[Solved] How to install Drupal coding standard checker via command line?

Anish.a | Updated 31 Aug 2021 | 2 min read

Coder is a Drupal module to check coding standard issues in custom modules and themes. It can check any files on coding standard issues according to Drupal specifications. This method uses latest composer and drush to install latest coder. Feel free to skip corresponding parts as you need.

Install Composer

Check if composer is installed,

which composer

If this is empty, proceed with below command. Else skip.

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
sudo mv composer.phar /usr/local/bin/composer
which composer

Install Coder

composer global require drupal/coder
sudo ln -s ~/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcs /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -s ~/.composer/vendor/bin/phpcbf /usr/local/bin
phpcs --config-set installed_paths ~/.composer/vendor/drupal/coder/coder_sniffer

Install the Latest Version of Drush
If you have installed drush with package manager, remove it, as it would be probably old version.
```
sudo apt-get remove drush
```
Use the following to install latest drush.
Add the line export PATH="$HOME/.composer/vendor/bin:$PATH" to end of ~/.bashrc
```
source ~/.bashrc
composer global require drush/drush:dev-master
drush --version
```
If it shows drush version, drush is installed correctly.

Download Coder Module

drush pm-download coder --destination=$HOME/.drush
drush cache-clear drush

Install PHP Code Sniffer

composer global require squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer:\>=2
phpcs --version

Now you can check standards like this.

phpcs --standard=Drupal /path/to/example.module

Make Alias

Its better to use an alias for drupal itself, like drupalcs. Follow the steps below for it.

echo $SHELL
vi ~/.bashrc

Append the following lines to it.

alias drupalcs="phpcs --standard=Drupal --extensions='php,module,inc,install,test,profile,theme,js,css,info,txt'"
alias drupalcs="phpcs --standard=DrupalPractice --extensions='php,module,inc,install,test,profile,theme,js,css,info,txt'"

Restart the terminal or use