Symfony 7.4 Console Component

GitHub: https://github.com/symfony/console Docs: https://symfony.com/doc/7.4/console.html

Installation

bash

composer require symfony/console

Quick Reference

Create an Invokable Command (Symfony 7.3+)

php

namespace App\Command;

use Symfony\Component\Console\Attribute\AsCommand;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Style\SymfonyStyle;

#[AsCommand(name: 'app:greet')]
class GreetCommand
{
    public function __invoke(SymfonyStyle $io): int
    {
        $io->success('Hello!');
        return Command::SUCCESS;
    }
}

Arguments and Options

php

use Symfony\Component\Console\Attribute\Argument;
use Symfony\Component\Console\Attribute\Option;

public function __invoke(
    #[Argument(description: 'User name')] string $name,
    #[Option(shortcut: 'y')] bool $yell = false,
    SymfonyStyle $io
): int {
    $message = $yell ? strtoupper("Hello $name!") : "Hello $name!";
    $io->writeln($message);
    return Command::SUCCESS;
}

SymfonyStyle Output

php

$io->title('Command Title');
$io->section('Section');
$io->text('Regular text');
$io->success('Operation successful');
$io->error('An error occurred');
$io->table(['Header'], [['Cell']]);

// User input
$name = $io->ask('Your name?');
$confirmed = $io->confirm('Continue?');
$choice = $io->choice('Pick one', ['a', 'b', 'c']);

Testing Commands

php

use Symfony\Component\Console\Tester\CommandTester;

$command = $application->find('app:greet');
$tester = new CommandTester($command);

$tester->execute(['name' => 'John', '--yell' => true]);
$tester->assertCommandIsSuccessful();
$this->assertStringContainsString('HELLO JOHN', $tester->getDisplay());

Documentation Structure

Core Topics

•commands.md - Command creation, arguments, options, DTOs, lifecycle
•output.md - SymfonyStyle, output sections, formatting, verbosity
•helpers.md - Table, ProgressBar, Question, Cursor, Tree helpers
•events.md - Console events, signal handling
•testing.md - CommandTester, ApplicationTester, completion testing

Advanced Topics

•advanced.md - Lockable commands, hidden commands, lazy loading, single-command apps, shell completion

Common Patterns

Command with Dependency Injection

php

#[AsCommand(name: 'app:process')]
class ProcessCommand
{
    public function __construct(
        private UserRepository $users,
    ) {}

    public function __invoke(SymfonyStyle $io): int
    {
        foreach ($this->users->findAll() as $user) {
            $io->writeln($user->getName());
        }
        return Command::SUCCESS;
    }
}

Progress Bar

php

$io->progressStart(count($items));
foreach ($items as $item) {
    // Process item
    $io->progressAdvance();
}
$io->progressFinish();

// Or with progressIterate
foreach ($io->progressIterate($items) as $item) {
    // Process item
}

Extended Command with Lifecycle

php

#[AsCommand(name: 'app:process')]
class ProcessCommand extends Command
{
    protected function initialize(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): void
    {
        // Initialize before interact/execute
    }

    protected function interact(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): void
    {
        // Ask for missing input (skipped with --no-interaction)
    }

    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int
    {
        // Main logic
        return Command::SUCCESS;
    }
}

Exit Codes

php

return Command::SUCCESS; // 0
return Command::FAILURE; // 1
return Command::INVALID; // 2

Global Options

All commands automatically support:

•--help (-h) - Display help
•--verbose (-v, -vv, -vvv) - Increase verbosity
•--quiet (-q) - Suppress output
•--no-interaction (-n) - Disable interaction
•--ansi / --no-ansi - Force/disable colors
•--version (-V) - Show version

When to Read References

•Creating commands with complex arguments/options → Read commands.md
•Styling output or using SymfonyStyle → Read output.md
•Using tables, progress bars, or questions → Read helpers.md
•Handling signals or console events → Read events.md
•Writing tests for commands → Read testing.md
•Shell completion, lockable commands, etc. → Read advanced.md