[Feature]: View references for view names returned from methods (component template registry)

[EgorGruzdev]

Description

We use a lightweight Twig component model on top of TwigBridge. Each component
class declares its template via a static method returning the view name; the
actual view() call happens later inside a central Twig extension:

class Header implements TwigComponent
{
    public static function template(): string
    {
        return 'components/corporate/header'; // ← view name, but not recognized
    }
}

// elsewhere, in the Twig extension:
return view($componentClass::template(), $context)->render();

Since the string literal is not an argument of view() / View::make(),
Laravel Idea does not recognize it as a view reference — no completion,
no click-navigation to the template, no "unresolved view" inspection,
and the template file itself is reported as unused.

What we tried

• ide.json completions with "complete": "views" — works only for method
  arguments, not for return values.
• Current workaround: return view('components/corporate/header')->name();
  — the literal becomes visible to Laravel Idea, at the cost of instantiating
  a View object at runtime (we cache the resolved name per request).

Proposal

Any of these would solve it:

1. ide.json support for marking a method's return value as a view
   reference, e.g. "place": "returnValue" in a completion definition;
2. or an attribute the plugin recognizes, e.g. #[ViewName] on the method /
   a class-level #[View('components/...')];
3. or recognizing view-name strings returned from methods implementing a
   configurable interface.

This would also help other "registry" patterns where view names live in
constants/config arrays rather than direct view() calls.

Plugin version: Laravel Idea 13.2.0.261
PhpStorm version: PhpStorm 2026.1.3 (PS-261.25134.104)

[adelf]

Hi, Egor.

We will implement an ide.json way. I hope soon)

[EgorGruzdev]

Thanks for the build — tested place: "returnString" on 13.3.1.261 / PhpStorm 2026.2. Forward resolution works, the reverse index doesn't.

ide.json:

{
  "complete": "viewName",
  "condition": [
    {
      "place": "returnString",
      "methodNames": ["template"],
      "classParentFqn": ["\\TTBooking\\TwigComponent\\TwigComponent"]
    }
  ]
}

Component:

class Header implements TwigComponent
{
    public function template(): string
    {
        return 'components/corporate/header';
    }
}

Works: view-name completion inside the returned literal, Ctrl+Click from the literal → files/templates/components/corporate/header.html.twig, no "unresolved view" warning.

Doesn't work: the reverse direction. From the template file neither Find Usages (Alt+F7), nor the gutter icon, nor Go to related (Ctrl+Alt+Home) lists the component class, and the template still reads as unused.

A/B inside the same project: a sibling component still using the old workaround — return view('components/corporate/contentafter')->name(); — navigates both ways. So the reverse index is populated for literals inside view() but not for returnString-matched literals. Same view path (files/templates, declared in ide.json) and same .html.twig extension in both cases, so the path config isn't the factor.

Minor: the published schema https://laravel-ide.com/schema/laravel-ide-v2.json has no returnString in the place enum yet, so the config is flagged by the JSON validator in the editor.

[adelf]

I've checked in PhpStorm 2026.2.1.

It doesn't work with the gutter icon (this is expected behavior), but it works with Find Usages (Alt+F7). Could you check?

[EgorGruzdev]

Re-tested on PhpStorm 2026.2.1 (PS-262.9437.196) with Laravel Idea 13.3.1.261 — same build you checked on. Still reproduces here.

First, the minor point is fixed: returnString is now in the place enum of the published schema, so the JSON validator no longer flags the config. Thanks.

Forward direction works. With the bare literal, Quick Doc / Ctrl+Click on 'components/corporate/header' resolves to files/templates/components/corporate/header.html.twig, and there is no "unresolved view" warning.

Reverse direction — clean A/B, same project, same view path (files/templates), same .html.twig extension, two sibling components differing only in how template() returns the name:

Template file	Component class	template() returns	Laravel Idea gutter icon on the template
components/corporate/contentafter.html.twig	Corporate\Contentafter	view('components/corporate/contentafter')->name()	present → navigates to the class
components/corporate/header.html.twig	Corporate\Header	'components/corporate/header' (matched by returnString)	present → does not navigate to the class

So the gutter icon does work for us in 2026.2.1 — it just doesn't see returnString-matched literals. The reverse index appears to be populated only for literals that are arguments of view().

Find Usages (Alt+F7) from the Project view lists the Twig call sites of the component for both files, but in neither case does it list the PHP component class — so it doesn't distinguish the two variants either.

ide.json used:

{
  "complete": "viewName",
  "condition": [
    {
      "place": "returnString",
      "methodNames": ["template"],
      "classParentFqn": ["\\TTBooking\\TwigComponent\\TwigComponent"]
    }
  ]
}