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php-error-handling

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Implement modern PHP error and exception handling patterns. Use when implementing exception hierarchies, error handlers, or custom exceptions in PHP.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/HoangNguyen0403/agent-skills-standard/blob/HEAD/skills/php/php-error-handling/SKILL.md

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PHP Error Handling

Priority: P0 (CRITICAL)

Structure

See implementation examples for directory layout.

Build Exception Hierarchies

  • Exception-Driven: Favor throwing exceptions over returning false or null for error states.
  • Custom Exceptions: Extend RuntimeException or LogicException for domain-specific errors.
  • Multi-Catch: Use Union types in catch blocks: catch (DomainException | InvalidArgumentException $e).

See implementation examples for domain exception hierarchy with multi-catch and finally.

Configure Global Error Handling

  • Throwable Interface: Always catch Throwable for both PHP 7/8 Errors and Exceptions.
  • Global Handler: Use set_exception_handler and set_error_handler for top-level logging and cleanup.
  • Finally: Always use finally for resource cleanup (e.g., closing file handles, DB connections).
  • PSR-3 Logging: Implement Psr\Log\LoggerInterface for structured error reporting.
  • Production Guard: Ensure display_errors=Off and log_errors=On in production php.ini.

Anti-Patterns

  • No @ error suppression: Handle or log errors explicitly.
  • No empty catch blocks: Log or rethrow all caught exceptions.
  • No exceptions for control flow: Reserve for unexpected errors only.
  • No display_errors in production: Log to file; never show users.

References