Composer Command Cheat Sheet

Composer Initialization and Setup

• Initialize a New Project
  composer init
  Walks you through creating a new composer.json file.

• Install Dependencies
  composer install
  Installs all dependencies listed in composer.lock. If composer.lock doesn’t exist, it installs from composer.json and creates composer.lock.

Adding and Removing Packages

• Require a Package
  composer require <vendor/package>
  Installs a new package and adds it to composer.json.

• Remove a Package
  composer remove <vendor/package>
  Uninstalls a package and removes it from composer.json.

Updating Packages

• Update All Packages
  composer update
  Updates all packages to the latest versions allowed by composer.json and updates composer.lock.

• Update a Specific Package
  composer update <vendor/package>
  Updates only the specified package.

Viewing Package Information

• List Installed Packages
  composer show
  Shows all installed packages and their versions.

• Show Direct Dependencies
  composer show --direct
  Shows only the packages directly required in composer.json.

• View Detailed Info on a Package
  composer show <vendor/package>
  Displays detailed information about a specific package.

• Find Which Package Depends on Another
  composer depends <vendor/package>
  Shows which packages depend on a given package.

Autoloading

• Generate Autoload Files
  composer dump-autoload
  Rebuilds the autoload files without installing or updating packages.

• Optimize Autoload
  composer dump-autoload --optimize
  Optimizes autoload files for better performance in production.

Lock File Management

• Validate Composer Files
  composer validate
  Checks if composer.json and composer.lock are valid and properly formatted.

Miscellaneous Commands

• Check for Available Package Updates
  composer outdated
  Lists packages with newer versions available.

• Get Package Suggestions
  composer suggest
  Shows optional packages suggested by installed packages.

• View Package Funding Information
  composer fund
  Displays funding links for installed packages (e.g., GitHub Sponsors).

• Clear Composer Cache
  composer clear-cache
  Clears the Composer cache to free up space or fix issues with cached packages.

Using Different Environments

• Install Without Dev Dependencies
  composer install --no-dev
  Installs only the production dependencies, skipping any require-dev packages.

• Install With Dev Dependencies (default)
  composer install
  Installs both production and development dependencies.

Top 20 Popular Composer Packages

1. PHPUnit - Testing Framework

• Package: phpunit/phpunit
• Description: A popular testing framework for PHP applications.
• Install: composer require --dev phpunit/phpunit

2. Guzzle - HTTP Client

• Package: guzzlehttp/guzzle
• Description: A robust PHP HTTP client for making API requests.
• Install: composer require guzzlehttp/guzzle

3. Laravel Framework - Full-Stack PHP Framework

• Package: laravel/framework
• Description: A powerful MVC PHP framework for web applications.
• Install: composer require laravel/framework

4. Symfony Console - Console Applications

• Package: symfony/console
• Description: A library to build command-line applications.
• Install: composer require symfony/console

5. Carbon - Date and Time Handling

• Package: nesbot/carbon
• Description: A library for working with dates and times in PHP.
• Install: composer require nesbot/carbon

6. Monolog - Logging Library

• Package: monolog/monolog
• Description: A comprehensive logging tool for PHP.
• Install: composer require monolog/monolog

7. PHPMailer - Email Sending

• Package: phpmailer/phpmailer
• Description: A feature-rich email library for sending emails.
• Install: composer require phpmailer/phpmailer

8. Faker - Data Generation

• Package: fakerphp/faker
• Description: Generates fake data for testing and seeding databases.
• Install: composer require --dev fakerphp/faker

9. Doctrine ORM - Object-Relational Mapping

• Package: doctrine/orm
• Description: An ORM for PHP that provides data mapping for SQL.
• Install: composer require doctrine/orm

10. Predis - Redis Client

• Package: predis/predis
• Description: A PHP client for connecting to Redis.
• Install: composer require predis/predis

11. Intervention Image - Image Processing

• Package: intervention/image
• Description: A library for handling images in PHP.
• Install: composer require intervention/image

12. SwiftMailer - Email Library

• Package: swiftmailer/swiftmailer
• Description: Another popular library for sending emails.
• Install: composer require swiftmailer/swiftmailer

13. Respect Validation - Data Validation

• Package: respect/validation
• Description: A library for validating data using a fluent interface.
• Install: composer require respect/validation

14. Twig - Templating Engine

• Package: twig/twig
• Description: A popular templating engine for rendering HTML templates.
• Install: composer require twig/twig

15. Symfony Dotenv - Environment Variables

• Package: symfony/dotenv
• Description: Loads environment variables from a .env file.
• Install: composer require symfony/dotenv

16. League OAuth2 Client - OAuth2 Authentication

• Package: league/oauth2-client
• Description: A client for handling OAuth2 authentication.
• Install: composer require league/oauth2-client

17. PHP Dotenv - Environment Variables

• Package: vlucas/phpdotenv
• Description: A library to load environment variables from a .env file.
• Install: composer require vlucas/phpdotenv

18. Spatie Permission - Role and Permission Management

• Package: spatie/laravel-permission
• Description: A library to manage user roles and permissions in Laravel.
• Install: composer require spatie/laravel-permission

19. Barryvdh Laravel Debugbar - Debugging

• Package: barryvdh/laravel-debugbar
• Description: A debugging tool for Laravel applications.
• Install: composer require barryvdh/laravel-debugbar --dev

20. PHP Markdown - Markdown Parsing

• Package: michelf/php-markdown
• Description: A library for parsing and rendering Markdown.
• Install: composer require michelf/php-markdown