PHP Linters — VS Code Extension

A Visual Studio Code extension that runs PHP_CodeSniffer and PHPStan in your current workspace and displays the results directly in the sidebar, with one-click navigation to every error.

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Features

• Two dedicated views in the activity bar sidebar: one for PHPCS, one for PHPStan
• File tree: only files containing errors or warnings are displayed
• Error details: each file node is expandable to list all its violations
• Direct navigation: clicking a file opens it in the editor; clicking an error opens it at the exact line (and column)
• Run on save: option to automatically re-run the analysis whenever a PHP file is saved

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Installation

From the VSIX file (recommended)

Download the latest phpcs-vs-ext-x.x.x.vsix from the Releases page, then install it in one of the following ways:

Via the VS Code command palette:

1. Open the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Run Extensions: Install from VSIX…
3. Select the downloaded .vsix file

Via the terminal:

code --install-extension phpcs-vs-ext-0.1.0.vsix

From source

git clone https://github.com/Honemo/Phpcs-vs-ext.git
cd Phpcs-vs-ext
npm install
npx @vscode/vsce package
code --install-extension phpcs-vs-ext-0.1.0.vsix

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Requirements

Tool	Installation
PHP_CodeSniffer	composer global require squizlabs/php_codesniffer or vendor/bin/phpcs
PHPStan	composer global require phpstan/phpstan or vendor/bin/phpstan

The commands must be available in your PATH or via vendor/bin/ at the workspace root.

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Usage

1 — Open a PHP project

Open any folder containing PHP files in VS Code (File > Open Folder…). The extension activates automatically.

2 — Access the sidebar

Click the PHP Linters icon in the activity bar (left side of the window). Two panels appear:

• PHPCS Results — violations reported by PHP_CodeSniffer
• PHPStan Results — errors reported by PHPStan

3 — Run an analysis

Each panel has its own toolbar with three action buttons:

PHPCS panel:

Button	Icon	Action
Run	▶	Launch the analysis
Fix	⚡	Auto-fix violations using PHPCBF
Clear	⊗	Reset the panel and discard current results

PHPStan panel:

Button	Icon	Action
Run	▶	Launch the analysis
Clear	⊗	Reset the panel and discard current results

Click ▶ in either panel to start the corresponding tool. The results appear within seconds once the command completes.

4 — Read the results

The results are displayed as a file tree. Only files that contain at least one error or warning are listed.

📁 src/Controller/HomeController.php       3 errors
   ├ 12:5   Missing doc comment for function index()
   ├ 27:1   Line exceeds 120 characters
   └ 34:9   Unused variable $data

📁 src/Model/User.php                      1 error
   └ 8:14   Missing member variable doc comment

Each file node shows the total number of violations. Click the arrow to expand or collapse it.

5 — Navigate to an error

Click target	Result
A file row	Opens the file in the editor
An error row	Opens the file and moves the cursor to the exact line and column

This lets you jump directly from a violation in the list to the offending line in your code, without any manual searching.

6 — Run on save (optional)

Enable automatic re-analysis whenever you save a PHP file by activating the Run on Save option in the settings (see Configuration below). This keeps the results panel always up to date as you work.

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Configuration

Open File > Preferences > Settings and search for phpcs-vs-ext to access all options.

Setting	Default	Description
phpcs-vs-ext.command	phpcs --report=json .	Full PHPCS command. Must include --report=json.
phpcs-vs-ext.phpcsfix	vendor/bin/phpcbf --report=json .	Command used to auto-fix issues via PHPCBF.
phpcs-vs-ext.runOnSave	false	Re-run PHPCS automatically on every PHP file save.
phpcs-vs-ext.phpstanCommand	vendor/bin/phpstan analyse --error-format=json --no-progress	Full PHPStan command. Must include --error-format=json.
phpcs-vs-ext.phpstan.runOnSave	false	Re-run PHPStan automatically on every PHP file save.

The commands run from the workspace root folder. Make sure the binaries are reachable either via vendor/bin/ or your system PATH.

Custom command examples

// WordPress coding standard
"phpcs-vs-ext.command": "vendor/bin/phpcs --standard=WordPress --report=json ."

// PHPStan on a specific level and folder
"phpcs-vs-ext.phpstanCommand": "vendor/bin/phpstan analyse --level=6 --error-format=json --no-progress src/"

// Global PHPCS binary targeting a subfolder
"phpcs-vs-ext.command": "phpcs --report=json src/"

// Using a phpstan.neon config file
"phpcs-vs-ext.phpstanCommand": "vendor/bin/phpstan analyse --error-format=json --no-progress --configuration=phpstan.neon"

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Development

git clone https://github.com/Honemo/Phpcs-vs-ext.git
cd Phpcs-vs-ext
npm install

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

The TypeScript watcher starts automatically via the default build task.

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License

MIT