Run PHPStan static analysis
`composer pint-check`	Check code style
`composer pint-fix`	Fix code style
`composer rector-check`	Check for refactoring opportunities
`composer rector-fix`	Apply automated refactoring
`composer phpcs-check`	Check coding standards
`composer phpcs-fix`	Fix coding standard violations
`composer composer-validate`	Validate composer.json schema
`composer composer-normalize-check`	Check composer.json normalization
`composer composer-normalize-fix`	Normalize composer.json
`composer security-audit`	Check for vulnerable dependencies

Project Structure

After installation, your project will have:

my-package/
├── .github/
│   ├── dependabot.yml             # Dependabot (Composer + GitHub Actions)
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── checkers.yml           # Quality checks and security scanning
│       ├── release.yml            # Release automation
│       ├── stale.yml              # Stale issue management
│       └── update-changelog.yml   # Changelog automation
├── docs/                          # Documentation folder
├── src/
│   └── MyPackage.php              # Example class (your namespace)
├── tests/
│   └── Unit/
│       └── MyPackageTest.php      # Example Pest test
├── .gitignore                     # Git ignore rules
├── composer.json                  # Dependencies and scripts
├── phpstan.neon                   # PHPStan configuration (level max)
├── phpunit.xml                    # PHPUnit/Pest configuration
├── pint.json                      # Laravel Pint rules
├── rector.php                     # Rector configuration
├── ruleset.xml                    # PHP CodeSniffer rules
├── CHANGELOG.md                   # Version history (empty)
├── README.md                      # Project readme (empty)
└── LICENSE                        # MIT License

Configuration

PHPStan

Static analysis runs at maximum level with additional rules:

Deprecation rules
Mockery extension

# phpstan.neon
parameters:
    level: max
    treatPhpDocTypesAsCertain: false

Testing

Tests use Pest v4 with strict coverage requirements:

# Runs with 100% minimum coverage using PCOV
composer test:coverage

Code Style

Laravel Pint enforces PSR-12 with additional rules for clean, consistent code.

Rector

Automated refactoring uses rules from pekral/rector-rules package.

GitHub Actions

The skeleton includes comprehensive CI/CD workflows:

Workflow	Purpose
`checkers.yml`	Quality checks and security scanning on PRs, pushes to master, and weekly schedule
Dependabot	Automated dependency updates (Composer + GitHub Actions)
`release.yml`	Release automation
`stale.yml`	Marks and closes stale issues/PRs
`update-changelog.yml`	Automated changelog updates

All workflows run on PHP 8.4 and 8.5 (matrix).

Requirements

PHP 8.4 or 8.5 (both versions are supported and tested in CI)
Composer 2.x

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guide before submitting a Pull Request.

License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.

Author

Petr Král

_{Built with care for the PHP community}

pekral / php-skeleton

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