Using the stubs in an IDE

A module developed outside a Dolibarr installation knows none of the core classes: no completion on $object->fetch(, no navigation to CommonObject, and "unknown class" warnings everywhere. The stubs fill that gap.

The rule: one version at a time

Add a single version folder to the IDE, the one of the lowest version your module supports, for example dolibarr-18/.

If the IDE sees several versions, it finds every class twice or three times. PhpStorm then reports Multiple definitions exist for class, and go-to-declaration offers you a list instead of going there. With Composer, all 15 versions are in vendor/: you therefore have to exclude the package from indexing and add a single version (see below).

The phpstan/dolibarr-core.stub file is for PHPStan only: do not add it to the IDE.

The simplest is a partial clone outside the module, limited to one version:

git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/rycks/dolibarr-stubs-all.git ~/dolibarr-stubs-all
git -C ~/dolibarr-stubs-all sparse-checkout set dolibarr-18

PhpStorm

1. Open Settings > PHP.
2. In the Include Path tab, click + and choose ~/dolibarr-stubs-all/dolibarr-18.
3. Confirm. PhpStorm indexes the folder: completion and navigation work as soon as indexing is over.

The folder shows up under External Libraries in the project view. To switch versions, replace this path with another dolibarr-NN folder.

If the stubs are installed with Composer, right-click vendor/caprel/dolibarr-stubs-all in the project view, then Mark Directory as > Excluded. Then add one version folder through the Include Path as above, from a clone outside the project.

VS Code with Intelephense

Intelephense reads external folders from the intelephense.environment.includePaths setting. In the .vscode/settings.json of the module:

{
    "intelephense.environment.includePaths": [
        "/home/you/dolibarr-stubs-all/dolibarr-18"
    ]
}

The path can be absolute, or relative to the folder opened in VS Code. Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window) or run Intelephense: Index workspace to apply the change.

If the stubs are installed with Composer, exclude the package with intelephense.files.exclude. This setting replaces the default list instead of extending it: copy the default patterns before adding yours.

{
    "intelephense.files.exclude": [
        "**/.git/**",
        "**/.svn/**",
        "**/.hg/**",
        "**/CVS/**",
        "**/.DS_Store/**",
        "**/node_modules/**",
        "**/bower_components/**",
        "**/vendor/**/{Tests,tests}/**",
        "**/.history/**",
        "**/vendor/**/vendor/**",
        "**/vendor/caprel/dolibarr-stubs-all/**"
    ]
}

This default list is the one of Intelephense 1.18. Then add one version folder through includePaths, from a clone outside the project.

The targeted PHP version is set with intelephense.environment.phpVersion (for example "7.4.0"). Without this setting, Intelephense suggests recent PHP functions that your lowest version may not know.

When the stubs are useless

If you develop the module inside a full Dolibarr installation, in htdocs/custom/mymodule/, and open the whole htdocs/ in the IDE, it already indexes the real sources. Do not add the stubs on top: every class would exist twice.

The stubs remain useful in that case for PHPStan, which analyses faster and without depending on the local installation.

Next: Known pitfalls.