diff --git a/skills/php-modernization/references/php-cs-fixer-deprecations.md b/skills/php-modernization/references/php-cs-fixer-deprecations.md
index d2d752f..5c2ed90 100644
--- a/skills/php-modernization/references/php-cs-fixer-deprecations.md
+++ b/skills/php-modernization/references/php-cs-fixer-deprecations.md
@@ -78,3 +78,19 @@ The verify scripts should detect:
 - `@PSR12` / `@PSR12:risky` (deprecated by `@PER-CS`).
 - Any rule-set name that produces a "Detected deprecations" warning
   on dry-run (run the detection command above).
+
+## Pre-push usage gotchas
+
+Two php-cs-fixer behaviours make a local run disagree with CI:
+
+- **The cache masks violations.** php-cs-fixer records clean files in
+  `.php-cs-fixer.cache`; a later run then reports a file clean while CI (fresh
+  checkout, no cache) fails the Code Style job on it — often an
+  `ordered_class_elements` reorder that a newer fixer version flags. For a
+  reliable pre-push check, run with `--using-cache=no`. (The CI fixer version can
+  also be newer than local; cache-off catches most of that gap.)
+- **`no_unused_imports` deletes an import you added before its first use.** When
+  a `use X;` is added in one edit and its usage (a new method or test) in a later
+  edit, with a fixer run in between, the import is stripped as unused and does not
+  come back — CI then dies with `Class "…\X" not found`. After adding code that
+  references a newly-imported class, re-verify the import is still present.
diff --git a/skills/php-modernization/references/static-analysis-tools.md b/skills/php-modernization/references/static-analysis-tools.md
index b25d90f..410f2c1 100644
--- a/skills/php-modernization/references/static-analysis-tools.md
+++ b/skills/php-modernization/references/static-analysis-tools.md
@@ -373,6 +373,21 @@ for what's actually available.
   run: vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run --ansi
 ```
 
+### DEAD_CODE rewrites can change intent — verify, don't auto-apply
+
+`SetList::DEAD_CODE` includes `RemoveDefaultArgumentValueRector`, which strips a
+trailing argument whose value equals the parameter's default. That is wrong when
+the argument is *meaningful* and only coincidentally equals a default — e.g.
+`verifyChain($from, $to, 0)` where the third parameter defaults to a configured
+value and `0` is passed to disable it: Rector rewrites the call to
+`verifyChain()`, silently restoring the floor. Pass such an argument **by name**
+(`verifyChain(minEpoch: 0)`) — the rule leaves named arguments alone. (The same
+set also rewrites `$x !== null` to `$x instanceof T` on a `?T` return; that one
+is a safe equivalent — apply it and add the import.)
+
+A rewrite from a lossy set (`DEAD_CODE`, `CODE_QUALITY`) is a suggestion to
+verify against intent, not an edit to apply blind.
+
 ## PHP-CS-Fixer (Coding Style)
 
 Enforces coding standards automatically.