Check Serialization Details for Class Using Console Command in Symfony 7

The Symfony framework offers numerous pre-built commands that enable the debugging of different aspects of an application. The Serializer is a powerful component, but its hidden complexity can make debugging complex situations challenging. This tutorial explains how to check serialization details for class using console command in Symfony 7.

Let's say we have the following class which has two properties and attributes related with serialization:

src/Entity/User.php

<?php

namespace App\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Attribute\Ignore;
use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Attribute\SerializedName;

class User
{
    #[SerializedName('name')]
    private string $firstName;

    #[Ignore]
    private string $password;

    public function getFirstName(): string { return $this->firstName; }
    public function setFirstName(string $firstName): void { $this->firstName = $firstName; }

    public function getPassword(): string { return $this->password; }
    public function setPassword(string $password): void { $this->password = $password; }
}

The debug:serializer command can be used to get the serialization details of a given class, which can help to find issues in the metadata configuration.

php bin/console debug:serializer App\Entity\User

The command prints information in the table:

App\Entity\User
---------------

+-----------+-----------------------------------+
| Property  | Options                           |
+-----------+-----------------------------------+
| firstName | [                                 |
|           |   "groups" => [],                 |
|           |   "maxDepth" => null,             |
|           |   "serializedName" => "name",     |
|           |   "ignore" => false,              |
|           |   "normalizationContexts" => [],  |
|           |   "denormalizationContexts" => [] |
|           | ]                                 |
| password  | [                                 |
|           |   "groups" => [],                 |
|           |   "maxDepth" => null,             |
|           |   "serializedName" => null,       |
|           |   "ignore" => true,               |
|           |   "normalizationContexts" => [],  |
|           |   "denormalizationContexts" => [] |
|           | ]                                 |
+-----------+-----------------------------------+