WordPress hook callbacks are not recognized as method references

Roberto1

Hello,

I'm evaluating (30 days trial) PHP Tools for VS Code in a WordPress project and noticed two limitations regarding WordPress hook callbacks.

Example:

public function __construct() {
    add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', [ __CLASS__, 'enqueueScripts' ] );
    add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', [ __CLASS__, 'nonExistingMethod' ] );
}

public static function enqueueScripts(): void {
    // ...
}

Issue 1: Missing validation

When a callback references a non-existing method, for example:

[ __CLASS__, 'nonExistingMethod' ]

PHP Tools does not report any warning or error, even though WordPress will trigger a fatal error when the hook is executed.

It would be very useful if PHP Tools could validate callback arrays and report missing methods.

Issue 2: No navigation support

For valid callbacks such as:

[ __CLASS__, 'enqueueScripts' ]

Ctrl+Click / Go to Definition on the method name string ('enqueueScripts') does not navigate to the corresponding method definition.

Since this callback syntax is extremely common in WordPress development, it would be very helpful if PHP Tools could treat these callback arrays as method references and provide:

Go to Definition
Find References
Rename Symbol support
Validation of missing methods

Is this functionality already available through a setting, or is it something that could be considered for a future release?

Thank you.

JakubMisek

Roberto1, thank you for trying our tools, and for the samples!

Good point, the editor recognizes [ $this, "functionname" ], but not the same with __CLASS__;

[x] validation will be implemented
[x] navigation for [ __CLASS__, methodname ] will be implemented

Roberto1

Thanks!

One additional suggestion related to WordPress hooks:

When using a hook such as:

add_action( 'wp_head', [ __CLASS__, 'wp_head' ] );

PHP Tools correctly shows the tooltip documentation when hovering over the hook name (wp_head), including its description.

However, it would be very useful if Ctrl+Click (Go to Definition) on the hook name could navigate to the WordPress source where the hook is defined, for example:

do_action( 'wp_head' );

This would make it much easier to understand where and when a hook is fired, especially when working with large WordPress codebases.

A similar behavior is already available in some IDEs and would greatly improve WordPress development workflows.

I've attached a screenshot showing this behavior in PhpStorm. A similar "Go to Hook Definition / Hook Usages" feature in PHP Tools would be extremely valuable for WordPress development.

PhpStorm shows a popup listing the hook usages and definitions, including locations where the hook is fired via:

do_action( 'init' );
and other relevant usages throughout the project.

JakubMisek

Roberto1, good idea!

The next update will support that:

And completion for array-style callables: