In a recent Business Bloomer Club Slack thread, a member sought advice on submitting a plugin to the WooCommerce Marketplace.
The challenge was passing the Quality Insights Tool (QIT) PHP Compatibility check when using Composer dependencies, like Symfony MBString polyfill, which triggered false positives.
Despite using conditional loading for PHP 8.0+ and comments to bypass checks, the issue persisted.
Understanding the QIT PHP Compatibility Check
The QIT tool helps ensure plugins meet WooCommerce’s strict quality guidelines, including PHP version compatibility. It scans files for potential issues and flags any code that may be incompatible with supported PHP versions. However, certain files used for backward compatibility or alternative environments may cause false positives, making it harder to pass the assessment.
Moving Dependencies to the Vendor Directory
One recommended approach is placing all Composer dependencies within the /vendor/ directory. The QIT tool typically ignores files located in this folder. Tools like WPify Scoper can help by prefixing Composer dependencies and organizing them into a separate directory within /vendor/, reducing the risk of conflicts and false positives.
Using PHP Sniffs for Local Testing
Running PHP Code Sniffer (PHPCS) with WooCommerce’s custom sniffs locally allows developers to identify compatibility issues before submitting to the Marketplace. This avoids the long wait times associated with the online QIT tests. Installing and configuring WooCommerce sniffs enables comprehensive pre-submission checks:
composer require woocommerce/woocommerce-sniffs
vendor/bin/phpcs --standard=WooCommerce path/to/your/plugin
Avoiding Manual Edits to Composer Files
While adding comments to bypass checks directly in dependency files is possible, it’s not recommended due to maintenance and update challenges. Instead, handling compatibility at the packaging level with a script or build process ensures a cleaner, more maintainable approach.
Getting Support for QIT and Composer Issues
If false positives persist, reaching out to the WooCommerce Developer Relations team or posting an issue on the QIT CLI GitHub repository can provide direct insights from the developers maintaining the tool. Additionally, joining the WooCommerce vendor Slack community grants access to peer and official support for resolving complex compatibility challenges.
Conclusion
Successfully navigating QIT compatibility checks is crucial for WooCommerce Marketplace submissions. Leveraging the /vendor/ directory, local sniffs, and official support channels ensures a smoother process and improves the chances of approval. By applying these strategies, developers can maintain high-quality plugins that meet WooCommerce’s standards without sacrificing compatibility or performance.
