Automate Code Styling: Using Laravel Pint with Git Pre-Commit Hooks

Code formatting is an essential part of maintaining a clean and readable codebase. Laravel Pint, a zero-configuration code styling tool for PHP, helps ensure your code adheres to consistent style rules. To automate this process, you can integrate Laravel Pint with a Git pre-commit hook, preventing non-compliant code from being committed.

Step 1: Install Laravel Pint

First, install Laravel Pint as a development dependency in your project:

composer require laravel/pint --dev

Once installed, you can verify its functionality by running:

vendor/bin/pint

This will analyze and fix your PHP files according to Laravel’s default coding style.

Step 2: Create the Git Pre-Commit Hook

Git hooks allow you to run scripts before or after certain Git actions. To enforce Laravel Pint formatting before committing, create a pre-commit hook.

Navigate to your project's Git hooks directory, then run:

mkdir -p .git/hooks

Create a new file for the pre-commit hook:

touch .git/hooks/pre-commit
chmod +x .git/hooks/pre-commit

Open the .git/hooks/pre-commit file in a text editor and add the following script:

#!/bin/sh

# Run Laravel Pint to fix code style issues
echo "Fixing code style with Laravel Pint..."

staged_files=$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM -- '*.php');
vendor/bin/pint $staged_files -q
 
git add $staged_files

This script will pick all the .php files that are being committed, format them using Pint, then do the actual commit. 

Step 3: Test the Pre-Commit Hook

To verify the hook is working correctly:

1. Make an intentional code style violation in a PHP file.

2. Stage the file using git add ..

3. Try committing the changes:

git commit -m "Test Pint pre-commit hook"

If Pint detects any formatting issues, it will fix them before committing. 

Conclusion

By integrating Laravel Pint with a Git pre-commit hook, you ensure that every commit adheres to Laravel's coding standards, reducing code review friction and maintaining a clean codebase. This simple automation can help teams enforce consistency and improve overall code quality.

Keep Building! 🚀