client_dto_1.php

<?php

class ClientDto
{
    public $id;
    public $name;
    public $site_url;
}
    

client_dto_2.php

<?php

use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Annotation\Groups;

class ClientDto extends Dto
{
    /**
     * @Groups(Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT)
     */
    public $id;

    /**
     * @Groups({Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT, Dto::GROUP_CREATE})
     */
    public $name;

    /**
     * @Groups({Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT, Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     */
    public $site_url;
}

client_dto_3.php

<?php
use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Annotation\Groups;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class ClientDto extends Dto
{
    /**
     * @Groups(Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT)
     * @var string
     */
    public $id;

    /**
     * @Groups({Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT, Dto::GROUP_CREATE})
     * @Assert\NotBlank(groups={Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @Assert\Type(type="string", groups={Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @var string
     */
    public $name;

    /**
     * @Groups({Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT, Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @Assert\NotBlank(groups={Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @Assert\Type(type="string", groups={Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @Assert\Url(protocols={"http", "https"}, groups={Dto::GROUP_CREATE, Dto::GROUP_UPDATE})
     * @var string
     */
    public $site_url;
}

client_entity.php

<?php

class Client
{
    private $id;
    private $name;
    private $siteUrl;

    // constructor, getters, etc
}

controller.php

<?php

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;

class ClientController extends AbstractController
{
    public function viewClientAction(string $clientId) : Response
    {
        $client = $this->getClientOr404($clientId);

        return $this->json(ClientDto::fromClient($client));
    }
}

controller_2.php

<?php

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

class ClientController extends AbstractController
{
    public function viewClientAction(string $clientId) : Response
    {
        $client = $this->getClientOr404($clientId);

        return $this->json(ClientDto::fromClient($client), Response::HTTP_OK, [], [
            'groups' => Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT,
        ]);
    }
}

controller_3.php

<?php
use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

class ClientController extends AbstractController
{
    // ...

    public function createClientAction(Request $request) : Response
    {
        // probably want to validate that the request is JSON and such here...

        // this will throw a NotEncodableValueException from the serializer component
        // if the JSON is invalid. May want to catch and convert to a bad request
        // exception.
        $dto = $this->get('serializer')->deserialize(
            $request->getContent(), 
            ClientDto::class,
            'json',
            ['groups' => Dto::GROUP_CREATE]
        );

        $validationErrors = $this->get('validator')->validate($dto, null, [Dto::GROUP_CREATE]);
        if (count($validationError) > 0) {
            return $this->json($validationErrors, Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST);
        }

        $client = $this->createAndStoreClientFromDto($dto);

        return $this->json(ClientDto::fromClient($client), Response::HTTP_CREATED, [
            'Location' => $this->generateUrl('clients.view', [
                'clientId' => $client->getId(),
            ]),
        ], [
            'groups' => Dto::GROUP_DEFAULT,
        ]);
    }
}

dto.php

<?php

abstract class Dto
{
    public const GROUP_DEFAULT = 'default';
    public const GROUP_CREATE = 'create';
    public const GROUP_UPDATE = 'update';
}