PHPStan Rules for Database Migrations

A collection of PHPStan rules to enforce best practices and standards in database migration files for Phinx and Laravel / Illuminate.

Installation

composer require --dev bellangelo/phpstan-migration-rules

The extension will be automatically registered if you have phpstan/extension-installer installed. Otherwise, add it manually to your phpstan.neon:

includes:
    - vendor/bellangelo/phpstan-migration-rules/extension.neon

Configuration

All rules are enabled by default. You can customize behavior in your phpstan.neon:

parameters:
    migrationRules:
        requiredCollation: utf8mb4 # Default is utf8

        phinx:
            enforceCollation: true
            forbidAfter: true
            forbidEnumColumn: true
            forbidRawSql: true
            forbidMultipleTableCreations: true

        laravel:
            enforceCollation: true
            forbidAfter: true
            forbidEnumColumn: true
            forbidRawSql: true
            forbidMultipleTableCreations: true

If you only use one framework, disable the other to avoid unnecessary processing:

parameters:
    migrationRules:
        phinx:
            enforceCollation: false
            forbidAfter: false
            forbidEnumColumn: false
            forbidRawSql: false
            forbidMultipleTableCreations: false

Rule catalog

Each rule below applies to migration files for both Phinx and Laravel, unless stated otherwise.

Rule: EnforceCollationRule

Enforces that table definitions explicitly define a collation.

Prevents relying on database defaults, which may differ between environments.

Framework	How collation is detected
Phinx	table('name', ['collation' => '…'])
Laravel	$table->collation('…') or $table->collation = '…' inside the Blueprint callback

---

Rule: ForbidAfterRule

Forbids column positioning via after.

May trigger full table rewrites or long locks, unsafe for large or production tables.

Framework	Forbidden usage
Phinx	addColumn(..., ['after' => 'column'])
Laravel	$table->string('x')->after('y')

---

Rule: ForbidEnumColumnRule

Forbids the use of enum column types in migrations.

Modifying enum values requires a full ALTER TABLE, which can cause long locks on large tables. Use a string column with application-level validation instead.

Framework	Forbidden usage
Phinx	addColumn('col', 'enum', ['values' => [...]])
Laravel	$table->enum('col', [...])

---

Rule: ForbidRawSqlRule

Forbids raw SQL execution inside migrations.

Raw SQL bypasses the schema builder, making migrations harder to review, less portable, and prone to errors.

Framework	Forbidden usage
Phinx	$this->execute('...'), $this->query('...')
Laravel	DB::statement('...'), DB::unprepared('...')

---

Rule: ForbidMultipleTableCreationsRule

Ensures each migration creates at most one table.

Improves rollback safety and migration clarity.

Framework	What counts as a table creation
Phinx	Multiple calls to create() on table instances
Laravel	Multiple Schema::create() calls in the same migration