Schema JSON Format

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The -cli-schema-summaryverb outputs the entire Skipper project as structured JSON. This is the primary way for scripts and AI assistants to read a project's schema without parsing the .skipper XML file directly.

Top-Level Structure

The output is wrapped in a standard CLI envelope. The data field contains the project structure:

{
  "project": {
    "name": "MyProject",
    "orm": "Doctrine2",
    "mvc": "Symfony",
    "uuid": "a1b2c3d4-...",
    "modules": [...]
  }
}

Module Object

Field	Type	Description
uuid	string	Unique identifier of the module
name	string	Display name of the module
namespace	string	Namespace or package prefix for entities in this module
export_path	string	Filesystem path where exported files are written
export_format	string	Export format (e.g. "Doctrine2PhpAttributes", "xml", "yaml"). May be absent when no format is configured.
entities	array	List of Entity objects in this module
regions	array	List of Region objects for visual grouping
comments	array	List of Comment objects attached to this module
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attribute key-value pairs. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Entity Object

Field	Type	Description
uuid	string	Unique identifier of the entity
name	string	Fully qualified entity name (including namespace)
local_name	string	Short name without namespace prefix
description	string	Entity description text. Empty string when not set.
fields	array	List of Field objects belonging to this entity
associations	array	List of Association objects (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one)
indexes	array	List of Index objects defined on this entity
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attribute key-value pairs
many_to_many	array	List of Many-to-Many objects
embeddeds	array	List of Embedded objects

Field Object

Field	Type	Description
uuid	string	Unique identifier of the field
name	string	Field name
type	string	Data type (e.g. "integer", "string", "datetime", "text")
size	number	Column size/length (e.g. 255), 0 if not set
primary	boolean	Whether this field is part of the primary key
required	boolean	Whether this field is NOT NULL
nullable	boolean	Inverse of `required` — both are always present for convenience
unique	boolean	Whether a unique constraint exists on this field
auto_increment	boolean	Whether the field auto-increments
default	string \| null	Default value expression, `null` if not set
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes (e.g. `precision`, `scale`, `column`). Empty `{}` when none are set.

Association Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
to_entity	string	Name of the target entity
owner_alias	string	Property name on the owning side
inverse_alias	string	Property name on the inverse side
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Index Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
name	string	Index name
unique	boolean	Whether this is a unique index
fields	array	List of field names included in the index
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Many-to-Many Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
mn_entity	string	Name of the join table entity (if applicable)
owner_alias	string	Property name on the owning side
inverse_alias	string	Property name on the inverse side
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Embedded Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
to_entity	string	Name of the embedded entity
owner_alias	string	Property name on the owning side
inverse_alias	string	Property name on the inverse side
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Region Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
caption	string	Display caption for the region
description	string	Region description text. Empty string when not set.
namespace	string	Namespace override for entities within the region
orm_attributes	object	Framework-specific ORM attributes. Empty `{}` when none are set.

Comment Object

Field	Type	Description
id	number	Project-scoped auto-increment identifier
caption	string	Comment title text
description	string	Full description body of the comment

ORM Attributes Object

The orm_attributes field is present on every object type (entity, field, association, index, many-to-many, embedded, module, region). It contains framework-specific configuration as key-value pairs. Values are always strings. Empty {} when no ORM attributes are set.

Nested structures (like options) become JSON objects. Ordered containers (like lifecycle-callbacks) become JSON arrays of objects.

Entity orm_attributes example (Doctrine2):

"orm_attributes": {
  "table": "customers",
  "repository-class": "App\Repository\CustomerRepository",
  "change-tracking-policy": "DEFERRED_EXPLICIT",
  "options": {
    "charset": "utf8mb4",
    "engine": "InnoDB"
  },
  "lifecycle-callbacks": [
    {
      "type": "prePersist",
      "method": "onPrePersist"
    }
  ]
}

Field orm_attributes example:

"orm_attributes": {
  "precision": "10",
  "scale": "2",
  "column": "customer_email"
}

Inheritances

Note: Inheritances are managed via add_inheritance, update_inheritance, and remove_inheritance patch ops but are not yet included in schema-summary output.

Key Notes

IDs (id on associations, indexes, many-to-many, embeddeds, regions, comments) are project-scoped auto-increment numbers. Use them for update_* and remove_* operations.
UUIDs are stable identifiers for entities, fields, and modules -- they survive renames and moves.
orm_attributes is present on every object type (entity, field, association, index, M:N, embedded, module, region). Empty {} when no ORM attributes are set. Values are always strings.
name on entities and modules is the fully qualified name (e.g. \App\Entity\Customer). local_name is the short name (e.g. Customer).
nullable is the inverse of required -- both are always present on field objects for convenience.
export_format on modules may be absent when no format is configured.

Full Example

Below is a complete JSON output from a sample Doctrine2 project showing all object types with their orm_attributes, including field-level attributes, lifecycle callbacks, nested options, associations, indexes, many-to-many, embeddeds, regions, and comments:

{
  "project": {
    "name": "MyProject",
    "orm": "Doctrine2",
    "mvc": "Symfony",
    "uuid": "dc9798d3-...",
    "modules": [
      {
        "uuid": "b3cd1cb6-...",
        "name": "\\AppBundle",
        "namespace": "\\App\\Entity",
        "export_path": "src/Entity",
        "export_format": "Doctrine2PhpAttributes",
        "entities": [
          {
            "uuid": "95f18d41-...",
            "name": "\\App\\Entity\\Customer",
            "local_name": "Customer",
            "description": "Main customer entity",
            "fields": [
              {
                "uuid": "ca9e942c-...",
                "name": "id",
                "type": "integer",
                "size": 0,
                "primary": true,
                "required": true,
                "nullable": false,
                "unique": true,
                "auto_increment": true,
                "default": null,
                "orm_attributes": {}
              },
              {
                "uuid": "f31aa519-...",
                "name": "email",
                "type": "string",
                "size": 255,
                "primary": false,
                "required": true,
                "nullable": false,
                "unique": true,
                "auto_increment": false,
                "default": null,
                "orm_attributes": {
                  "column": "customer_email"
                }
              },
              {
                "uuid": "a830c960-...",
                "name": "price",
                "type": "decimal",
                "size": 0,
                "primary": false,
                "required": true,
                "nullable": false,
                "unique": false,
                "auto_increment": false,
                "default": "0.00",
                "orm_attributes": {
                  "precision": "10",
                  "scale": "2"
                }
              }
            ],
            "associations": [
              {
                "id": 1,
                "to_entity": "\\App\\Entity\\Order",
                "owner_alias": "orders",
                "inverse_alias": "customer",
                "orm_attributes": {}
              }
            ],
            "indexes": [
              {
                "id": 1,
                "name": "idx_email",
                "unique": true,
                "fields": ["email"],
                "orm_attributes": {}
              }
            ],
            "orm_attributes": {
              "table": "customers",
              "repository-class": "App\\Repository\\CustomerRepository",
              "change-tracking-policy": "DEFERRED_EXPLICIT",
              "options": {
                "charset": "utf8mb4"
              },
              "lifecycle-callbacks": [
                {
                  "type": "prePersist",
                  "method": "onPrePersist"
                }
              ]
            },
            "many_to_many": [
              {
                "id": 1,
                "mn_entity": "\\App\\Entity\\CustomerTag",
                "owner_alias": "tags",
                "inverse_alias": "customers",
                "orm_attributes": {}
              }
            ],
            "embeddeds": [
              {
                "id": 1,
                "to_entity": "\\App\\Entity\\Address",
                "owner_alias": "address",
                "inverse_alias": null,
                "orm_attributes": {}
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "regions": [
          {
            "id": 1,
            "caption": "Core Entities",
            "description": "",
            "namespace": "\\App\\Entity\\Core",
            "orm_attributes": {}
          }
        ],
        "comments": [
          {
            "id": 1,
            "caption": "TODO",
            "description": "Add audit fields"
          }
        ],
        "orm_attributes": {}
      }
    ]
  }
}