Drupal Configuration Management

Safe patterns for inspecting and syncing Drupal configuration across environments without accidentally importing changes.

When This Skill Activates

Activates when working with Drupal configuration management including:

• Inspecting config differences between environments

• Syncing config from remote environments

• Using drush commands safely on remote servers

• Avoiding accidental config imports

• Manual config editing workflows

Problem: Avoid Accidental Config Imports

CRITICAL: Some hosting platforms default drush commands to --yes (auto-confirm). Commands like config:import or cim may AUTO-CONFIRM and import configuration even when you only want to inspect differences.

Dangerous vs Safe Patterns

❌ DANGEROUS - May auto-import without confirmation:

Via SSH to remote

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush cim --diff" ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:import --diff"

✅ SAFE - Will show diff without importing:

Via SSH with --no flag

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush cim --no --diff" ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:import --no --diff"

✅ SAFEST - Use read-only commands:

Via SSH - read-only operations

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:get config.name" ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:status"

Available Topics

Full documentation available in references:

• @references/full-guide.md - Complete configuration management guide

• @references/safe-inspection.md - Read-only config inspection patterns

• @references/manual-sync.md - Manual config editing workflow

• @references/examples.md - Common sync scenarios

Quick Reference

Get Config from Remote

Via SSH

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:get config.name --format=yaml"

Via DDEV for local

ddev drush config:get config.name --format=yaml

Compare Environments

View import diff (safe with --no) via SSH

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush cim --no --diff"

Get specific config for manual comparison

ssh user@remote.server "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:get config.name --format=yaml" > /tmp/remote.yml diff -u config/default/config.name.yml /tmp/remote.yml

Manual Edit Workflow

• Get remote config via SSH: ssh user@remote "cd /path/to/drupal && drush config:get config.name"

• Edit local file with Edit tool

• Review: git diff config/default/config.name.yml

• Commit: git add config/default/config.name.yml && git commit

Best Practices

• Always use --no flag with cim/cex on remote drush commands

• Manual edits preferred over automated imports

• One config type per commit for clean history

• Clear commit messages referencing source environment

• Clean up temp files after comparison operations

Last updated: 2024-11-05