PHP 8.x Deprecation Warnings: JsonSerializable Return Type Compatibility

[hmbashar]

Environment:

PHP Version: 8.x
SDK Version: 4.0.10
Issue: Massive deprecation warnings flooding debug logs
Description:

The Pipedrive PHP SDK (v4.0.10) generates thousands of deprecation warnings when used with PHP 8.x, causing debug log files to grow to 10MB+ in size within minutes. The warnings are related to JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize() return type declarations that are not compatible with PHP 8.x requirements.

Example Warnings:

PHP Deprecated: Return type of Pipedrive\Models\UserMe::jsonSerialize() should either be compatible with JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /vendor/pipedrive/pipedrive/src/Models/UserMe.php on line 46

PHP Deprecated: Return type of Pipedrive\Models\BaseUserMe::jsonSerialize() should either be compatible with JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /vendor/pipedrive/pipedrive/src/Models/BaseUserMe.php on line 237

PHP Deprecated: Return type of Pipedrive\Models\Language::jsonSerialize() should either be compatible with JsonSerializable::jsonSerialize(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /vendor/pipedrive/pipedrive/src/Models/Language.php on line 48

Impact:

• Debug log files grow exponentially (10MB+ per page load)
• Server disk space consumed rapidly
• Log monitoring systems overwhelmed
• Difficult to identify actual application errors among thousands of deprecation warnings

Expected Behavior:

The SDK should be compatible with PHP 8.x without generating deprecation warnings. Model classes implementing JsonSerializable should either:

1. Declare proper return types: : mixed
2. Use the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute as a temporary measure

Suggested Fix:

Update all model classes that implement JsonSerializable to include proper return type declarations:

// Before
public function jsonSerialize()
{
    // ...
}

// After (Option 1 - Preferred for PHP 8.0+)
public function jsonSerialize(): mixed
{
    // ...
}

// After (Option 2 - Temporary compatibility)
#[\ReturnTypeWillChange]
public function jsonSerialize()
{
    // ...
}

Workaround:

Currently suppressing E_DEPRECATED errors at the application level, but this is not ideal as it hides other legitimate deprecation warnings.

Screenshots:

[Attach your screenshots showing the debug.log file with thousands of deprecation warnings]

Additional Context:

This issue affects all PHP 8.x users and makes the SDK difficult to use in production environments where debug logging is enabled. A fix would greatly improve the developer experience and reduce server resource consumption.