What is php-dev-core?

A foundation guide for writing PHP that is not tied to one framework. It covers code style, Composer packages, security, types, static analysis, and testing.

Use it when building reusable PHP packages or application code for Magento, Laravel, Symfony, or WordPress, including PSR-4/PSR-12, PHPStan, PHPCS, and secure data handling.

It gives PHP projects consistent rules for readable, safer code and helps catch errors before runtime.

php-dev-core — Skill for Claude Code and Codex by ddtcorex: A foundation guide for writing PHP that is not…

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods

npx agentmods add skills/ddtcorex/maestro-skills/php-dev-core

Any agent

npx skills add ddtcorex/maestro-skills --skill php-dev-core

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ddtcorex/maestro-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Or install maestro-skills, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 32 skills.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/ddtcorex/maestro-skills/php-dev-core.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/ddtcorex/maestro-skills/php-dev-core)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/ddtcorex/maestro-skills/php-dev-core"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/ddtcorex/maestro-skills/php-dev-core.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Per session 74 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.

When invoked 2,692 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.

Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.

Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.

Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

Model	Per session	Once invoked
Fable 5	$0.00074	$0.02692
Opus 5	$0.00037	$0.01346
Sonnet 5	$0.00015	$0.00538
Haiku 4.5	$0.00007	$0.00269

Measured 4d ago against content hash af3b61163896, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

php-dev-core scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 4d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/php-dev-core/SKILL.md · 272 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 272 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

PHP Developer Core

Foundation skill for framework-agnostic PHP. Covers coding standards, Composer, static analysis, security, and testing across Magento 2, Laravel, Symfony, and WordPress. Pair with govard-toolbox for container and environment commands (govard up, govard sh, govard audit). For framework-specific tooling see govard-laravel, govard-symfony, govard-wordpress, or magento2-dev-core for Magento DI and service contracts.

REQUIRED BACKGROUND: Load govard-toolbox first for environment lifecycle and audit matrix. This skill adds language-level patterns. Framework skills (govard-laravel, govard-symfony, govard-wordpress) depend on both govard-toolbox and php-dev-core; magento2-dev-core cross-references this skill for generic PHP and owns Magento-specific DI and plugins.

1. Coding Standards & Types

Every new PHP file MUST start with strict types:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

PSR-12 is the default. When framework conventions diverge, PSR-12 wins for generic code.

Rule	PSR-12	Notes
Opening tag	`<?php` then `declare(strict_types=1);`	Blank line after declare
Braces	Next line for classes/methods	Same line for controls
Visibility	Always explicit: `public`, `protected`, `private`	Include `readonly` where needed
Naming	Classes `PascalCase`, methods `camelCase`	Constants `UPPER_SNAKE`
Use grouping	Grouped `use` for same namespace	One `use` per line for clarity
Indentation	4 spaces, no tabs, LF	Line limit 120

PSR-4 autoloading is required. Map namespaces in composer.json:

{
  "autoload": {
    "psr-4": { "Vendor\\Package\\": "src/" }
  }
}

PHP 8.1-8.4 idioms to prefer:

readonly properties and readonly class for DTOs (8.1+), constructor promotion.
enum for closed sets instead of class constants (8.1+).
match over switch for exhaustive mapping; never for functions that always throw.
Intersection types (X&Y) and mixed where genuinely needed; avoid untyped parameters.
final classes by default; open only with documented reason.

Read the full file on GitHub · 272 lines

Files

What ships with it

3 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

4d ago First seen · 272 lines · 74 tokens per session scan A af3b61163896

Subscribe to this mod's changes

php-dev-core is a skill published in the GitHub repository ddtcorex/maestro-skills (4 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 74 tokens to every session and 2,692 once invoked, about $0.0004 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

Languages Security Writing and docs agent-skills ai-agent claude-code codex-plugin govard magento2

watch

File sentinel that monitors the working directory for changes and marker comments, then auto-triggers appropriate skills. Poll-based via git diff against the last scan commit. Writes intake items for batch processing and routes marker actions through /do. Use for automatic reactions to file changes; do NOT use for…

SethGammon/Citadel · 70 tokens

review

5-pass structured code review — correctness, security, performance, readability, consistency.

SethGammon/Citadel · 17 tokens

live-preview

Mid-build visual verification loop. Takes screenshots of components during construction, not just after. Catches visual regressions and invisible features before they compound. Requires Playwright or similar screenshot tool.

SethGammon/Citadel · 40 tokens

marshal

Meta-orchestrator that takes any direction — broad, specific, or vague — and autonomously chains skills and context into actionable work. Gathers context from codebase, docs, and memory. Only asks the user when it genuinely cannot proceed. Single-session orchestrator.

SethGammon/Citadel · 56 tokens

wiki

Markdown-first knowledge base where the LLM acts as librarian. Ingests raw sources, compiles and interlinks topic files, self-maintains an index. No vector DB or embeddings required -- uses LLM-native navigation over structured markdown up to 400K words.