Document console completion

Author: wouterj

_images/components/console/completion.gif

@@ -9,15 +9,90 @@ The Symfony framework provides lots of commands through the ``bin/console`` scri
 created with the :doc:`Console component </components/console>`. You can also
 use it to create your own commands.
 
-The Console: APP_ENV & APP_DEBUG
----------------------------------
+Running Commands
+----------------
+
+Each Symfony application comes with a large set of commands. You can use
+the ``list`` command to view all available commands in the application:
+
+.. code-block:: terminal
+
+    $ php bin/console list
+    ...
+
+    Available commands:
+      about                                      Display information about the current project
+      completion                                 Dump the shell completion script
+      help                                       Display help for a command
+      list                                       List commands
+     assets
+      assets:install                             Install bundle's web assets under a public directory
+     cache
+      cache:clear                                Clear the cache
+    ...
+
+If you find the command you need, you can run it with the ``--help`` option
+to view the command's documentation:
+
+.. code-block:: terminal
+
+    $ php bin/console assets:install --help
+
+APP_ENV & APP_DEBUG
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Console commands run in the :ref:`environment <config-dot-env>` defined in the ``APP_ENV``
 variable of the ``.env`` file, which is ``dev`` by default. It also reads the ``APP_DEBUG``
 value to turn "debug" mode on or off (it defaults to ``1``, which is on).
 
 To run the command in another environment or debug mode, edit the value of ``APP_ENV``
-and ``APP_DEBUG``.
+and ``APP_DEBUG``. You can also define this env vars when running the
+command, for instance:
+
+.. code-block:: terminal
+
+    # clears the cache for the prod environment
+    $ APP_ENV=prod bin/console cache:clear
+
+.. _console-completion-setup:
+
+Console Completion
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. versionadded:: 5.4
+
+    Console completion for Bash was introduced in Symfony 5.4.
+
+If you are using the Bash shell, you can install Symfony's completion
+script to get auto completion when typing commands in the terminal. All
+commands support name and option completion, and some can even complete
+values.
+
+.. image:: /_images/components/console/completion.gif
+
+First, make sure you installed and setup the "bash completion" package for
+your OS (typically named ``bash-completion``). Then, install the Symfony
+completion bash script *once* by running the ``completion`` command in a
+Symfony app installed on your computer:
+
+.. code-block:: terminal
+
+    $ php bin/console completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/console-events-terminate
+    # after the installation, restart the shell
+
+Now you are all set to use the auto completion for all Symfony Console
+applications on your computer. By default, you can get a list of complete
+options by pressing the Tab key.
+
+.. tip::
+
+    Many PHP tools are build using the Symfony Console component (e.g.
+    Composer, PHPstan and Behat). If they are using version 5.4 or higher,
+    you can also install their completion script to enable console completion:
+
+    .. code-block:: terminal
+
+        $ php vendor/bin/phpstan completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/phpstan
 
 Creating a Command
 ------------------
@@ -38,11 +113,6 @@ want a command to create a user::
         // the name of the command (the part after "bin/console")
         protected static $defaultName = 'app:create-user';
 
-        protected function configure(): void
-        {
-            // ...
-        }
-
         protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int
         {
             // ... put here the code to create the user
@@ -74,37 +144,41 @@ want a command to create a user::
     The ``Command::INVALID`` constant was introduced in Symfony 5.3
 
 Configuring the Command
------------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 You can optionally define a description, help message and the
-:doc:`input options and arguments </console/input>`::
+:doc:`input options and arguments </console/input>` by overriding the
+``configure()`` method::
 
-    // ...
-    // the command description shown when running "php bin/console list"
-    protected static $defaultDescription = 'Creates a new user.';
+    // src/Command/CreateUserCommand.php
 
     // ...
-    protected function configure(): void
+    class CreateUserCommand extends Command
     {
-        $this
-            // If you don't like using the $defaultDescription static property,
-            // you can also define the short description using this method:
-            // ->setDescription('...')
+        // the command description shown when running "php bin/console list"
+        protected static $defaultDescription = 'Creates a new user.';
 
-            // the command help shown when running the command with the "--help" option
-            ->setHelp('This command allows you to create a user...')
-        ;
+        // ...
+        protected function configure(): void
+        {
+            $this
+                // the command help shown when running the command with the "--help" option
+                ->setHelp('This command allows you to create a user...')
+            ;
+        }
     }
 
-Defining the ``$defaultDescription`` static property instead of using the
-``setDescription()`` method allows to get the command description without
-instantiating its class. This makes the ``php bin/console list`` command run
-much faster.
+.. tip::
+
+    Defining the ``$defaultDescription`` static property instead of using the
+    ``setDescription()`` method allows to get the command description without
+    instantiating its class. This makes the ``php bin/console list`` command run
+    much faster.
 
-If you want to always run the ``list`` command fast, add the ``--short`` option
-to it (``php bin/console list --short``). This will avoid instantiating command
-classes, but it won't show any description for commands that use the
-``setDescription()`` method instead of the static property.
+    If you want to always run the ``list`` command fast, add the ``--short`` option
+    to it (``php bin/console list --short``). This will avoid instantiating command
+    classes, but it won't show any description for commands that use the
+    ``setDescription()`` method instead of the static property.
 
 .. versionadded:: 5.3
 
@@ -144,7 +218,7 @@ available in the ``configure()`` method::
     }
 
 Registering the Command
------------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 In PHP 8 and newer versions, you can register the command by adding the
 ``AsCommand`` attribute to it::
@@ -155,6 +229,8 @@ In PHP 8 and newer versions, you can register the command by adding the
     use Symfony\Component\Console\Attribute\AsCommand;
     use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
 
+    // the "name" and "description" arguments of AsCommand replace the
+    // static $defaultName and $defaultDescription properties
     #[AsCommand(
         name: 'app:create-user',
         description: 'Creates a new user.',
@@ -176,8 +252,8 @@ If you can't use PHP attributes, register the command as a service and
 :ref:`default services.yaml configuration <service-container-services-load-example>`,
 this is already done for you, thanks to :ref:`autoconfiguration <services-autoconfigure>`.
 
-Executing the Command
----------------------
+Running the Command
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 After configuring and registering the command, you can run it in the terminal:
 
@@ -468,7 +544,7 @@ call ``setAutoExit(false)`` on it to get the command result in ``CommandTester``
 
         $application = new Application();
         $application->setAutoExit(false);
-        
+
         $tester = new ApplicationTester($application);
 
 .. note::

console.rst

@@ -308,4 +308,90 @@ The above code can be simplified as follows because ``false !== null``::
     $yell = ($optionValue !== false);
     $yellLouder = ($optionValue === 'louder');
 
+Adding Argument/Option Value Completion
+---------------------------------------
+
+.. versionadded:: 5.4
+
+    Console completion was introduced in Symfony 5.4.
+
+If :ref:`Console completion is installed <console-completion-setup>`,
+command and option names will be auto completed by the shell. However, you
+can also implement value completion for the input in your commands. For
+instance, you may want to complete all usernames from the database in the
+``name`` argument of your greet command.
+
+To achieve this, override the ``complete()`` method in the command::
+
+    // ...
+    use Symfony\Component\Console\Completion\CompletionInput;
+    use Symfony\Component\Console\Completion\CompletionSuggestions;
+
+    class GreetCommand extends Command
+    {
+        // ...
+
+        public function complete(CompletionInput $input, CompletionSuggestions $suggestions): void
+        {
+            if ($input->mustSuggestArgumentValuesFor('names')) {
+                // the user asks for completion input for the "names" option
+
+                // the value the user already typed, e.g. when typing "app:greet Fa" before
+                // pressing Tab, this will contain "Fa"
+                $currentValue = $input->getCompletionValue();
+
+                // get the list of username names from somewhere (e.g. the database)
+                // you may use $currentValue to filter down the names
+                $availableUsernames = ...;
+
+                // then add the retrieved names as suggested values
+                $suggestions->suggestValues($availableUsernames);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+That's all you need! Assuming users "Fabien" and "Fabrice" exist, pressing
+tab after typing ``app:greet Fa`` will give you these names as a suggestion.
+
+.. tip::
+
+    The bash script will automatically filter the suggested values based on
+    the existing input from the user. You do not have to implement any
+    filter logic in the command.
+
+    You may use ``CompletionInput::getCompletionValue()`` to get the
+    current input if that helps improving performance (e.g. by reducing the
+    number of rows fetched from the database).
+
+Testing the Completion script
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The Console component comes with a special
+:class:`Symfony\\Component\\Console\\Test\\CommandCompletionTester`` class
+to help you unit test the completion logic::
+
+    // ...
+    use Symfony\Component\Console\Application;
+
+    class GreetCommandTest extends TestCase
+    {
+        public function testComplete()
+        {
+            $application = new Application();
+            $application->add(new GreetCommand());
+
+            // create a new tester with the greet command
+            $tester = new CommandCompletionTester($application->get('app:greet'));
+
+            // complete the input without any existing input (the empty string represents
+            // the position of the cursor)
+            $suggestions = $tester->complete(['']);
+            $this->assertSame(['Fabien', 'Fabrice', 'Wouter'], $suggestions);
+
+            // complete the input with "Fa" as input
+            $suggestions = $tester->complete(['Fa']);
+            $this->assertSame(['Fabien', 'Fabrice'], $suggestions);
+        }
+    }
+
 .. _`docopt standard`: http://docopt.org/

console/input.rst

@@ -195,6 +195,13 @@ the debugging routes in the next section.
 
 You'll learn about many more commands as you continue!
 
+.. tip::
+
+    If you are using the Bash shell, you can set-up completion support.
+    This autocompletes commands and other input when using ``bin/console``.
+    See :ref:`the Console document <console-completion-setup>` for more
+    information on how to set-up completion.
+
 .. _web-debug-toolbar:
 
 The Web Debug Toolbar: Debugging Dream