phpstan

Analyze one or more directories

$ phpstan analyse [path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2 ...]

$ phpstan analyse [path/to/directory] [[-c|--configuration]] [path/to/config]

$ phpstan analyse [path/to/directory] [[-l|--level]] [level]

$ phpstan analyse [path/to/directory] [[-a|--autoload-file]] [path/to/autoload_file]

$ phpstan analyse [path/to/directory] --memory-limit [memory_limit]

$ phpstan analyse --help

phpstan analyse [paths] [OPTIONS]
phpstan generate-baseline [file] [paths] [OPTIONS]
phpstan clear-result-cache
phpstan init

--configuration | -c <file>
    Path to the phpstan.neon configuration file.

--level | -l <level>
    Defines the rule level for analysis (0-9 or 'max'). Higher levels mean stricter checks.

--error-format <format>
    Specifies the output format for errors (e.g., 'raw', 'pretty', 'checkstyle', 'json').

--memory-limit <limit>
    Sets the PHP memory limit for the analysis process (e.g., '512M', '-1' for no limit).

--no-progress
    Disables the progress bar during analysis, useful for CI/CD environments.

--clear-result-cache
    Clears the analysis result cache before running analysis.

--generate-baseline <file>
    Generates a baseline file to ignore existing errors, allowing new errors to be tracked for future code.

phpstan is a static analysis tool for PHP that focuses on finding bugs in your code without actually running it. It works by analyzing the abstract syntax tree (AST) of your PHP files and performing deep type checking. This helps developers catch potential errors, such as incorrect type usage, undefined variables, or uncalled methods, early in the development cycle.

By integrating phpstan into a continuous integration (CI) pipeline, teams can significantly improve code quality, reduce runtime errors, and ensure better adherence to coding standards. It supports various levels of strictness, allowing projects to gradually adopt stricter analysis.

phpstan can be memory and CPU intensive on large codebases. Its effectiveness depends on the quality of type hints and PHPDoc annotations in the code. Configuring phpstan for complex projects, especially with custom extensions or dynamic code, can sometimes be challenging and may require fine-tuning to avoid false positives or negatives.

phpstan provides a system of analysis "levels" from 0 to 9 (and 'max'). Level 0 performs basic syntax checks, while level 9 (or 'max') enforces the strictest possible type checks and best practices. This allows projects to gradually increase their code quality checks without being overwhelmed by a large number of errors initially.

phpstan uses a configuration file, typically named phpstan.neon or phpstan.neon.dist, written in NEON format. This file allows users to define paths to analyze, exclude specific files, configure extensions, set analysis levels, and customize various other aspects of the analysis process.

phpstan was created by Ondrej Mirtes and first released in 2016. It quickly gained traction in the PHP community due to its comprehensive type analysis capabilities, which were more advanced than existing static analysis tools at the time. Its continuous development, community contributions, and the introduction of "levels" for gradual adoption have cemented its position as a leading tool for ensuring code quality in PHP projects.

php(1), composer(1), phpunit(1), phan(1), psalm(1)