silent-force-transitions.md

Silent & Force Transitions

StateFlow provides special transition modes for specific use cases.

Silent Transitions (No Events)

Perform a transition without dispatching any events. Useful for:

• Bulk operations where you don't want event handlers to fire
• Data migrations
• Background processes that shouldn't trigger notifications

// Normal transition - fires StateTransitioning and StateTransitioned events
$order->transitionTo('processing');

// Silent transition - no events fired
$order->transitionToWithoutEvents('processing');

Force Transitions (Skip Validation)

Perform a transition that bypasses all validation rules. Useful for:

• Admin overrides
• Data corrections
• System-level operations

// Normal transition - validates if transition is allowed
$order->transitionTo('delivered');
// Throws exception if not allowed

// Force transition - skips validation
$order->forceTransitionTo('delivered');
// Succeeds even if current state doesn't normally allow this transition

Fluent API

You can also use the fluent API for more control:

$result = $order->transition()
    ->to(Shipped::class)
    ->reason('Admin override')
    ->silent()    // No events
    ->force()     // Skip validation
    ->execute();

⚠️ Use with Caution

Force transitions bypass business rules. Use them only when you understand the implications:

• History is still recorded (unless you also use silent mode)
• No validation callbacks will run
• State consistency is your responsibility