PHPMD (PHP Mess Detector) is a static analysis tool for PHP that detects potential problems in your code such as possible bugs, suboptimal code, overcomplicated expressions, and unused parameters, variables, methods, and classes.

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Files

PHPMD will run on files with the following extensions:
  • .php

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Features

PHPMD can detect various code quality issues including:
  • Clean Code Rules: Detects code smells and violations of clean code principles
  • Controversial Rules: Identifies potentially problematic code patterns
  • Design Rules: Finds design-related issues and architectural problems
  • Naming Rules: Checks for naming convention violations
  • Unused Code Rules: Detects unused variables, parameters, methods, and classes
  • Size Rules: Identifies overly complex methods and classes

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Review Mode Behavior

CodeRabbit’s review mode affects which PHPMD rules are applied:
  • Chill Mode: Only checks for unused code (unusedcode rule set)
  • Nitpick Mode: Checks all rule sets including clean code, code size, controversial rules, design issues, naming conventions, and unused code (cleancode,codesize,controversial,design,naming,unusedcode)