Error Identifier: varTag.internalClass

Every error reported by PHPStan has an error identifier. Here’s a list of all error identifiers. In PHPStan Pro you can see the error identifier next to each error and filter errors by their identifiers.

Code example #

<?php declare(strict_types = 1);

namespace App;

// Defined in a third-party package:
// namespace ThirdParty;
// /** @internal */
// class InternalHelper {}

use ThirdParty\InternalHelper;

/** @var InternalHelper $helper */
$helper = getHelper();

Why is it reported? #

The @var PHPDoc tag references a class that is marked as @internal. Internal classes are not part of the public API of the package that defines them. They may change or be removed in any version without notice.

Using an internal class from another package in a @var tag creates a dependency on an implementation detail that is not guaranteed to be stable.

How to fix it #

Use a public class or interface from the package instead:

 <?php declare(strict_types = 1);
 
 namespace App;

-use ThirdParty\InternalHelper;
+use ThirdParty\HelperInterface;

-/** @var InternalHelper $helper */
+/** @var HelperInterface $helper */
 $helper = getHelper();

If the class is internal to your own project, the error will not be reported when referencing it from within the same root namespace.

How to ignore this error #

You can use the identifier varTag.internalClass to ignore this error using a comment:

// @phpstan-ignore varTag.internalClass
codeThatProducesTheError();

You can also use only the identifier key to ignore all errors of the same type in your configuration file in the ignoreErrors parameter:

parameters:
	ignoreErrors:
		-
			identifier: varTag.internalClass

Rules that report this error #

PHPStan\Rules\InternalTag\RestrictedInternalClassNameUsageExtension [1]

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