Configuration

Configure the plugin under CakeDto, not Dto. Copy only the settings you need into config/app.php or use Configure::write() during bootstrap. The example configuration lists the plugin options.

'CakeDto' => [
    'strictTypes' => true,
    'immutable' => false,
],

Generation settings take effect after regeneration; they do not change already generated classes.

Setting	Default	Purpose
engine	XmlEngine	Definition parser implementing EngineInterface.
suffix	Dto	Generated class suffix. An empty string removes it; avoid reserved PHP class names.
srcPath	Application or plugin src/	Application output root. The generator adds a Dto/ subdirectory; plugin generation uses its own src/.
strictTypes	false	Add declare(strict_types=1) to generated files. PHP scalar coercion also depends on the calling file's strict-types setting.
scalarAndReturnTypes	true	Generate scalar parameter and return declarations.
typedConstants	false	Use typed class constants. Enable only when the runtime is PHP 8.3 or newer.
immutable	false	Default immutability for definitions without an explicit setting.
defaultCollectionType	\ArrayObject	Default generated collection type.
debug	false	Include additional definition metadata in generated DTOs.
assocKeyFields	slug, login, name, id	Candidate string keys when inferring associative collections from example JSON.
databaseTypeMap	Importer defaults	Override database-to-DTO type mappings entry by entry.
adminAccess	Unset, deny	Closure that must return literal true for access to importer pages.
finder	Library Finder	Definition file finder.
builder	Plugin Builder	Class that builds definitions.
generator	Plugin Generator	Class that writes generated PHP.
renderer	Plugin Renderer	Class that renders generation templates.

Nullable override settings such as engine and builder use their default class when unset or null. defaultCollectionType also uses its default when null.

Separate generated code

'CakeDto' => [
    'srcPath' => ROOT . DS . 'generated' . DS,
],

This writes application DTOs into generated/Dto/. With --plugin, the generator uses that plugin's src/Dto/ instead; an application output override never redirects plugin classes into the same directory.

Add a matching Composer autoload entry alongside your existing application mapping:

{
  "autoload": {
    "psr-4": {
      "App\\": "src/",
      "App\\Dto\\": "generated/Dto/"
    }
  }
}

Then refresh the autoloader:

composer dump-autoload

Changing the output directory does not change the generated namespace. Use App.namespace, a definition's nested name, or --namespace for that.

Runtime defaults

The underlying library also provides runtime settings:

use PhpCollective\Dto\Dto\Dto;

Dto::setDefaultKeyType(Dto::TYPE_UNDERSCORED);

The plugin sets the library's collection factory to create Cake\Collection\Collection instances and registers the CakePHP collection adapter during bootstrap. This does not change the generated defaultCollectionType from \ArrayObject; that is a separate generation setting.

PHP compatibility

The default generated syntax supports the package's minimum PHP version. Typed constants require a newer runtime and are opt-in. Check generated output with --confirm under the PHP version used by your application, especially after changing templates or generation settings.

See the parent library documentation for shared DTO behavior and configuration beyond this CakePHP integration.