PHP Plugin Agents Guide

Comprehensive guide for all PHP specialized agents available in the Developer Kit PHP Plugin.

Overview

The PHP Plugin provides 5 specialized agents for PHP development. Each agent has deep expertise in specific areas and uses the sonnet model for optimal performance.

Agent Summary

Agent Details

php-code-review-expert

File: agents/php-code-review-expert.md

Reviews PHP code for quality, standards compliance, and best practices.

When to use:

• Before committing PHP code to version control
• During pull request reviews
• When identifying code quality issues
• When ensuring PSR standards compliance

Key capabilities:

• PSR-4 and PSR-12 compliance checking
• Modern PHP 8.x features utilization
• Anti-pattern detection
• Framework best practices (Laravel, Symfony)
• Code complexity analysis

php-refactor-expert

File: agents/php-refactor-expert.md

Refactors PHP code using clean code principles and modern PHP patterns.

When to use:

• When improving existing PHP code
• When migrating legacy PHP to modern patterns
• When reducing code complexity
• When applying design patterns

Key capabilities:

• SOLID principles application
• Design pattern implementation
• PHP 8.3+ features migration
• Code complexity reduction
• Legacy code modernization

php-security-expert

File: agents/php-security-expert.md

Security auditing and vulnerability assessment for PHP applications.

When to use:

• Before deploying PHP applications to production
• When auditing authentication and authorization
• When reviewing third-party dependencies
• When ensuring OWASP compliance

Key capabilities:

• OWASP Top 10 vulnerability detection
• Authentication and authorization review
• Dependency vulnerability scanning (CVEs)
• Cryptographic practice validation
• Laravel/Symfony security patterns

php-software-architect-expert

File: agents/php-software-architect-expert.md

Software architecture design and assessment for PHP applications.

When to use:

• When designing new PHP applications
• When planning refactoring efforts
• When assessing application scalability
• When reviewing architectural decisions

Key capabilities:

• Clean Architecture design
• Domain-Driven Design patterns
• Hexagonal Architecture (Ports & Adapters)
• Package structure analysis
• Scalability assessment

wordpress-development-expert

File: agents/wordpress-development-expert.md

WordPress development specialist for themes, plugins, and custom solutions.

When to use:

• When developing WordPress themes
• When creating WordPress plugins
• When working with Gutenberg blocks
• When integrating WordPress APIs

Key capabilities:

• WordPress theme development
• WordPress plugin development
• Gutenberg block development
• WordPress hooks and filters
• REST API integration
• Custom post types and taxonomies

Agent Selection Guide

Use this table to select the right agent for your task:

How to Invoke Agents

Automatic Selection

Claude automatically selects the appropriate agent based on your task context. Simply describe what you need:

Review my PHP authentication code for security issues

Claude will automatically invoke php-security-expert for security-related tasks.

Direct Invocation

You can explicitly request a specific agent:

Ask the php-code-review-expert to review the User class

Via Task Tool

When creating background tasks, specify the agent:

Use the php-refactor-expert agent to refactor the Order service

Integration with Skills

Agents work alongside skills for comprehensive development:

See Also

• Architecture Skills Guide - Clean Architecture and DDD patterns
• WordPress Sage Theme Skill - Sage framework details
• Core Agent Guide - All agents across plugins