Commands and CI

Run commands from the application root. Plugin loading registers both commands.

Initialize XML definitions

bin/cake dto init
bin/cake dto init Customer
bin/cake dto init --plugin MyPlugin

Without a name, the command creates config/dto.xml. With Customer, it creates config/dto/Customer.dto.xml. --plugin selects that plugin's config directory. The initializer always creates XML, even when you configured another engine; create that engine's definition files manually.

Existing files are refused. --force replaces the existing definition with an empty XML scaffold.

Generate classes

bin/cake dto generate
bin/cake dto generate --confirm
bin/cake dto generate --plugin MyPlugin
bin/cake dto generate --namespace MyApp

Option	Short	Behavior
--dry-run	-d	Report pending changes without writing files or creating directories.
--confirm	-c	Lint files that are written with the current PHP interpreter.
--force	-f	Write every definition, including unchanged classes. This mode skips obsolete-file removal.
--plugin	-p	Read the plugin's definitions and write into its src/Dto/ directory. Application CakeDto.srcPath overrides do not apply.
--namespace	-n	Override the namespace used for generated classes.
--verbose	-v	Show skipped files and differences; this is CakePHP's console verbosity option.

Normally, generation removes classes that no longer have definitions. Do not keep handwritten classes with the generated suffix in the output directory. The default suffix is Dto.

--confirm checks written files only. Use --force --confirm to check unchanged files too. --dry-run --confirm does not lint because no files are written.

Exit status

Status	Meaning
0	Success; a dry run found no changes. Ordinary successful generation returns this status even when files changed.
1	Generation or PHP syntax checking failed.
2	A dry run found additions, modifications or removals. The generator also uses this status when its verbose option is explicitly enabled.

The CLI's --verbose controls console output; it does not set the generator's separate verbose option.

CI and deployment

If generated classes are committed, verify them in CI:

bin/cake dto generate --dry-run

If generated files are ignored, generate them during CI and deployment before the application runs:

bin/cake dto generate --confirm

Composer scripts can expose the same commands:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dto:generate": "bin/cake dto generate --confirm",
    "dto:check": "bin/cake dto generate --dry-run"
  }
}

Keep the generated classes available for static analysis of application code. Exclude generated files from style rules if needed; excluding them from analysis itself is a separate choice.