prestashop-module-development

PrestaShop Module Development

When to use

Use this skill for PrestaShop module development tasks such as:

Creating new modules with modern architecture (Symfony controllers, services, entities)
Refactoring legacy modules to use modern PrestaShop patterns
Implementing hooks, actions, and event listeners
Adding configuration pages (modern Symfony-form approach)
Creating front office features and widgets
Setting up database entities and migrations
Implementing security measures (CSRF, input validation, SQL injection prevention)
Adding multilingual support and translations
Converting legacy code patterns (HelperForm, jQuery UI sortable, ObjectModel) to modern equivalents
Building list pages with the PrestaShop Grid system (filters, pagination, toggle, drag-and-drop position)
Creating and managing PrestaShop cart rules (vouchers, discount codes, promotional codes)
Implementing Symfony console commands for background tasks and batch operations

Inputs required

PrestaShop version (target 8.x/9.x for modern development)
Module scope and functionality requirements
Existing module path (if updating legacy code)
Database schema requirements (if applicable)
Front office integration needs (hooks, widgets, pages)
Configuration requirements (settings, admin interface)
Multilingual requirements and supported languages

Procedure

0) Project structure & namespace naming

Read: references/module-structure.md

Key rules:

Derive PSR-4 namespace from the module name prefix — never use PrestaShop\Module\
Use the PrestaShop Module Generator to scaffold new modules

1) Main module class & installer

Read: references/module-class-and-installer.md

MANDATORY patterns:

install() method: ALWAYS if (!parent::install()) { return false; } FIRST, THEN delegate to installer
uninstall() method: ALWAYS installer FIRST, THEN parent::uninstall() with && chaining: return $installer->uninstall() && parent::uninstall();
Hooks: Define as class property array private array $hooks = [...] in Installer, use $module->registerHook($this->hooks) to register
Tabs: Define as class property array private array $tabs = [...] with structured data: name, class_name, label, parent_class_name, visible
Parent group tab: Auto-check if exists, if not, prepend to tabs array with array_unshift($this->tabs, $parentTab)
No getTabs(): NEVER add getTabs() method to module class — all tab management in Installer only

Key rules:

Always require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php'; after the _PS_VERSION_ guard
Never put hook registration, DB queries, or Configuration:: calls directly in install() — delegate to src/Install/Installer.php
getContent() must only redirect to the Symfony route using the modern Symfony router: $router = $this->get('router'); $route = $router->generate('route_name'); Tools::redirectAdmin($route); — NEVER use $this->context->link->getAdminLink()
No SQL in the main module class — all database access (including in hooks like hookActionShopDataDuplication and widget methods like getWidgetVariables) must be delegated to the Repository or Manager class via $this->get('service.id')
Service access: use $this->has() + null check in admin context; use plain $this->get() + null check in front-office context. NEVER use ContainerFinder — it is unnecessary. See references/module-class-and-installer.md → Guard patterns section.

1b) Configuration variable management

Read: references/configuration-management.md

MANDATORY pattern: YAML-based configuration with ConfigurationManager service

Key rules:

NEVER use Configuration::updateValue() or Configuration::get() directly in business logic
ALWAYS create /config_data/module.yml to define all configuration keys and default values (single source of truth)
ALWAYS use ConfigurationInstaller service for install/uninstall operations
ALWAYS use ConfigurationManager service to read configuration (from database or YAML fallback)
Structure:
- config_data/module.yml — all keys + defaults
- src/Install/ConfigurationInstaller.php — install/uninstall config values
- src/Configuration/ConfigurationManager.php — read config (DB or YAML)
- config/components/configuration/configuration_manager.yml — register service
Benefits: Single source of truth, type-safe access, no hardcoded keys, easy to test and maintain

2) Modern configuration pages

Read: references/configuration-page.md

MANDATORY pattern: FormHandler with constructor dependency injection

Key rules:

Do NOT use HelperForm — use Symfony form components + FrameworkBundleAdminController
Do NOT access services via $this->get() in controllers — Controllers have a limited service locator. Use constructor dependency injection with FormHandler instead
Five classes: DataConfiguration, FormDataProvider, FormType, FormHandler (PrestaShop Core), Controller (with DI)
Wire everything in config/components/configuration/services.yml (imported by config/admin/services.yml) and config/routes.yml
FormHandler: Use PrestaShop\PrestaShop\Core\Form\Handler service that wraps form creation, validation, and saving
Controller registration: Must be registered as public: true service with controller.service_arguments tag
FormType registration: Must have parent: 'form.type.translatable.aware' and tags: [{ name: form.type }]
Twig template form wrapping: ALWAYS use {% form_theme configurationForm '@PrestaShop/Admin/TwigTemplateForm/prestashop_ui_kit.html.twig' %} before {% extends %}; place {{ form_start() }} BEFORE <div class="card"> and {{ form_end() }} AFTER </div> — form tags must wrap the entire card structure at the same nesting level to prevent broken HTML

Controller pattern:

private FormHandlerInterface $formHandler;

public function __construct(FormHandlerInterface $formHandler)
{
    $this->formHandler = $formHandler;
}

public function indexAction(Request $request): Response
{
    $form = $this->formHandler->getForm();
    // ... handle request and save via $this->formHandler->save()
}

CategoryChoiceTreeType: PrestaShop's form type for hierarchical category selection trees. Requires specific setup:
- Valid form options: 'multiple' => true for multi-selection; 'required' => false for optional. DO NOT use 'expanded' option — it does not exist for this type
- Template requirements: Add {% form_theme configurationForm '@PrestaShop/Admin/TwigTemplateForm/prestashop_ui_kit.html.twig' %} before {% extends %} directive; include JS bundle in {% block javascripts %}
- JavaScript initialization: Create views/js/mymodule.form.bundle.js with window.prestashop.component.initComponents(['ChoiceTree']) and new window.prestashop.component.ChoiceTree('#form_categories').enableAutoCheckChildren() — selector must match the HTML id attribute (typically form_<field_name>)
- Form data handling: Returns array of category IDs; store as comma-separated string via implode(',', $data['categories']); retrieve and convert back with array_filter(array_map('intval', explode(',', $storedValue)))
- Common issues: Tree renders as plain checkboxes → missing form theme; expand/collapse doesn't work → missing JS initialization; "ChoiceTree is not defined" → use window.prestashop.component.ChoiceTree not plain ChoiceTree

3) Database operations & entities

Read: references/database-and-entities.md
For translatable entities with Grid: read references/entity-doctrine.md

Always use Doctrine ORM (Entity + LangEntity + Repository + Manager) for any entity that has a Grid list page or translatable fields
ObjectModel is legacy — do not use in new or modernised modules
Entity class name = table name without _DB_PREFIX_ — PS adds the prefix globally; use @ORM\Table() with no name= parameter
Prefix table names with a consistent company or module prefix (e.g. prefix_mymodule_items, prefix_mymodule_items_lang) — to group tables together and avoid conflicts with PS core tables
Lang entity property types must match the DB column nullability: columns declared NOT NULL DEFAULT '' use string $field = ''; columns declared NULL use ?string $field = null
TranslatableType returns null for languages the user did not fill in — in the Manager, always coerce null to '' for NOT NULL string fields: $row->setName((string) ($value ?? '')). Never pass the raw form value directly to a setter on a NOT NULL column
Do NOT create MetadataListener or Doctrine event listeners for table naming
Always sanitize raw DBAL SQL: cast IDs with (int), use bound parameters
No raw SQL (Db::getInstance(), pSQL(), _DB_PREFIX_ string concatenation) outside Repository and Manager classes. This applies everywhere: main module class, Installer, FixturesInstaller, hooks, widget methods. The only exception is Installer SQL schema queries (CREATE TABLE, DROP TABLE) which have no Repository equivalent.
FixturesInstaller must use Db::getInstance() raw SQL — SymfonyContainer::getInstance() returns null in the pr:mo Symfony console context (global $kernel is never set). All Doctrine ORM calls silently do nothing at install time. See references/module-class-and-installer.md → FixturesInstaller section.
Db::getValue() appends LIMIT 1 internally — never write LIMIT 1 in the SQL string passed to it; causes a MariaDB syntax error.

Services split & components architecture

Read: references/services-split.md

Key rules:

Do NOT create config/services.yml — only config/admin/services.yml and config/front/services.yml are needed; a root-level config/services.yml is never required and should not exist
config/admin/services.yml is loaded by admin kernel only — import ../common.yml + admin components (never common.yml without the ../ prefix)
Repository services only in config/common.yml components (Doctrine-level, no PrestaShopBundle deps)
All PrestaShopBundle-dependent services go in config/admin/services.yml
Always split into component sub-folders under config/components/ — never one flat services.yml
Only services accessed via $this->get('service.id') need public: true — declare it explicitly on each such service; all other services remain private (omit public:). Avoid _defaults: public: true as a blanket: it is against Symfony best practices and causes a fatal error in PrestaShop's Symfony version when combined with parent: services
Services that use parent: and need to be public must declare public: true explicitly on the service definition — public cannot be inherited from _defaults when parent is set (PrestaShop's Symfony version enforces this)
Never point config/services.yml at admin/services.yml — this loads admin-only services into the front kernel, breaking container compilation and making all $this->get() calls fail silently

4) Security (mandatory)

Read: references/security.md

CSRF: handled by Symfony forms automatically; validate manually for raw AJAX endpoints
SQL injection: (int) + pSQL() on every value, or use DbQuery builder
File uploads: pass full $_FILES-compatible array (including type, size, error) to ImageManager::validateUpload()

5) Hooks & front office integration

Read: references/hooks-and-front-office.md

CRITICAL: For front-office CSS/JS registration, ALWAYS use actionFrontControllerSetMedia hook, NEVER use header or displayHeader — use $this->context->controller->registerStylesheet() and ->registerJavascript() in that hook
Register hooks in Installer, not in install() directly
When implementing WidgetInterface, DO NOT define explicit hook methods like hookDisplayHome() that just call renderWidget() — PrestaShop automatically calls renderWidget() for all registered display hooks
For front-office Smarty templates: use {l s='Text' d='Modules.Modulename.Front'} directly in template, NEVER pass pre-translated strings as Smarty variables from getWidgetVariables() — only pass dynamic data (URLs, IDs, etc.), not static translatable UI text

5b) Theme template injection (widget call on install)

Read: references/theme-template-injection.md

PS8 does not support theme overrides from modules — use marker-based file patching instead
Two-class design: ThemeTemplateInjector (service, reusable) + ThemeTemplateInstaller (install orchestrator)
Never use Theme::getThemes() in install context — legacy class, not autoloaded in Symfony console; use scandir(_PS_ALL_THEMES_DIR_) instead
Wrap install/uninstall calls in try/catch returning true — theme injection must never block module install

6) Translations

Read: references/translations.md

FrameworkBundleAdminController::trans() signature is trans($id, $domain, $parameters = []) — NOT Symfony's order — always call as $this->trans('Text', 'Modules.Mymodule.Admin') (never $this->trans('Text', [], 'Domain') — passing [] as domain and a string as $parameters causes a fatal type error)
Use 'Text'|trans({}, 'Modules.Mymodule.Admin') in Twig
Declare isUsingNewTranslationSystem(): true in the module class

7) Legacy code conversion

Read: references/legacy-conversion.md

Common conversions: HelperForm → Symfony form, jQuery UI sortable → Grid PositionColumn, ModuleAdminController → FrameworkBundleAdminController.

8) Services & dependency injection

Read: references/services-and-di.md

CRITICAL: Never use legacy static calls in services/controllers:

❌ Context::getContext() — inject $context: "@=service('prestashop.adapter.legacy.context').getContext()" instead
❌ Configuration::get() / updateValue() — inject @prestashop.adapter.legacy.configuration instead
❌ Context::getContext()->getTranslator() — inject @translator instead

Key rules:

Define services in config/components/ sub-folders (imported by config/admin/services.yml)
Use $this->get('service.id') in Symfony controllers
Use Expression Language (@=) for computed constructor arguments (context, language ID, shop ID)
Always inject dependencies via constructor, never use static accessors

Symfony Console Commands

Read: references/services-and-di.md → Symfony Console Commands section

CRITICAL: Commands must be registered in config/admin/services.yml (NOT common.yml or front/services.yml):

# config/admin/services.yml
mymodule.command.my_command:
  class: Vendor\MyModule\Command\MyCommand
  arguments: ["@mymodule.service.my_service"]
  tags:
    - { name: console.command, command: modulename:action }

Key rules:

Command naming: modulename:action format (e.g., wsautocartrules:create, ws_keepdblight:cleandb)
Return codes: 0 for success, 1 for failure (NOT Command::SUCCESS/FAILURE constants)
Use SymfonyStyle for rich console output (tables, progress bars, styled messages)
Add --limit options for batch operations to enable testing with small datasets
Always inject services via constructor, never use static calls or $this->get()

9) Cart Rules & Vouchers

Read: references/cart-rules.md

Complete guide for creating and managing PrestaShop cart rules (discount vouchers) programmatically:

Key patterns:

Code generation: Use character set 123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ (no O/0 to avoid confusion, same as PrestaShop admin.js)
Uniqueness check: Validate with CartRule::getIdByCode($code) before creation
Multilingual names: Set name for all active languages via Language::getLanguages(true)
Customer restriction: Use $cartRule->id_customer for customer-specific vouchers
Date range: Both date_from and date_to required (format: Y-m-d H:i:s)
Reduction types: reduction_percent, reduction_amount, free_shipping, or gift_product
Essential fields: quantity, quantity_per_user, priority, highlight, partial_use, active
Restrictions: All default to false (no restriction); set specific restrictions as needed

Common use cases documented:

Customer-specific vouchers with percentage discount
Auto-apply cart rules (no code required)
Limited-time flash sales with highlight
Free shipping vouchers
Gift product vouchers

10) Grid system (list pages with drag-and-drop position)

Read: references/grid-system.md

Full pattern for building CRUD list pages with the PS Grid system:

GridDefinitionFactory — columns (PositionColumn, ToggleColumn, ActionColumn), filters, row actions
QueryBuilder — Doctrine DBAL query with sorting, pagination, and filters
Filters — default sort/limit settings
5 service definitions in config/components/grid/ (factory, query, data, grid, position) + 1 Twig FilesystemLoader
Twig FilesystemLoader path is %kernel.project_dir%/modules/mymodule/views — %kernel.project_dir% is the PS root (parent of app/), so modules/ is a direct child. Never use %kernel.project_dir%/../modules/
4 routes in routes.yml (index, search, toggle, update-position)
4 controller actions (indexAction, searchAction, toggleStatus, updatePositionAction)
Pre-built JS bundle (copied from ws-entity-grid-skeleton, grid ID replaced via sed)

Verification

Module installs without PHP errors: php bin/console pr:mo install mymodule
Configuration saves correctly with proper validation
Front office features display and function properly
Translations work in all configured languages

Validation

AI agent rule — NEVER SKIP EITHER STEP. Read references/validation.md for full instructions.

Step 1 — lotr (run from the module root)

vendor/websenso/prestashop-module-devtools/bin/lotr

Expected: 🎉 All commands completed successfully! Executed: 6/6

Step 2 — Install test (run from the PS root)

php bin/console pr:mo install mymodule

Expected: L'action Install sur le module … a réussi.

Failure modes / debugging

Read: references/debugging.md

Common failure areas:

references/debugging.md — all symptom/cause/fix tables (install, config page, Grid, InputBag, ImageManager, lotr steps)

PrestaShop 9 Core Documentation

The following files are bundled with this skill in the ps9-core-ai/ directory. Read them for deep understanding of PS9 core architecture, conventions, and patterns.

ps9-core-ai/CONTEXT.md — Root AI context for the PS9 codebase: project-wide coding standards, architecture layers (Core/Adapter/Bundle/Legacy), CQRS pattern, branching policy, and the full index of domain and component contexts.
ps9-core-ai/STRUCTURE.md — Architecture of the .ai/ folder itself: how contexts, skills, and pointer files are organized and how AI tools discover them.

Note for skill maintainers: These files are static snapshots from the official PrestaShop repository. To update them, skill maintainers can run lotr --install from a module directory. This is not a runtime operation — the files are pre-bundled and version-controlled with the skill.

Steering

If your project or organisation defines a steering layer (layered context rules for coding standards, architecture conventions, and project-specific overrides), load the steering files before starting any task.

Finding the resolver — search in this order:

steering/resolver.md at the module root (custom installation)
vendor/websenso/prestashop-module-devtools/steering/resolver.md — canonical path when the devtools are installed as a Composer package (same package that provides vendor/websenso/prestashop-module-devtools/bin/lotr)
Any vendor/*/*/steering/resolver.md — scan all vendor subfolders for a steering/resolver.md file (use the first match found)

If none exists, skip steering silently and apply only the skill defaults.

Typical steering structure (paths relative to wherever the resolver is found):

steering/resolver.md                          ← load order and conflict rules
steering/company/                             ← organisation-wide standards
steering/languages/php/coding-standards.md    ← PHP conventions
steering/frameworks/prestashop/               ← PrestaShop-specific rules

Load steering files from lowest to highest priority (company → language → framework → project). Later layers override earlier ones.

Escalation

PrestaShop 9 Module Creation
Module Good Practices
Official Example Modules
demosymfonyform — canonical Symfony form config page
Module Validator
PrestaShop Developer Slack

About this skill

When to use

Inputs required

Procedure

0) Project structure & namespace naming

1) Main module class & installer

1b) Configuration variable management

2) Modern configuration pages

3) Database operations & entities

Services split & components architecture

4) Security (mandatory)

5) Hooks & front office integration

5b) Theme template injection (widget call on install)

6) Translations

7) Legacy code conversion

8) Services & dependency injection

Symfony Console Commands

9) Cart Rules & Vouchers

10) Grid system (list pages with drag-and-drop position)

Verification

Validation

Step 1 — lotr (run from the module root)

Step 2 — Install test (run from the PS root)

Failure modes / debugging

PrestaShop 9 Core Documentation

Steering

Escalation