Composer Dependency Management

When to use

• The user wants to add, remove, or upgrade a third-party PHP package in a project managed by Composer.
• The user needs to pick or tighten a version constraint (caret, tilde, or exact) for a dependency.
• The user needs a reproducible, locked dependency set for CI or production deployment.

When NOT to use

• Do not use Composer to load optional feature modules or plugins that must be enabled or disabled at runtime.
• Do not use this skill to patch or hand-edit files under vendor/; that directory is regenerated on every install.

Core guidance