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composer

CLI2020-02-23

All composer commands, depending on your install, may need to use php composer.phar in the install folder for composer, instead of global/plain composer.

Installing dependencies

CommandDescription
composer installDownloads and installs all the libraries and dependencies outlined in the composer.lock file. If the file does not exist it will look for composer.json and do the same, creating a composer.lock file.
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composer install --dry-runSimulates the install without installing anything

This command doesn't change any file. If composer.lock is not present, it will create it.

composer.lock should always be committed to the repository. It has all the information needed to bring the local dependencies to the last committed state. If that file is modified on the repository, you will need to run composer install again after fetching the changes to update your local dependencies to those on that file.

Updating packages

CommandDescription
composer updateUpdates all packages
composer update --with-dependenciesUpdates all packages and its dependencies
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composer update vendor/packageUpdates a certain package from vendor
composer update vendor/*Updates all packages from vendor
composer update --lockUpdates composer.lock hash without updating any packages

This command changes only the composer.lock file.

Updating autoloader

CommandDescription
composer dumpautoload -oGenerates optimized autoload files

Adding packages

CommandDescription
composer require vendor/packageAdds package from vendor to composer.json's require section and installs it
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composer require vendor/package --devAdds package from vendor to composer.json's require-dev section and installs it.

This command changes both the composer.json and composer.lock files.

Passing versions

CommandDescription
composer require vendor/pkg "1.3.2"Installs 1.3.2
composer require vendor/pkg ">=1.3.2"Above or equal 1.3.2
composer require vendor/pkg "<1.3.2"Below 1.3.2
composer require vendor/pkg "1.3.*"Latest of >=1.3.0 <1.4.0
composer require vendor/pkg "~1.3.2"Latest of >=1.3.2 <1.4.0
composer require vendor/pkg "~1.3"Latest of >=1.3.0 <2.0.0
composer require vendor/pkg "^1.3.2"Latest of >=1.3.2 <2.0.0
composer require vendor/pkg "^1.3"Latest of >=1.3.0 <2.0.0
composer require vendor/pkg "^0.3.2"Latest of >=0.3.0 <0.4.0 (for pre-1.0)
composer require vendor/pkg "dev-BRANCH_NAME"From the branch BRANCH_NAME

Removing packages

CommandDescription
composer remove vendor/packageRemoves vendor/package from composer.json and uninstalls it

This command changes both the composer.json and composer.lock files.

Verifying

CommandDescription
composer outdated --directShow only packages that are outdated directly required by the root package