PSR Overview Knowledge

What is PSR?

PSR (PHP Standards Recommendations) are specifications published by the PHP Framework Interoperability Group (PHP-FIG). They establish common standards for PHP code to ensure interoperability between frameworks and libraries.

Accepted PSRs Summary

PSR Categories

Coding Style (PSR-1, PSR-12)

Standards for writing clean, consistent PHP code.

Autoloading (PSR-4)

Standard for autoloading classes from file paths.

Namespace Prefix → Base Directory
App\             → src/

FQCN                          → File Path
App\Domain\User\Entity\User   → src/Domain/User/Entity/User.php

HTTP (PSR-7, PSR-15, PSR-17, PSR-18)

Standards for HTTP messages, handlers, factories, and clients.

RequestInterface

ResponseInterface

StreamInterface

MiddlewareInterface

RequestHandlerInterface

RequestFactoryInterface

ResponseFactoryInterface

ClientInterface

PSR-17 (Factory) → PSR-7 (Message) → PSR-15 (Handler) → PSR-7 (Response)
                                          ↓
                                   PSR-18 (Client)

Caching (PSR-6, PSR-16)

Standards for caching implementations.

CacheItemPoolInterface

CacheItemInterface

CacheInterface

Logging (PSR-3)

Standard for logging libraries.

interface LoggerInterface {
    public function emergency(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function alert(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function critical(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function error(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function warning(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function notice(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function info(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function debug(string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
    public function log(mixed $level, string|\Stringable $message, array $context = []): void;
}

DI Container (PSR-11)

Standard for dependency injection containers.

interface ContainerInterface {
    public function get(string $id): mixed;
    public function has(string $id): bool;
}

Events (PSR-14)

Standard for event dispatching.

interface EventDispatcherInterface {
    public function dispatch(object $event): object;
}

interface ListenerProviderInterface {
    public function getListenersForEvent(object $event): iterable;
}

interface StoppableEventInterface {
    public function isPropagationStopped(): bool;
}

Hypermedia (PSR-13)

Standard for hypermedia links (HATEOAS).

interface LinkInterface {
    public function getHref(): string;
    public function isTemplated(): bool;
    public function getRels(): array;
    public function getAttributes(): array;
}

Time (PSR-20)

Standard for clock abstraction.

interface ClockInterface {
    public function now(): DateTimeImmutable;
}

When to Use Each PSR

Decision Matrix

Common Combinations

PHP Package Implementations

PSR-3: Logger

monolog/monolog

psr/log

PSR-4: Autoloader

PSR-6: Cache

symfony/cache

cache/filesystem-adapter

PSR-7/PSR-17: HTTP

guzzlehttp/psr7

nyholm/psr7

laminas/laminas-diactoros

PSR-11: Container

php-di/php-di

league/container

pimple/pimple

PSR-14: Event Dispatcher

symfony/event-dispatcher

league/event

PSR-15: HTTP Handlers

middlewares/utils

relay/relay

PSR-18: HTTP Client

guzzlehttp/guzzle

symfony/http-client

PSR-20: Clock

psr/clock

symfony/clock

lcobucci/clock

Composer Requirements

{
    "require": {
        "psr/log": "^3.0",
        "psr/cache": "^3.0",
        "psr/http-message": "^2.0",
        "psr/http-factory": "^1.0",
        "psr/http-client": "^1.0",
        "psr/container": "^2.0",
        "psr/event-dispatcher": "^1.0",
        "psr/link": "^2.0",
        "psr/clock": "^1.0",
        "psr/simple-cache": "^3.0"
    }
}

Integration with DDD

Layer Mapping

Important: PSR packages (

psr/log

,

psr/clock

,

psr/event-dispatcher

) contain only interfaces — no implementation code. They are PHP community standards equivalent to a standard library. Using PSR interfaces in Domain layer is acceptable and common practice. What is NOT acceptable in Domain: implementation packages like

monolog/monolog

,

symfony/cache

,

guzzlehttp/guzzle

.

Example: CQRS Application

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Application\User\Handler;

use App\Application\User\Command\CreateUserCommand;
use App\Domain\User\Entity\User;
use App\Domain\User\Repository\UserRepositoryInterface;
use Psr\EventDispatcher\EventDispatcherInterface;  // PSR-14
use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;                       // PSR-3
use Psr\Clock\ClockInterface;                      // PSR-20

final readonly class CreateUserHandler
{
    public function __construct(
        private UserRepositoryInterface $repository,
        private EventDispatcherInterface $eventDispatcher,
        private LoggerInterface $logger,
        private ClockInterface $clock,
    ) {
    }

    public function __invoke(CreateUserCommand $command): void
    {
        $this->logger->info('Creating user', ['email' => $command->email]);

        $user = User::create(
            $command->email,
            $command->name,
            $this->clock->now(),
        );

        $this->repository->save($user);

        foreach ($user->pullEvents() as $event) {
            $this->eventDispatcher->dispatch($event);
        }
    }
}

Compliance Checklist

phpcs --standard=PSR1

phpcs --standard=PSR12

composer dump-autoload --strict

LoggerInterface

CacheInterface

ContainerInterface

EventDispatcherInterface

MiddlewareInterface

ClientInterface

ClockInterface

See Also

• references/accepted-psrs.md

  - Detailed PSR descriptions

• references/when-to-use.md

  - Decision matrix for PSR selection

• references/compatibility.md

  - Inter-PSR relationships

• references/php-fig-process.md

  - How PSRs are created

• assets/psr-selection-guide.md

  - Selection guide template