Training course · Agentic Coding · PHP & Laravel/Symfony

Agentic Coding for PHP Developers

Use autonomous coding agents effectively: specs instead of prompts, task decomposition, test-driven loops, multi-agent setups and governance.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Agentic Coding for PHP Developers” is a hands-on course for roles such as PHP developers working with Laravel or Symfony, Developers of e-commerce systems such as Shopware or Magento and Agency teams juggling many client projects in parallel. Rather than learning Agentic Coding in the abstract, you work on tasks from your daily routine – with examples, exercises and templates from PHP & Laravel/Symfony.

Agentic coding means working with AI agents that carry out development tasks largely on their own: they read code, plan changes, run commands and tests, and correct themselves based on the results. Tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent and Cursor’s agent mode have made this way of working practical for everyday use. This vendor-neutral course teaches the underlying methodology so that you achieve reliable results whatever the tool, and redefine the developer’s role within your engineering team.

The core shift is from ad hoc prompts to robust specifications. You will learn to decompose and describe tasks so that agents solve them reliably, to set up test-driven loops in which tests act as objective acceptance criteria, and to run several agents in parallel or with a division of labour. We also cover review strategies for agent-generated code and team governance: permissions, security boundaries, accountability, cost control and the gradual introduction of agentic workflows into your existing development processes.

PHP powers a large share of the web – from Laravel and Symfony applications to Shopware and Magento stores and bespoke platforms that have evolved over many years. As a result, modern framework projects frequently sit alongside legacy code without types, tests or Composer structure. AI coding assistants and agents help on both fronts: they write PHPUnit and Pest tests, bring code up to modern language standards with Rector, work through PHPStan findings level by level, generate Eloquent or Doctrine models with migrations and explain tangled legacy logic. The prerequisite is good context on framework conventions, coding standards and the test environment. This course teaches you to use agents so that modernisation becomes predictable and safe.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • PHP developers working with Laravel or Symfony
  • Developers of e-commerce systems such as Shopware or Magento
  • Agency teams juggling many client projects in parallel
  • Teams modernising legacy PHP applications

Typical challenges we address

  • Legacy code without type declarations, namespaces or automated tests
  • Laborious upgrades of PHP versions and major framework releases
  • Security risks from SQL injection, XSS and unsafe file uploads in old code
  • Tight deadlines on agency projects combined with high quality expectations

What you will be able to do

  • You understand how coding agents work and choose the right tool and level of autonomy.
  • You write specifications and project context that agents can work with reliably.
  • You break initiatives into verifiable sub-tasks and steer agents through test-driven loops.
  • You use multi-agent setups and parallel work in a controlled way.
  • Use AI agents for tests, static analysis and upgrades in Laravel, Symfony and legacy projects.
  • Modernise legacy code incrementally and safely with AI support.
  • Recognise typical security flaws in generated and existing PHP code and fix them in a targeted way.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Foundations of agentic development
  • How coding agents work: tool calls, context windows and feedback loops
  • Comparing tools: terminal agents, IDE agents and cloud agents
  • Recognising suitable tasks and choosing levels of autonomy deliberately
  • The new role in the team: from implementation to steering and acceptance
Module 2 Specifications instead of prompts
  • Describing tasks with goal, context, constraints and acceptance criteria
  • Keeping project context in files such as CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or rules
  • Plan-first approach: let the agent draft a solution and review it before implementation
  • Versioning specifications and maintaining them as part of the repository
Module 3 Task decomposition and test-driven agent loops
  • Breaking large initiatives into independent, verifiable sub-tasks
  • Having tests written first and using them as an objective stopping criterion
  • Using linters, type checks and builds as automatic feedback
  • Recognising stuck loops and restarting with a new strategy
Module 4 Multi-agent setups and parallel work
  • Defining specialised subagents for research, implementation, testing and review
  • Organising parallel work with branches, worktrees and isolated environments
  • Orchestration: merging results and resolving conflicts
  • Sharing tools and data sources through MCP

Day 2

Module 5 Review, security and team governance
  • Review strategies for large, agent-generated changes
  • Defining permissions, sandboxing and protection against prompt injection
  • Embedding agents in CI pipelines and pull request processes
  • Planning team guidelines, accountability, costs and a phased rollout
Module 6 Practice lab: PHP & Laravel/Symfony
  • Generating PHPUnit and Pest tests
  • Raising PHPStan levels step by step
  • Upgrades with Rector
  • Building Laravel and Symfony features
  • Understanding and untangling legacy code
  • Finding security vulnerabilities
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • PHP applications frequently process customer data from shops and portals, so database dumps and logs containing personal data must never go into prompts unfiltered. Check new Composer packages for licence and vulnerabilities, keep credentials from .env files out of context and, as an agency, agree contractually whether client code may be processed by AI services.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Generating PHPUnit and Pest tests

The agent writes unit and feature tests for controllers, services and models, uses factories and database transactions, and runs the tests iteratively until they pass consistently.

Raising PHPStan levels step by step

The AI works through static analysis findings systematically, adds type declarations, generics annotations and return types, and raises the analysis level in controlled steps without changing behaviour.

Upgrades with Rector

Rector rules are configured and run, remaining incompatibilities in PHP or framework upgrades are fixed by hand and deprecations surfaced in logs and tests are cleared systematically.

Building Laravel and Symfony features

From a functional description, the assistant creates migrations, Eloquent or Doctrine entities, form requests or validators, controllers, policies and tests – all in line with framework conventions.

Understanding and untangling legacy code

The assistant explains procedural legacy logic, extracts functions into namespaced classes and introduces Composer autoloading, laying the groundwork for further modernisation. Characterisation tests pin down the existing behaviour first.

Finding security vulnerabilities

The AI checks code for unsafe SQL queries, missing output escaping, CSRF gaps and insecure uploads, replacing problem areas with prepared statements and built-in framework mechanisms.

Possible hands-on projects

Laravel admin panel

A small management back end with authentication, roles, CRUD screens and feature tests, built by an AI agent from a short specification.

Symfony console importer

A Symfony console command that validates CSV or XML data, imports it into Doctrine entities and logs errors in a clear, readable way.

Upgrade readiness check

A script that runs PHPStan, a Rector dry run and Composer audit against a PHP project and produces a plain-language report on upgrade effort.

Prerequisites

You have several years of development experience, are confident with Git, testing and CI, and ideally have already used AI coding tools. Solid PHP skills and experience with Laravel or Symfony, Composer and Git.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with Git, a terminal and your development environment, plus access to at least one coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Copilot or Cursor.

Data protection & compliance

PHP applications frequently process customer data from shops and portals, so database dumps and logs containing personal data must never go into prompts unfiltered. Check new Composer packages for licence and vulnerabilities, keep credentials from .env files out of context and, as an agency, agree contractually whether client code may be processed by AI services.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Tue, 24 November 2026 – Wed, 25 November 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 3 December 2026 – Fri, 4 December 2026 Hanover Request
  • Thu, 17 December 2026 – Fri, 18 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 7 January 2027 – Fri, 8 January 2027 Online Request
  • Thu, 21 January 2027 – Fri, 22 January 2027 Munich Request
  • Wed, 3 February 2027 – Thu, 4 February 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

How does agentic coding differ from vibe coding?

Vibe coding relies on fast, intuitive iteration in natural language and is particularly suited to prototypes. Agentic coding is an engineering discipline for professional codebases: precise specifications, tests as acceptance criteria, clear permissions and structured reviews ensure that agents deliver reliable, maintainable results even in complex, long-lived projects.

Is the course tied to a specific tool?

No. The course teaches methods that work with Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent, Cursor and comparable tools. The exercises highlight differences and common ground, for example in context files, permissions and subagents. You can work with whichever tool your organisation already uses or plans to adopt.

How do we stay in control of quality and security with autonomous agents?

Control comes from several layers: tightly scoped permissions and sandboxing, tests and static analysis as automatic checks, mandatory human review before merging, and clear team rules on accountability. During the course you develop a governance concept that fits your processes, security requirements and regulatory obligations.

Is AI-assisted coding worthwhile for old PHP code without a framework?

That is exactly where it shines. AI assistants explain convoluted procedural logic, write characterisation tests that pin down existing behaviour and then introduce namespaces, autoloading and types step by step. This gives you a safe foundation for modernising legacy applications instead of attempting a risky full rewrite.

How should agencies handle client code and AI?

Agencies should agree with their clients contractually whether, and with which services, source code may be processed. On the course we discuss options such as business licences with no training on your data, exclusion rules for sensitive files and documented review processes that give your clients full transparency.

How much does “Agentic Coding for PHP Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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