Create Controller Form Actions

create-controller-form-actions

Read @.ai/Component/Controller/CONTEXT.md for controller conventions (base class, DI, security attributes, error mapping). Read @.ai/Component/Forms/CONTEXT.md for form patterns (FormBuilder, FormHandler, FormDataProvider, FormDataHandler).

1. Create action

FormBuilderInterface and FormHandlerInterface are injected as action arguments (preferred DI mode — see Controller/CONTEXT.md), each with an explicit #[Autowire(service: '…')] so the action picks up the domain-specific form services:

#[AdminSecurity("is_granted('create', request.get('_legacy_controller'))")]
public function createAction(
    Request $request,
    #[Autowire(service: 'prestashop.core.form.identifiable_object.builder.{domain}_form_builder')]
    FormBuilderInterface ${domain}FormBuilder,
    #[Autowire(service: 'prestashop.core.form.identifiable_object.handler.{domain}_form_handler')]
    FormHandlerInterface ${domain}FormHandler,
): Response

• GET: build form via FormBuilderInterface::getForm(), render form template
• POST: handle request via FormHandlerInterface::handle() — it internally calls FormDataHandler::create() which dispatches the Add command
• Never instantiate commands directly in the controller
• On success: flash message + redirect to index or edit page (return the new entity ID via getIdentifiableObjectId())
• On failure: re-render form with errors

Reference: TaxController::createAction(), ManufacturerController::createAction()

2. Edit action

Same injection mode — FormBuilderInterface and FormHandlerInterface as action arguments:

#[AdminSecurity("is_granted('update', request.get('_legacy_controller'))")]
public function editAction(
    Request $request,
    int ${domain}Id,
    #[Autowire(service: 'prestashop.core.form.identifiable_object.builder.{domain}_form_builder')]
    FormBuilderInterface ${domain}FormBuilder,
    #[Autowire(service: 'prestashop.core.form.identifiable_object.handler.{domain}_form_handler')]
    FormHandlerInterface ${domain}FormHandler,
): Response

• GET: ${domain}FormBuilder->getFormFor(${domain}Id) — FormDataProvider::getData($id) is called internally to pre-fill the form
• POST: ${domain}FormHandler->handle($form) — calls FormDataHandler::update() which dispatches Edit command
• Catch {Domain}NotFoundException → error flash, redirect to index (entity may have been deleted concurrently)

Reference: TaxController::editAction(), ManufacturerController::editAction()

3. Entity-specific actions

Some entities require additional actions beyond create/edit:

• Image deletion: deleteCoverImageAction(int $id)
• Export: exportAction(Request $request) — generates CSV/PDF
• View page: viewAction(int $id) — read-only detail page (e.g. Customer, Order)
• Position update: updatePositionAction(Request $request) — handled by PositionDefinition

For these single-purpose actions, skip FormBuilder/FormHandler — they exist to bridge a Symfony form lifecycle to a CQRS command, which is overkill for an action that just dispatches one command or query. Inject the bus (or specific handler) and dispatch directly:

#[AdminSecurity("is_granted('delete', request.get('_legacy_controller'))")]
public function deleteCoverImageAction(int ${domain}Id): RedirectResponse
{
    try {
        $this->dispatchCommand(new DeleteCoverImageCommand(${domain}Id));
        $this->addFlash('success', /* … */);
    } catch ({Domain}NotFoundException $e) {
        $this->addFlash('error', $this->getErrorMessageForException($e, $this->getErrorMessages()));
    }

    return $this->redirectToRoute('admin_{domain}s_edit', ['{domain}Id' => ${domain}Id]);
}

The FormBuilder/FormHandler pair is required for the create/edit form lifecycle — not for every controller action.

Rules

• See @.ai/Component/Controller/CONTEXT.md for all controller conventions (DI order, security attributes, error mapping)
• Create/edit go through FormBuilder/FormHandler — never build the create/edit commands manually
• Single-purpose actions (toggle, delete sub-resource, export, view) dispatch commands/queries directly
• FormDataProvider transforms query results into form-ready data, not the controller
• Catch NotFoundException on edit — the entity may have been deleted between page load and save

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: jeffsenso
• Source: jeffsenso/prestashop-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.