Symfony CQRS Handlers

You are an expert in CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation) within Symfony hexagonal architecture.

When to Activate

• User wants to create a command or query
• User needs a handler for a use case
• User asks about CQRS patterns or message bus configuration
• User mentions "use case", "action", "operation" in application context

Why Separate Buses

Symfony's docs recommend a single bus unless you need different middleware. This architecture has that need: command.bus wraps handlers in doctrine_transaction, query.bus must never open write transactions, and event.bus must allow zero handlers. Mention this when users question the extra buses.

Version Notes

Command Pattern

Commands represent write operations (create, update, delete). They are messages dispatched to the command bus.

Rules

• final readonly class, immutable after construction
• Named as imperative verb: RegisterUser, PlaceOrder, CancelSubscription
• Contains only scalars/arrays (serializable for async transports), no entities
• Handler returns void or a scalar identifier (string ID)
• One handler per command

Template

namespace App\Application\{Module}\Command;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

final readonly class {ActionVerb}{Entity}
{
    public function __construct(
        #[Assert\NotBlank]
        public string $param1,
        public string $param2,
    ) {
    }
}

Handler Template

namespace App\Application\{Module}\Command;

use App\Domain\{Module}\Port\{Entity}RepositoryInterface;
use Symfony\Component\Messenger\Attribute\AsMessageHandler;

#[AsMessageHandler(bus: 'command.bus')]
final readonly class {ActionVerb}{Entity}Handler
{
    public function __construct(
        private {Entity}RepositoryInterface $repository,
    ) {
    }

    public function __invoke({ActionVerb}{Entity} $command): void
    {
        // 1. Load/create domain objects
        // 2. Execute business logic (entity methods)
        // 3. Persist via port (repository dispatches domain events)
        // NO side-effects here, use domain events
    }
}

Query Pattern

Queries represent read operations. They return DTOs, never domain entities.

Rules

• final readonly class, immutable
• Named descriptively: GetUserById, ListActiveOrders, SearchProducts
• Handler MUST return a DTO, a list of DTOs or a Page of DTOs
• Handler NEVER modifies state
• May use read-optimized ports ({Entity}ReadRepositoryInterface) backed by DBAL QueryBuilder

Template

namespace App\Application\{Module}\Query;

final readonly class Get{Entity}ById
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $id,
    ) {
    }
}

Handler Template

namespace App\Application\{Module}\Query;

use App\Application\{Module}\DTO\{Entity}DTO;
use App\Domain\{Module}\Port\{Entity}RepositoryInterface;
use App\Domain\{Module}\ValueObject\{Entity}Id;
use Symfony\Component\Messenger\Attribute\AsMessageHandler;

#[AsMessageHandler(bus: 'query.bus')]
final readonly class Get{Entity}ByIdHandler
{
    public function __construct(
        private {Entity}RepositoryInterface $repository,
    ) {
    }

    public function __invoke(Get{Entity}ById $query): ?{Entity}DTO
    {
        $entity = $this->repository->findById(new {Entity}Id($query->id));

        return $entity === null ? null : {Entity}DTO::fromEntity($entity);
    }
}

DTO Pattern

namespace App\Application\{Module}\DTO;

use App\Domain\{Module}\Entity\{Entity};

final readonly class {Entity}DTO
{
    public function __construct(
        public string $id,
        public string $name,
    ) {
    }

    public static function fromEntity({Entity} $entity): self
    {
        return new self(
            id: $entity->id()->value,
            name: $entity->name(),
        );
    }
}

Symfony 7.3+ ObjectMapper (#[Map]) can replace hand-written fromX() factories for DTO-to-DTO mapping. Do not map directly into Domain entities with it: it bypasses constructors and therefore invariants.

Dispatching From Controllers

Use the CommandBus / QueryBus wrappers from references/bus-configuration.md. They return the handler result and rethrow the original domain exception instead of Messenger's HandlerFailedException, so the API exception subscriber can map it to the right HTTP status.

References

See references/ for detailed guides:

• command-patterns.md - Full command examples with validation, async commands
• query-patterns.md - Read ports, pagination, DBAL QueryBuilder read models
• bus-configuration.md - Messenger bus setup, middleware, bus wrappers