How to setup PHP CodeSniffer that extend WordPress coding standards + autofix errors in VSCode?

Question

How to setup PHP CodeSniffer for project with personal rules that extend WordPress coding standards + autofix errors in VSCode on save?

I have installed CodeSniffer globally

composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer=*"

WordPress coding standards are installed inside theme folder (so inside project they are at /wp-content/themes/bideja/wpcs)

git clone -b master https://github.com/WordPress-Coding-Standards/WordPress-Coding-Standards.git wpcs

Inside theme folder I have created phpcs.xml which should inherit WordPress standards so I can customize it further

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="Bideja">
    <description>Sniffs</description>

    <config name="installed_paths" value="wpcs" />

    <arg value="s"/>

    <exclude-pattern>assets/*</exclude-pattern>
    <exclude-pattern>node_modules/*</exclude-pattern>
    <exclude-pattern>vendor/*</exclude-pattern>

    <rule ref="WordPress-VIP">
        <exclude name="Generic.Files.EndFileNewline.NotFound" />
        <exclude name="WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions.NotYoda" />
    </rule>

</ruleset>

In Bash terminal inside theme, I can scan pages for errors and fix them

phpcs page.php
phpbcf page.php 

But how can VSCode fix them on save? I get popup error:

phpcs: Referenced sniff "WordPress-VIP" does not exist

What should I place in User settings.json?

"phpcs.enable": true,
"phpcs.standard": "WordPress", // ?

I have tried setting

phpcs --config-set installed_paths wpcs

When I check installed standards with phpcs -i I can see that WordPress standards are listed

 The installed coding standards are MySource, PEAR, PSR1, PSR12, PSR2, Squiz, Zend, WordPress, WordPress-Core, WordPress-Docs, WordPress-Extra and WordPress-VIP

Also is CodeSniffer able to auto indent PHP and HTML or is that beyond of its capabilites? I am struggling with good indentation in VSCode

Lorraine

Answer 1

I have git cloned WordPress coding standards into C:/wamp64/www/tools/phpcs and I have created custom ruleset.xml in C:/wamp64/www/tools/phpcs/bideja

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="Bideja">

    <arg value="s"/>

    <exclude-pattern>assets/*</exclude-pattern>
    <exclude-pattern>node_modules/*</exclude-pattern>
    <exclude-pattern>vendor/*</exclude-pattern>

    <rule ref="WordPress">
        <exclude name="WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions.NotYoda" />
        <!-- exclude other stuff as you wish -->
    </rule>

</ruleset>

Install new standards

phpcs --config-set installed_paths C:/wamp64/www/tools/phpcs/wp-coding-standards/wpcs,C:/wamp64/www/tools/phpcs/bideja

Check if standards are installed

phpcs -i

Set default standard

phpcs --config-set default_standard bideja

Install phpcbf extension, add Environment variable for Path in Windows depending on your folder path

 C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Composer\vendor\bin

and modify User settings.json with correct path and name of your standard

"phpcbf.executablePath": "C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Roaming\\Composer\\vendor\\bin\\phpcbf.bat",
"phpcbf.executablePathWindows": "C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Roaming\\Composer\\vendor\\bin\\phpcbf.bat",
"phpcs.standard": "bideja",
"phpcbf.standard": "bideja",
"phpcs.enable": true,
"phpcbf.onsave": true,

I hope I didn't forget something as I messed around this for hours but finally now after saving file VSCode fixes what it can.

Lorraine

another setup would be using phpcs ./path/to/code --standard=./path/to/ruleset.xml in a composer.json script, instead of changing settings – Flynt