To get the current shape of a third-party API into context before writing a PHP integration, Atlas leaves the repo deliberately. websearch finds the current documentation page and injects the current year into its description so the model biases toward fresh sources. webfetch pulls the page down, with format negotiation for markdown, text, or html, and asks for permission with the URL as the pattern before any request goes out. Only then do you write the client class into src/ and back it with PHPUnit, instead of guessing an endpoint signature from memory and discovering the mistake in production.
How do I stop an AI agent from hallucinating a third-party API signature in PHP?
Give it the real documentation. Atlas calls websearch to find the current docs page, then webfetch to pull the actual content into context, before any PHP client class is written. The websearch tool injects the current year, 2026, into its description so the model biases toward fresh sources rather than a stale snapshot.
A hallucinated endpoint in PHP looks exactly like a real one until runtime. A Guzzle call to an endpoint that no longer exists, a payload key renamed two versions ago, an auth header that moved from a query parameter to a bearer token: all of them compile, all of them pass PHP-CS-Fixer, and all of them fail against the live API. The fix is not a better prompt, it is better context. Atlas fetches the current documentation page before writing the integration, so the client class you end up with in src/Integration/ is written against the signatures the provider publishes today, not the ones the model remembers.
What does webfetch format negotiation do for a PHP developer reading API docs?
webfetch takes a format parameter with 3 options, markdown, text, or html, and the Accept header steers the server toward a compact representation. For a PHP developer researching an API, format markdown is usually the right call: it strips the site chrome and leaves the endpoint tables and the request and response examples.
API documentation pages are mostly navigation. Fetching a docs page as raw html drags a sidebar, a cookie banner, and a search widget into context alongside the one table you actually need, which is the table listing the endpoint, the required parameters, and the error codes your PHP client must handle. Passing format markdown or text to webfetch negotiates for a compact representation, so the context Atlas reasons over is closer to the substance. That matters when you are about to translate a response schema into a PHP value object under src/ and every field name has to be exact.
How does Atlas keep webfetch from sending my PHP codebase to arbitrary hosts?
Permissions keep webfetch inside the boundary you set. Both websearch and webfetch sit behind explicit permissions, and webfetch asks with the URL as the pattern before any request goes out. Every Atlas tool call is gated against 3 rule types, allow, ask, and deny, so nothing reaches a host you never approved.
For a PHP shop with a private Composer registry and client data in the repo, the question is not whether the agent can browse, it is whether you can see and control where it browses. Atlas's answer is a prompt with the URL as the pattern: you approve api.stripe.example/docs, not "the internet". Allow, ask, and deny rules mean you can pre-approve a vendor's docs domain and deny everything else. The same gating applies to the rest of the workflow: the write that creates src/Integration/PaymentsClient.php and the edit that changes composer.json are permission-gated tool calls, each with a unified diff surfaced for approval before writing.
How do I write the PHP client once the API docs are in context?
Atlas writes the PHP integration with the write or edit tool against the real signatures it just fetched. The client class lands under src/, autoloaded through composer.json under your existing PSR-4 namespace, and the value objects mirror the response fields exactly as the fetched documentation names them.
The mechanical part is straightforward once the facts are right. Run atlas in a project with a composer.json and Atlas reads your namespaces, autoload config, and dependencies, so the new class picks up your existing PSR-4 namespace rather than inventing one. Ask Atlas to add PHPUnit tests for the client, covering the error codes the documentation lists, and to apply PSR-12 formatting with PHP-CS-Fixer. Every write shows the full diff in the permission prompt before the file is created, so the first time you see src/Integration/PaymentsClient.php is before it exists on disk, not after.
Why should Atlas grep the PHP repo before committing to an integration pattern?
Because your repo already has an opinion. Atlas greps the PHP codebase to find the existing HTTP client conventions before writing a new one, so the integration matches how the other 6 clients under src/ do retries, error mapping, and dependency injection, rather than introducing a seventh style.
The documented step is explicit: verify against the repo's own conventions with grep before committing to a pattern that does not match the codebase. In a PHP project that means checking how existing classes construct their HTTP client, whether they throw a domain exception or return a result object, and how they are registered in the container. grep runs through ripgrep with a real regex plus include and path filters, so scoping it to src/ and *.php is one call. Atlas also searches code with hybrid semantic and keyword retrieval fused by reciprocal rank fusion, so codebase_search can surface the convention by meaning when you do not know the class names yet.
How do I verify the PHP integration actually works against the documented API?
Atlas covers the PHP integration with PHPUnit, turning each response shape and error code from the fetched documentation into a test case. Run the suite, then apply PSR-12 formatting with PHP-CS-Fixer so the diff you review is the integration, not a reformatting of src/.
The value of researching first shows up here: because the tests were written against the fetched documentation rather than a guess, a green PHPUnit run means the client matches the published contract. Install and manage the HTTP dependency through Composer so the version is pinned in composer.lock. Then let Atlas stage the work: Atlas reads git branches, status, and diffs, and can stage and create commits on your behalf, and it snapshots file changes as git patches so edits can be diffed and rolled back if the integration needs to be reverted.
Step by step
- 01Run atlas in a PHP project with a composer.json so Atlas reads your namespaces, autoload config, and dependencies.
- 02Call websearch to find the current documentation page for the third-party API; the tool injects the current year into its description so the model biases toward fresh sources.
- 03Fetch the page with webfetch, passing format markdown or text so the Accept header steers the server toward a compact representation.
- 04Approve the webfetch permission prompt; the tool asks with the URL as the pattern before any request goes out.
- 05Read the fetched content and note the exact endpoint, parameter names, and error codes the PHP client must handle.
- 06Grep the repo with Atlas to find the existing HTTP client conventions under src/ before committing to a pattern that does not match the codebase.
- 07Write the integration with the write or edit tool against the real signatures, letting Composer autoload the new class through composer.json.
- 08Add PHPUnit tests covering the documented error codes, run the suite, and apply PSR-12 formatting with PHP-CS-Fixer before committing.
Frequently asked questions
- how do I get an AI agent to read the real API docs before writing PHP code
- Have Atlas call websearch to locate the current documentation page and webfetch to pull the content into context. websearch injects the current year into its description so the model biases toward fresh sources, and webfetch supports format markdown or text so the endpoint tables arrive without the docs site chrome.
- can Atlas browse the web from a PHP project safely
- Yes, and it asks first. websearch and webfetch both sit behind explicit permissions, and webfetch prompts with the URL as the pattern before any request goes out. Allow, ask, and deny rules let you pre-approve a vendor's docs domain and deny everything else.
- what format should webfetch use for API documentation
- Pass format markdown or text. The Accept header then steers the server toward a compact representation, which keeps the endpoint tables and request and response examples in context instead of the navigation, cookie banner, and search widget.
- how do I make an AI written PHP integration match my existing code style
- Have Atlas grep the repo before it writes. The documented step is to verify against the repo's own conventions with grep before committing to a pattern that does not match the codebase. Then apply PSR-12 formatting with PHP-CS-Fixer so the new class under src/ is stylistically identical to the rest.
- does Atlas know my Composer namespaces and autoload config
- Yes. Run atlas in a project with a composer.json and Atlas reads your namespaces, autoload config, and dependencies, so a new client class it writes lands in the right PSR-4 namespace rather than an invented one.
- how do I test a third-party API integration in PHP
- Turn the documentation you fetched with webfetch into PHPUnit cases, one per documented error code and response shape. A green PHPUnit run then means the client matches the published contract rather than the model's memory of it.
- will Atlas show me the new PHP file before it writes it
- Yes. The write tool shows the full diff in the permission prompt before the file is created, and Atlas computes a unified diff for every file edit and surfaces it for approval before writing. Changes are also snapshotted as git patches so they can be diffed and rolled back.
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