PrestaShop Knowledge Base

This skill exposes the curated PrestaShop platform knowledge base bundled with the prestashop-experts plugin. The prestashop-expert agent consults this KB before answering, but any agent can read these files directly.

When this skill is relevant

Load and read from this KB when the user mentions:

• PrestaShop mechanics independent of theme — hooks, modules, Smarty, themes parent-child, theme.yml, install vs distribution, migration.
• PS 8 vs PS 9 differences.
• Symfony BO (the new Symfony 6 + Twig back office in PS 9).
• Smarty templating in PS context — {l}, {hook}, {widget}, {capture}.
• PS source clone vs distribution zip (install-dev/ vs install/, admin-dev/ vs admin/).
• Hummingbird v2 theme — the default theme of PS 9 — and "which theme should I use" decision matrix.
• Composer/vendor, parameters.php, .env in a PrestaShop project.

Do NOT load for: Panda-specific modules (use panda-kb), non-PrestaShop e-commerce, generic PHP/Symfony questions outside PrestaShop.

KB layout

references/
├── README.md                    # convenciones y índice de la KB
├── themes/                      # 13 docs
│   ├── parent-child-feature.md  # child theme mechanism (file path does NOT contain "child")
│   ├── theme-yml.md
│   ├── template-inheritance.md
│   ├── hummingbird-v2.md        # PS 9 default theme + decision matrix vs Panda
│   └── ... (assets, layouts, etc.)
├── modules/                     # 11 docs: arquitectura, config.xml, controllers, services.yml, lifecycle, hooks-in-modules
├── hooks/                       # 3 docs: overview + listing of available hooks
├── smarty/                      # 40 docs: Smarty templating + PS extensions
├── install/                     # 1 doc: source-vs-distribution.md (PS 9 clone vs zip)
└── version-migration/           # 8 docs: PS 8 → 9, Symfony/Twig BO, upgrade process

How to use the KB

1. Identify the topic of the question — themes / hooks / modules / smarty / install / migration — and jump to the matching subfolder.
2. themes/parent-child-feature.md is the canonical doc on child theme mechanics — note the file does NOT have "child" in its name (discoverability gotcha).
3. For Symfony BO (PS 9) work: version-migration/ has the most context. Source code in CWD lives in ./src/PrestaShopBundle/.
4. For legacy controllers (PS 8 + some PS 9 screens): still in ./controllers/admin/ and ./classes/. Not deeply covered in the KB — read source.
5. Smarty syntax → smarty/ (40 files) covers Smarty base + PS extensions. Read before improvising.
6. install/source-vs-distribution.md: critical when the CWD has install-dev/, admin-dev/, or a missing vendor/ folder — those indicate a source clone, not a distribution zip.

Key facts to surface to agents

• PS 9 default theme: Hummingbird v2 (accessibility-focused, EAA-aligned). Panda is still a valid premium alternative.
• PHP 8.1+ required in PS 9. PS 8 accepts PHP 7.4+.
• Symfony BO: PS 9 moves most BO to Symfony 6 + Twig. Legacy controllers/admin/AdminXController.php still exist for non-migrated screens.
• Active theme is in DB: ps_shop.theme_name. Files in ./themes/ are not authoritative on which theme is active.
• Hooks:
  • displayX hooks → inject HTML on the front.
  • actionX hooks → execute logic on events.
  • Definitive read in CWD: ./classes/Hook.php, ./src/Core/Module/....
  • Installed hooks: DB table ps_hook.
• Theme.yml is authoritative on layouts, PS compatibility, assets, and child-parent relationship (parent: declares the parent — not parent_theme:).

Project shape heuristics (PS 9)

When entering a project, check these to identify what you're dealing with:

Gaps to be honest about

• Coverage is uneven: smarty/ (40 docs) is well covered, install/ (1 doc) and hooks/ (3 docs) are minimal. For gaps, read source in CWD or consult devdocs.prestashop-project.org externally.
• PS 8-specific quirks are less covered than PS 9. If the question is PS 8 and the KB doesn't have it, say so.
• Performance, caching, profiling are not deeply covered. Recognize the gap and read source.

Cross-skill pointer

For Panda-theme-specific questions (st* modules, SunnyToo widgets, Easy Builder, Panda demos, "which Panda module for X"), use the sibling skill panda-kb and the agent panda-expert.