Claude for PHP Developers - Complete Series

Master Anthropic's Claude AI from basics to production—learn prompting, tool use, vision, RAG, and deployment of full-featured AI applications with PHP.

📚 About This Series

This comprehensive 40-chapter series teaches expert PHP developers how to build production-ready AI applications using Anthropic's Claude. From your first API call to deploying sophisticated multi-agent systems, you'll master every aspect of Claude integration.

Series Homepage: View Full Series

🎯 Who This Is For

Expert PHP developers (5+ years) ready to integrate AI
Laravel/Symfony developers building AI-powered features
Technical leads architecting AI solutions
SaaS founders building AI-first products
Enterprise developers integrating Claude into existing applications

Prerequisites:

Expert PHP knowledge (PHP 8.4+)
Modern framework experience (Laravel or Symfony)
Understanding of APIs and HTTP requests
Familiarity with asynchronous processing
No prior AI/ML experience required

📖 Series Structure

Part 0: Getting Started

Chapter 00 - Quick Start Guide

Part 1: Foundation (Chapters 01-05)

01: Introduction to Claude API
02: Authentication and API Keys
03: Your First Claude Request in PHP
04: Understanding Messages and Conversations
05: Prompt Engineering Basics

Part 2: Core Concepts (Chapters 06-10)

06: Streaming Responses in PHP
07: System Prompts and Role Definition
08: Temperature and Sampling Parameters
09: Token Management and Counting
10: Error Handling and Rate Limiting

Part 3: Advanced Features (Chapters 11-15)

11: Tool Use (Function Calling) Fundamentals
12: Building Custom Tools in PHP
13: Vision - Working with Images
14: Document Processing and PDF Analysis
15: Structured Outputs with JSON

Part 4: PHP Integration Patterns (Chapters 16-20)

16: The Official PHP SDK
17: Building a Claude Service Class
18: Caching Strategies for API Calls
19: Queue-Based Processing with Laravel
20: Real-time Chat with WebSockets

Part 5: Laravel Deep Dive (Chapters 21-25)

21: Laravel Integration Patterns
22: Building a Chatbot with Laravel
23: Claude-Powered Form Validation
24: Content Generation API
25: Admin Panel with AI Features

Part 6: Real-World Applications (Chapters 26-30)

26: Building a Code Review Assistant
27: Documentation Generator
28: Customer Support Bot
29: Content Moderation System
30: Data Extraction and Analysis

Part 7: Advanced Techniques (Chapters 31-35)

31: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
32: Vector Databases in PHP
33: Multi-Agent Systems
34: Prompt Chaining and Workflows
35: Fine-tuning Strategies

Part 8: Production & Deployment (Chapters 36-39)

36: Security Best Practices
37: Monitoring and Observability
38: Scaling Claude Applications
39: Cost Optimization and Billing

Appendices

A: API Reference Quick Guide
B: Common Prompting Patterns
C: Error Codes and Troubleshooting
D: Resources and Further Reading

🚀 Quick Start

1. Get Your API Key

2. Install Dependencies

bash

composer require anthropic-ai/sdk

3. Make Your First Request

php

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Anthropic\Anthropic;

$client = Anthropic::factory()
    ->withApiKey(getenv('ANTHROPIC_API_KEY'))
    ->make();

$response = $client->messages()->create([
    'model' => 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514',
    'max_tokens' => 1024,
    'messages' => [
        ['role' => 'user', 'content' => 'Hello, Claude!']
    ]
]);

echo $response->content[0]->text;

📚 Learning Paths

Quick Start Path (~8 hours)

Chapters: 00, 01, 02, 03, 06, 11, 21

Goal: Get up and running with Claude in PHP applications quickly.

Production Integration Path (~40 hours)

Chapters: 00-20, 36-39

Goal: Integrate Claude into production PHP applications with best practices.

AI Application Builder Path (~60 hours)

Chapters: 00-30 + Appendices

Goal: Build complete AI-powered applications from scratch.

Complete Mastery Path (60-80 hours)

All Chapters: 00-39 + All Appendices

Goal: Master every aspect of Claude integration for PHP.

💻 Code Examples

All code examples from this series are available in the code samples directory.

Running Examples

bash

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dalehurley/codewithphp.git
cd codewithphp

# Navigate to chapter code
cd code-samples/claude-php/chapter-00

# Install dependencies
composer install

# Set your API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-your-key-here"

# Run examples
php quickstart.php

🎓 What You'll Build

By completing this series, you'll build:

AI Chatbot with conversation memory and context
Code Review Assistant for automated PR analysis
Documentation Generator from codebases
Customer Support Bot with RAG and knowledge bases
Content Moderation System for UGC platforms
Data Extraction Pipeline for structured data
Multi-Agent System for complex workflows
Admin Panel with AI-powered features

📊 Series Statistics

Total Chapters: 40 comprehensive chapters
Appendices: 4 quick-reference guides
Code Examples: 500+ production-ready examples
Estimated Time: 60-80 hours for complete mastery
Lines of Content: 52,000+ lines of documentation and code
Difficulty: Expert level

🛠️ Technology Stack

Required

PHP 8.4+ with modern features
Composer for dependency management
Anthropic API Key (sign up at console.anthropic.com)

Optional

Vector Database (Pinecone, Weaviate, Milvus) for RAG chapters
Laravel Reverb or Soketi for WebSocket chapters
Monitoring Tools (Sentry, Datadog) for observability chapters

📖 Reading Guide

For Beginners to Claude

Start with Chapter 00 (Quick Start)
Read Chapters 01-05 (Foundation)
Complete exercises in each chapter
Try Chapter 06 (Streaming) for interactive features
Explore Chapter 11 (Tool Use) for dynamic capabilities

For Experienced Developers

Skim Chapter 00 (Quick Start)
Focus on Chapters 11-15 (Advanced Features)
Dive into Chapters 21-25 (Laravel Integration)
Study Chapters 31-35 (Advanced Techniques)
Master Chapters 36-39 (Production Deployment)

For Production Applications

Review Chapter 00 (Quick Start)
Master Chapters 06-10 (Core Concepts)
Implement Chapters 16-20 (PHP Integration)
Study Chapters 26-30 (Real-World Applications)
Essential: Chapters 36-39 (Production Best Practices)

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this series, you will:

✅ Integrate Claude API into any PHP application
✅ Design AI-powered features that solve real problems
✅ Optimize prompts for accuracy and cost
✅ Build conversational interfaces with context management
✅ Implement RAG systems for knowledge-grounded responses
✅ Create tool use functions for dynamic capabilities
✅ Process images and documents with vision API
✅ Use Agent Skills (Beta) to extend Claude with custom capabilities
✅ Implement Memory Tool (Beta) for cross-conversation memory
✅ Leverage Files API (Beta) for persistent file uploads
✅ Use prompt caching (5m/1hr) for cost optimization
✅ Implement batch processing for 50% cost savings
✅ Design multi-agent systems for complex workflows
✅ Deploy production applications with monitoring and scaling
✅ Optimize costs while maintaining quality

📚 Additional Resources

Official Anthropic Resources

PHP Resources

Community

🤝 Contributing

Found a typo or have a suggestion? Contributions are welcome!

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes
Submit a pull request

📄 License

This series is released under the MIT License.

💬 Getting Help

Stuck on something?

Check the Appendices for quick reference
Review the Troubleshooting section in each chapter
Browse GitHub Discussions
Ask in Anthropic Discord
Open an Issue

🌟 What Makes This Series Special

✨ Expert-Level Content - Written for experienced PHP developers, not beginners ✨ Production-Ready Code - Every example follows PHP 8.4+ best practices ✨ Complete Applications - Build real, deployable AI applications ✨ Framework Integration - Deep Laravel and Symfony examples ✨ Cost Optimization - Learn to save 95% on API costs ✨ Security First - GDPR, HIPAA, and enterprise compliance covered ✨ Proven Patterns - Architectures from real production applications ✨ Comprehensive Coverage - 40 chapters from basics to advanced deployment

📚 Additional Learning Resources

Learning Roadmap — Choose your learning path and track progress
Quick Reference — Essential syntax and patterns cheat sheet
Completion Certificate — Celebrate your achievement

🚀 Get Started Now

Ready to master Claude with PHP?

Start with Chapter 00: Quick Start Guide →

Or jump to the Full Series Index to explore all chapters.

Built with ❤️ by the Code with PHP team

Website • GitHub • Twitter

Claude for PHP Developers - Complete Series ​

📚 About This Series ​

🎯 Who This Is For ​

📖 Series Structure ​

Part 0: Getting Started ​

Part 1: Foundation (Chapters 01-05) ​

Part 2: Core Concepts (Chapters 06-10) ​

Part 3: Advanced Features (Chapters 11-15) ​

Part 4: PHP Integration Patterns (Chapters 16-20) ​

Part 5: Laravel Deep Dive (Chapters 21-25) ​

Part 6: Real-World Applications (Chapters 26-30) ​

Part 7: Advanced Techniques (Chapters 31-35) ​

Part 8: Production & Deployment (Chapters 36-39) ​

Appendices ​

🚀 Quick Start ​

1. Get Your API Key ​

2. Install Dependencies ​

3. Make Your First Request ​

📚 Learning Paths ​

Quick Start Path (~8 hours) ​

Production Integration Path (~40 hours) ​

AI Application Builder Path (~60 hours) ​

Complete Mastery Path (60-80 hours) ​

💻 Code Examples ​

Running Examples ​

🎓 What You'll Build ​

📊 Series Statistics ​

🛠️ Technology Stack ​

Required ​

Recommended ​

Optional ​

📖 Reading Guide ​

For Beginners to Claude ​

For Experienced Developers ​

For Production Applications ​

🎯 Learning Objectives ​

📚 Additional Resources ​

Official Anthropic Resources ​

PHP Resources ​

Community ​

🤝 Contributing ​

📄 License ​

💬 Getting Help ​

🌟 What Makes This Series Special ​

📚 Additional Learning Resources ​

🚀 Get Started Now ​