Fatal error with PHPStan 2.2.6: RichParser::$container no longer exists

[magicsunday]

Since the release of phpstan/phpstan 2.2.6 (2026-07-26), every Rector run aborts before any rule executes when PHPStan is installed as a project dependency:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Rector\Exception\Reflection\MissingPrivatePropertyException:
Property "$container" was not found in "PHPStan\Parser\RichParser" class
  in vendor/rector/rector/src/Util/Reflection/PrivatesAccessor.php:82

#0 PrivatesAccessor.php(45): Rector\Util\Reflection\PrivatesAccessor->resolvePropertyReflection(Object(PHPStan\Parser\RichParser), 'container')
#1 DependencyInjection/PHPStan/PHPStanContainerMemento.php(24): PrivatesAccessor->getPrivateProperty(Object(PHPStan\Parser\RichParser), 'container')
#2 PhpParser/Parser/RectorParser.php(32): PHPStanContainerMemento::removeRichVisitors(Object(PHPStan\Parser\RichParser))
#3 [internal function]: Rector\PhpParser\Parser\RectorParser->__construct(Object(PHPStan\Parser\RichParser), Object(Rector\Util\Reflection\PrivatesAccessor))

PHPStanContainerMemento::removeRichVisitors() reads the private property PHPStan\Parser\RichParser::$container by reflection. That property is gone in PHPStan 2.2.6, so RectorParser cannot be constructed and the process dies.

Minimal reproduction

No rule sets, no phpstanConfig(), one empty class — the crash happens during container construction:

{
    "require-dev": {
        "rector/rector": "2.5.7",
        "phpstan/phpstan": "2.2.6"
    }
}

// rector.php
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/src']);

$ composer install
$ vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run
PHP Fatal error: ... (as above), exit code 255

Version bisect

Same project, same container, only the PHPStan version changed:

phpstan/phpstan	rector process --dry-run
2.2.5	exit 0
2.2.6	exit 255, fatal as above

Environment

• rector/rector 2.5.7 (current release; requires phpstan/phpstan: ^2.2.2, which resolves to 2.2.6)
• phpstan/phpstan 2.2.6
• PHP 8.5.8, Linux

Because 2.2.6 satisfies the ^2.2.2 constraint, a fresh composer install picks it up automatically — any project that installs phpstan/phpstan alongside Rector and does not have a pinned lock file is affected as of today.

[magicsunday]

Also reproduces on rector/rector: dev-main (073c330) with the same phpstan/phpstan 2.2.6 — identical fatal, exit 255. So the current development state is affected too, not just the 2.5.7 release.

PHPStanContainerMemento::removeRichVisitors() on main still calls getPrivateProperty($richParser, 'container') unguarded, which matches what the stack trace shows.

[samsonasik]

See

• Bump to PHPStan ^2.2.6 and Fix its Container compatibility in RichParser rector-src#8208