Configuration Reference

All Configure options live under the IdeHelper key in app.php. The canonical reference with defaults is the app.example.php file in the plugin's /config/ directory — that file is the source of truth and can be copy-pasted into your project config.

Common Keys at a Glance

The list below highlights the keys mentioned across this documentation. For the full set, defaults, and the most up-to-date options, see config/app.example.php.

Annotator

Key	Type	Notes
arrayAsGenerics	bool	Use modern array<type> instead of legacy type[].
genericsInParam	false | true | 'detailed'	Tri-state for table method param types. See Models.
tableEntityQuery	bool	Expose entity-aware find() return type on tables.
prefixes	array	Whitelist of controller subfolder prefixes.
typeMap	array	Map DB types → PHP types for entity property annotations.
nullableMap	array	Map DB types → nullability flag.
includedPlugins	array | true	Plugins to include when annotating helpers in AppView.
templateExtensions	array	File extensions processed by the templates annotator. Defaults to ['ctp', 'php'].
skipTemplatePaths	array	Template folders the annotator should skip. /templates/Bake/ is skipped by default.
templateCollectionObject	string | false	FQCN (or iterable/false) used for template collection annotations.
autoCollect	bool | callable	Auto-collect template variables.
autoCollectBlacklist	array	Strings or regex patterns of variables to exclude from auto-collection.
preemptive	bool	Preemptive annotations (e.g. always add @var \App\View\AppView $this to templates).
viewClass	string	Custom AppView FQCN.
preferLinkOverUsesInTests	bool	Use @link (default) vs. @uses in test class annotations.
propertyTypeMap	array	Map declared property names → inline @var types for class annotations.
annotators	array	Replace or disable native annotators.
classAnnotatorTasks	array	Register or replace class-annotator tasks.
CallbackAnnotatorTasks	array	Register or replace callback-annotator tasks.

Recommended Static Analysis Defaults

For projects that use PHPStan or Psalm, prefer detailed generic annotations so generated docblocks do not leave bare array types behind:

'IdeHelper' => [
    'arrayAsGenerics' => true,
    'objectAsGenerics' => true,
    'genericsInParam' => 'detailed',
    'tableBehaviors' => true,
    'propertyTypeMap' => [
        'actsAs' => 'array<string, mixed>',
        'helpers' => 'array<int|string, string|array<string, mixed>>',
        'components' => 'array<int|string, string|array<string, mixed>>',
        'paginate' => 'array<string, mixed>',
    ],
],

The actsAs property is commonly used by legacy CakePHP apps and plugins to declare behaviors. Helper and component declarations can use shorthand strings or named config arrays before CakePHP normalizes them. Controller $paginate settings are associative configuration arrays. Mapping these properties through propertyTypeMap lets bin/cake annotate classes add the missing iterable value type without changing the native property type.

Generator

Key	Type	Notes
plugins	array	Include not-loaded plugins or exclude loaded ones (- prefix).
generatorTasks	array	Register or replace generator tasks.
skipDatabaseTables	array	Regex blacklist for the Migrations-tables generator task.

Code Completion

Key	Type	Notes
codeCompletionPath	string	Custom output path for code completion files (e.g. ROOT . DS . '.phpstorm.meta.php' . DS).
codeCompletionTasks	array	Register or replace code completion tasks.

Illuminator

Key	Type	Notes
illuminatorIndentation	string	Indentation whitespace; defaults to "\t". Use ' ' for spaces.
IlluminatorTasks	array	Register or replace Illuminator tasks.

Replacing or Disabling Native Tasks

For each task type, the registration array uses 'CustomKey' => ClassName to add a task, or the native class name as the key to replace one:

'IdeHelper' => [
    'annotators' => [
        // Replace a native annotator
        \IdeHelper\Annotator\EntityAnnotator::class => \App\Annotator\MyEnhancedEntityAnnotator::class,
        // Disable a native annotator
        \IdeHelper\Annotator\HelperAnnotator::class => null,
        // Add a custom annotator
        'MyCustomAnnotator' => \App\Annotator\MyCustomAnnotator::class,
    ],
],

The same pattern applies to classAnnotatorTasks, CallbackAnnotatorTasks, generatorTasks, codeCompletionTasks, and IlluminatorTasks.