The steps below cover how to set up PHP CodeSniffer in PhpStorm with WordPress Coding Standards rulesets. This can be very helpful for identifying violations of the WP coding standards as you write code, so you can fix them on-the-spot. This guide assumes you’re on Mac OS X or Linux, are using Vagrant for local development, have Composer installed and are comfortable using the command line. A video walkthrough of these steps is also available here.
1. Set up PHP Remote Interpreter
Go to PhpStorm Preferences > Languages & Frameworks > PHP, then click on the […] button. Input these settings:
- SSH Credentials radio button
- Your host IP address instead of the one shown (you can get this by running
ping example.devfor one of your dev sites on the command line) vagrantfor both the User name and Password/usr/bin/phpfor the PHP interpreter path
Then select the interpreter you just created:
2. Install PHP CodeSniffer
composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer=*"
Then make sure a phpcs alias is accessible in the ~/.composer/vendor/bin/ directory.
3. Install WordPress standards rulesets
composer create-project wp-coding-standards/wpcs:dev-master --no-dev
Then make sure the WP standards are accessible in the ~/.composer/wpcs/ directory.
4. Add WordPress ruleset path to PHP_CodeSniffer configuration
cd ~/.composer/vendor/bin
phpcs --config-set installed_paths ~/.composer/wpcs
5. Add phpcs to your PATH
Open ~/.bash_profile (or ~/.zshrc if you use ZSH).
Paste in: PATH=$PATH:~/.composer/vendor/bin.
Now you should be able to cd into any WP root directory and run phpcs --standard=WordPress wp-load.php. If you see output like this, you’ll know phpcs is working properly:
6. Configure PHP CodeSniffer
In PhpStorm, go to Preferences > Languages & Frameworks > PHP > Code Sniffer.
Select this file: ~/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs.
7. Configure PHP CodeSniffer as a PhpStorm Inspection
In PhpStorm, go to Preferences > Editor > Inspections.
Go to PHP > PHP Code Sniffer Validation and check the checkbox.
Select a WordPress coding standard from the dropdown menu and save it.
Try it Out
Now try typing something that is valid PHP, but is a violation of the WordPress Coding Standards, such as:
if(true){echo 'I must have forgotten a few spaces';}
PhpStorm should let you know that it’s a violation by giving it a squiggly underline. You can hover over it and get a popup with more info indicating what’s wrong with it. Then you can fix it manually, or use Code > Reformat Code (cmd+option+L on Mac) to automatically reformat the code – just make sure you’ve set the predefined style to WordPress in PhpStorm’s Preferences > Editor > Code Style > PHP > Set From > Predefined Style > WordPress.
Going Forward
To enable PHP CodeSniffer with the WP Coding Standards for any future projects, you just need to follow steps #1 and #7 above.
Resources
JetBrains PHP CodeSniffer Guide:
https://www.jetbrains.com/help/phpstorm/using-php-code-sniffer.html
PHP CodeSniffer:
https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer
WordPress Coding Standards rulesets:
https://github.com/WordPress-Coding-Standards/WordPress-Coding-Standards
Jason Boyle’s guide – provides additional details on several of the steps in this post:
http://jason-boyle.com/phpstorm-php-codesniffer-wordpress-coding-standards/
Written by Kellen Mace, who lives in Rochester Hills, MI and builds cool stuff on the web. About Kellen // Follow him on Twitter →