@source

The @source tag points at a range of lines within the documented element's own source code, so that documentation tooling can render an excerpt of the real implementation next to the docblock — useful when seeing the actual code clarifies behavior that prose alone would need many words to explain. Unlike @example, which references a separate illustrating file, @source always refers back to the element it is written on.

"@source" <StartLine> [ <LinesCount> ]
    [ <Description> ]

Parsing a @source tag produces a SourceTag instance exposing $start — the starting line of the excerpt, always given — and $count, the number of lines to include, or null when the excerpt runs to the end of the element.

final class SourceTag extends Tag
{
    public function __construct(
        string $name,
        public readonly int $start,
        public readonly ?int $count = null,
        ?DescriptionInterface $description = null,
    ) {
        parent::__construct($name, $description);
    }
}

@source is still part of phpDocumentor's current tag reference, but its own page notes that its effects "are not yet fully implemented in phpDocumentor 3" — phpDocumentor tag reference. It remains here for reading classic-style docblocks.

05 July 2026