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madewithlove/license-checker
============================

CLI tool to verify allowed licenses for composer dependencies

3.1.0(1mo ago)54449.8k↓22.8%520MITPHPPHP ^8.4CI passing

Since Mar 10Pushed 1mo ago7 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/madewithlove/license-checker-php)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/madewithlove/license-checker)[ RSS](/packages/madewithlove-license-checker/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelog (10)Dependencies (14)Versions (28)Used By (20)

CLI Licence checker for composer dependencies
=============================================

[](#cli-licence-checker-for-composer-dependencies)

This library offers a simple CLI tool to show the licenses used by composer dependencies in your project. These licenses can be verified against a list of allowed (or denied) licenses to offer a way for your continuous integration pipeline to block merging when a non-verified license is being introduced to the codebase.

Upgrading from 2.x
------------------

[](#upgrading-from-2x)

Version 3.x introduces a new structured configuration format. Run the migration command to upgrade:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker migrate-config --remove-old

```

This converts your `.allowed-licenses` file to the new `.license-checker.yml` format. See [full migration details](#migrating-from-2x) below.

Installation
------------

[](#installation)

Installing should be a breeze thanks to `composer`: Note that you need PHP 8.4 to install the latest version (3.x).

```
composer require madewithlove/license-checker

```

Configuration
-------------

[](#configuration)

Create a `.license-checker.yml` file in the root of your project (where `composer.json` is located).

### Allowlist mode

[](#allowlist-mode)

Only the listed licenses are permitted. Any dependency using a license not on this list will be flagged:

```
# .license-checker.yml
allowed:
  - MIT
  - BSD-3-Clause
  - Apache-2.0
```

### Denylist mode

[](#denylist-mode)

All licenses are permitted **except** the ones listed. Use this when you want to block specific licenses:

```
# .license-checker.yml
denied:
  - GPL-3.0
  - AGPL-3.0
```

> **Note:** `allowed` and `denied` are mutually exclusive — you must use one or the other, not both.

It's possible to use a custom configuration file by passing the `--filename` (or `-f`) option to the CLI commands.

Usage
-----

[](#usage)

These are the different CLI commands:

### Check licenses

[](#check-licenses)

```
vendor/bin/license-checker check

```

### List used licenses

[](#list-used-licenses)

```
vendor/bin/license-checker used

```

### List configured licenses

[](#list-configured-licenses)

Shows the configured allowed or denied licenses:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker list-config

```

### Count used licenses

[](#count-used-licenses)

```
vendor/bin/license-checker count

```

### Automatically generate configuration

[](#automatically-generate-configuration)

This command will automatically generate a `.license-checker.yml` configuration in allowlist mode based on the currently used licenses:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker generate-config

```

### Excluding development dependencies

[](#excluding-development-dependencies)

Passing the `--no-dev` option to the CLI commands will scope all checks to production dependencies only. Checking production and development dependencies against separate configuration files is possible by passing options:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker check --no-dev --filename .license-checker-production.yml
vendor/bin/license-checker check --filename .license-checker-including-dev.yml

```

### Output Formats (--format option)

[](#output-formats---format-option)

You can choose how license information is displayed — either as a human-readable table (text) or in machine-readable JSON format.

```
vendor/bin/license-checker check --format=json

```

```
{
    "laravel/framework": {
        "license": "MIT",
        "is_allowed": true
    },
    "phpunit/phpunit": {
        "license": "BSD-3-Clause",
        "is_allowed": false
    }
}
```

```
vendor/bin/license-checker check --format=text

```

```
✓  phpunit/phpunit [BSD-3-Clause]
✓  symfony/console [MIT]

```

By default, results are printed as human-readable text. Use `--format=json` for structured machine-readable output.

Migrating from 2.x
------------------

[](#migrating-from-2x)

Version 3.x introduces a new structured configuration format. Here's what changed:

### Configuration file format

[](#configuration-file-format)

The old format was a plain YAML list in `.allowed-licenses`:

```
# OLD format (.allowed-licenses) — no longer supported
- MIT
- BSD-3-Clause
```

The new format uses a structured YAML file (`.license-checker.yml`) with an explicit `allowed` or `denied` key:

```
# NEW format (.license-checker.yml)
allowed:
  - MIT
  - BSD-3-Clause
```

### Automatic migration

[](#automatic-migration)

Use the `migrate-config` command to convert your old configuration:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker migrate-config

```

This reads `.allowed-licenses` and writes `.license-checker.yml` with the `allowed:` key.

To also remove the old file:

```
vendor/bin/license-checker migrate-config --remove-old

```

### Renamed commands

[](#renamed-commands)

2.x3.x`allowed``list-config`### Other breaking changes

[](#other-breaking-changes)

- Minimum PHP version is now 8.4 (was 8.3)
- Minimum Symfony version is now 7.4 (was 4.0)

###  Health Score

67

—

FairBetter than 100% of packages

Maintenance89

Actively maintained with recent releases

Popularity49

Moderate usage in the ecosystem

Community30

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity84

Battle-tested with a long release history

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 81.3% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~100 days

Recently: every ~84 days

Total

23

Last Release

53d ago

Major Versions

v0.10.0 → v1.02021-02-10

v1.6 → v2.02025-04-25

v2.1 → v3.0.02026-03-19

PHP version history (4 changes)v1.0PHP ^8.0

v1.4PHP ^8.1

v2.0PHP ^8.3

v3.0.0PHP ^8.4

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/df052a58ecfa5a07fd2b4cb12bb128ab28ff4b8e82fb0831eab81623b898ddb4?d=identicon)[madewithlove-machine-user](/maintainers/madewithlove-machine-user)

---

Top Contributors

[![jdrieghe](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/12606789?v=4)](https://github.com/jdrieghe "jdrieghe (231 commits)")[![WouterSioen](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1398405?v=4)](https://github.com/WouterSioen "WouterSioen (33 commits)")[![peterpacket](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/5574437?v=4)](https://github.com/peterpacket "peterpacket (8 commits)")[![ishifoev](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/34019391?v=4)](https://github.com/ishifoev "ishifoev (6 commits)")[![ramsey](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/42941?v=4)](https://github.com/ramsey "ramsey (2 commits)")[![saulens22](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9000854?v=4)](https://github.com/saulens22 "saulens22 (2 commits)")[![dependabot[bot]](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/29110?v=4)](https://github.com/dependabot[bot] "dependabot[bot] (1 commits)")[![hosni](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/47793698?v=4)](https://github.com/hosni "hosni (1 commits)")

---

Tags

clicomposerhacktoberfestlicenselicense-managementphp

###  Code Quality

TestsPHPUnit

Static AnalysisPHPStan, Psalm

Code StylePHP CS Fixer

Type Coverage Yes

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/madewithlove-license-checker/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/madewithlove-license-checker/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/madewithlove-license-checker)
```

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