Tusk PHP

A high-performance Language Server for PHP written in Go, with deep understanding of Laravel and Symfony dependency injection.
Intelligent Completions
Context-aware suggestions that understand your code. Method chains resolve through return types and @return docblocks, so Category::query()->with('tags')->where()-> shows the right Builder methods, not random matches from vendor.
- Member access (
->, ::, ?->) with full chain resolution
- Auto-import — selecting a class automatically adds the
use statement
- Smart parens — skips adding
() when they already exist
- Container bindings —
app('request')-> completes with Request methods
- Config keys —
config('database.') navigates with dot-notation
- Array shapes —
$config[''] completes keys from @var annotations and literal arrays
new, use, type hints, attributes, pipe operator |>
Hover & Navigation
- Hover — type signatures, docblock summaries, inheritance info, container bindings
- Go to Definition — jump to classes, methods, properties, functions, container bindings
- Find References — all usages across the workspace, including member access chains
- Document Symbols — full file outline with classes, methods, properties, constants
- Signature Help — parameter hints while typing function calls
- Rename — rename variables (scoped), classes, methods, properties across the workspace
Refactoring
- Copy Namespace — copy the fully qualified name of the current file's class
- Move to Namespace — move a class to a different namespace, updating all references and the file path per PSR-4
Diagnostics
- Structural checks — missing methods, undefined types, deprecated usage
- PHPStan integration — runs on save, shows errors inline (requires PHPStan in your project)
- Laravel Pint — formatting diagnostics on save (requires Pint in your project)
Framework Intelligence
Laravel
Scans service providers for bind() / singleton() calls and pre-loads 25+ core framework bindings. Completions and go-to-definition work through:
app('request'), resolve(Cache::class), $this->app->make(...)
config() with dot-notation key navigation and value preview
- Eloquent method chains:
Model::query()->with()->where()->get()
- Interface-to-concrete resolution from container bindings
Symfony
Parses services.yaml, PHP service configs, and autowiring attributes:
#[Autowire], #[AsController], #[AsCommand], #[AsEventListener], #[AsMessageHandler]
- Auto-wired services from
src/
$container->get(...) with registered service completions
- Interface-to-concrete resolution from
implements declarations
PHP 8.0 - 8.5
Full support for modern PHP syntax: union/intersection/DNF types, enums, fibers, readonly classes, match expressions, named arguments, attributes, property hooks, asymmetric visibility, typed constants, pipe operator |>.
Installation
VS Code / VS Codium
Install from the VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX Registry:
ext install open-southeners.tusk-php
Or search for "Tusk PHP" in the Extensions panel. The extension bundles the language server binary — no additional setup required.
Zed
Search for "Tusk PHP" in zed: extensions. The extension automatically downloads the correct binary for your platform.
Keep Zed's built-in PHP extension installed. It provides syntax highlighting, PHPDoc highlighting, and other language assets. Install Tusk PHP alongside it, then set Tusk PHP as the only PHP language server to avoid collisions with Phpactor, Intelephense, or PHP Tools:
{
"languages": {
"PHP": {
"language_servers": ["tusk-php"]
}
}
}
Use Zed's lsp: restart language servers action after changing settings or reinstalling the dev extension.
Zed-specific Tusk PHP settings can be passed through lsp.tusk-php:
{
"lsp": {
"tusk-php": {
"binary": {
"path": "/absolute/path/to/php-lsp",
"arguments": ["--transport", "stdio"]
},
"initialization_options": {
"phpVersion": "8.5",
"framework": "auto",
"containerAware": true,
"diagnosticsEnabled": true,
"phpstanEnabled": true,
"phpstanPath": "",
"phpstanLevel": "",
"phpstanConfig": "",
"pintEnabled": true,
"pintPath": "",
"pintConfig": "",
"maxIndexFiles": 10000,
"excludePaths": ["vendor", "node_modules", ".git", "storage", "var/cache"]
}
}
}
}
The Zed extension also provides Assistant slash commands:
/tusk-copy-namespace app/Models/User.php
/tusk-namespace-for-path app/Models/User.php
Zed does not expose the same extension command API as VS Code, so Restart Server maps to Zed's built-in lsp: restart language servers action, and Move to Namespace... is not yet exposed as a Zed command.
Neovim
Install the binary (see below), then add to your config:
require('lspconfig.configs').php_lsp = {
default_config = {
cmd = { 'php-lsp', '--transport', 'stdio' },
filetypes = { 'php' },
root_dir = require('lspconfig.util').root_pattern('composer.json', '.git'),
}
}
require('lspconfig').php_lsp.setup({})
Other Editors
Any LSP client works. The server uses stdio with JSON-RPC 2.0:
php-lsp --transport stdio
Binary Installation
Download from GitHub Releases (Linux, macOS, Windows — amd64/arm64).
Quick install (Linux / macOS):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-southeners/php-lsp/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
From source (requires Go 1.22+):
git clone https://github.com/open-southeners/php-lsp.git && cd php-lsp && make install
Configuration
Editor Settings (VS Code)
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
phpLsp.enable |
true |
Enable/disable the extension |
phpLsp.executablePath |
"" |
Custom path to the binary |
phpLsp.phpVersion |
"8.5" |
Target PHP version (8.0-8.5) |
phpLsp.framework |
"auto" |
Framework: auto, laravel, symfony, none |
phpLsp.containerAware |
true |
Enable DI container analysis |
phpLsp.diagnostics.enable |
true |
Enable diagnostics |
phpLsp.diagnostics.phpstan.enable |
true |
Run PHPStan on save |
phpLsp.diagnostics.pint.enable |
true |
Run Laravel Pint on save |
phpLsp.maxIndexFiles |
10000 |
Maximum PHP files to index |
phpLsp.excludePaths |
["vendor", ...] |
Paths to skip when indexing |
Project Configuration
Create .php-lsp.json in your project root to override settings per project:
{
"phpVersion": "8.5",
"framework": "auto",
"containerAware": true,
"diagnosticsEnabled": true,
"excludePaths": ["vendor", "node_modules", ".git"],
"maxIndexFiles": 10000
}
Framework is auto-detected from artisan (Laravel), bin/console (Symfony), or composer.json.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.
License
MIT