Drupal Development Tooling

Overview

Enable expert-level Drupal development tooling capabilities with comprehensive guidance for DDEV Docker-based local development environments and Drush command-line operations for Drupal 8, 9, 10, and 11+.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when working with:

DDEV operations: Starting, managing, or configuring local development environments
Drush commands: Site management, configuration, cache operations
Database management: Import/export, snapshots, migrations
Deployment workflows: Configuration sync, database updates
Development setup: Project initialization, environment configuration
Troubleshooting: Debugging environment or command-line issues

Core Capabilities

1. DDEV Local Development

Manage Docker-based local Drupal environments efficiently:

Project initialization:

# Initialize new Drupal project
ddev config --project-type=drupal10 --docroot=web --create-docroot

# Start containers
ddev start

# Install Drupal via Composer
ddev composer create drupal/recommended-project

# Install Drupal site
ddev drush site:install standard --account-name=admin --account-pass=admin

Daily operations:

# Start/stop project
ddev start
ddev stop
ddev restart

# SSH into container
ddev ssh

# Launch site in browser
ddev launch

# View logs
ddev logs
ddev logs -f  # Follow logs

Database operations:

# Import database
ddev import-db --src=database.sql.gz

# Export database
ddev export-db --file=backup.sql.gz --gzip

# Create snapshot
ddev snapshot

# Restore snapshot
ddev snapshot restore

# Access MySQL CLI
ddev mysql

Reference documentation:

references/ddev.md - Complete DDEV reference

2. Drush Command-Line Management

Execute site management tasks efficiently:

Cache management:

# Rebuild cache (most common)
ddev drush cr

# Clear specific cache
ddev drush cache:clear css-js
ddev drush cache:clear render

Configuration management:

# Export configuration
ddev drush config:export
ddev drush cex

# Import configuration
ddev drush config:import
ddev drush cim

# View configuration
ddev drush config:get system.site
ddev drush cget system.site

# Set configuration
ddev drush config:set system.site name "My Site"
ddev drush cset system.site name "My Site"

Module management:

# Enable module
ddev drush pm:enable mymodule -y
ddev drush en mymodule -y

# Uninstall module
ddev drush pm:uninstall mymodule -y
ddev drush pmu mymodule -y

# List modules
ddev drush pm:list
ddev drush pml

# Download module
ddev drush pm:download webform

Database updates:

# Run pending database updates
ddev drush updatedb -y
ddev drush updb -y

User management:

# One-time login URL
ddev drush user:login
ddev drush uli

# Login as specific user
ddev drush uli admin

# Create user
ddev drush user:create newuser --mail="user@example.com" --password="pass"

# Change password
ddev drush user:password admin "newpassword"

Reference documentation:

references/drush.md - Complete Drush reference

3. Development Workflows

Common development and deployment workflows:

Standard deployment:

# Run database updates
ddev drush updb -y

# Import configuration
ddev drush cim -y

# Clear cache
ddev drush cr

# One-liner version
ddev drush updb -y && ddev drush cim -y && ddev drush cr

Fresh site setup:

# Clone repository
git clone <repo> myproject
cd myproject

# Start DDEV
ddev start

# Install dependencies
ddev composer install

# Import database and files
ddev import-db --src=database.sql.gz
ddev import-files --src=files.tar.gz

# Clear cache
ddev drush cr

# Launch site
ddev launch

Theme/module development:

# Start work
ddev start

# Clear cache frequently
ddev drush cr

# Watch for changes (if using build tools)
ddev exec npm run watch

# View logs
ddev drush watchdog:tail

4. Code Generation

Use Drush generators to scaffold code:

# Generate module
ddev drush generate module

# Generate controller
ddev drush generate controller

# Generate form
ddev drush generate form

# Generate plugin block
ddev drush generate plugin:block

# Generate service
ddev drush generate service

# Generate theme
ddev drush generate theme

# Generate hook
ddev drush generate hook

# List all generators
ddev drush generate --help

5. Debugging & Troubleshooting

Debug and monitor your Drupal site:

Enable Xdebug:

# Enable Xdebug
ddev xdebug on

# Disable Xdebug (improves performance)
ddev xdebug off

# Check status
ddev xdebug status

View logs:

# Recent watchdog messages
ddev drush watchdog:show

# Follow watchdog logs
ddev drush watchdog:tail

# Container logs
ddev logs -s web
ddev logs -s db

Project information:

# Show project details
ddev describe

# Drupal status
ddev drush status
ddev drush st

# List all DDEV projects
ddev list

Best Practices

DDEV Best Practices

Run tools through DDEV: Always use ddev drush, ddev composer, ddev npm
Snapshots: Create before risky operations
Performance: Enable Mutagen (Mac) or NFS for better file sync
Xdebug: Only enable when debugging
Version control: Commit .ddev/config.yaml to share configuration
Clean shutdown: Use ddev stop before system shutdown

Drush Best Practices

Aliases: Use short aliases (cr, cex, cim, uli)
Automation: Add -y flag to skip confirmations
Custom commands: Create for repetitive tasks
Site aliases: Configure for multi-environment management
Chaining: Use && for sequential operations
Error handling: Check exit codes in scripts

Deployment Best Practices

Order: Run updates (updb) before config import (cim)
Testing: Test deployment workflow in staging first
Backups: Always backup before major changes
Rollback plan: Have a way to revert changes
Monitoring: Check logs after deployment

Common Operations

Initialize DDEV for Existing Project

cd existing-project

# Configure DDEV
ddev config

# Start containers
ddev start

# Install dependencies
ddev composer install

# Import database (if available)
ddev import-db --src=backup.sql.gz

# Clear cache
ddev drush cr

Pull From Remote Environment

# Configure Drush alias for remote site
# Then pull database and files
ddev pull @production

# Or pull separately
ddev drush sql:sync @production @self
ddev rsync @production:%files @self:%files

Update Drupal Core

# Backup first
ddev snapshot

# Update with Composer
ddev composer update drupal/core "drupal/core-*" --with-all-dependencies

# Run database updates
ddev drush updb -y

# Clear cache
ddev drush cr

Enable Development Settings

# Copy development settings
cp sites/example.settings.local.php sites/default/settings.local.php

# Disable CSS/JS aggregation via Drush
ddev drush config:set system.performance css.preprocess 0 -y
ddev drush config:set system.performance js.preprocess 0 -y

# Enable Twig debugging
# Edit sites/default/services.yml:
# twig.config:
#   debug: true
#   auto_reload: true
#   cache: false

# Clear cache
ddev drush cr

Troubleshooting

DDEV Issues

Containers won't start:

# Check Docker is running
docker ps

# Restart DDEV
ddev restart

# Power off and restart
ddev poweroff
ddev start

# Clean restart
ddev restart --clean

Port conflicts:

# Check what's using ports
ddev describe

# Change ports in .ddev/config.yaml:
# router_http_port: "8080"
# router_https_port: "8443"

# Restart
ddev restart

Permission issues:

# Fix file permissions
ddev exec chmod -R 755 web/sites/default/files
ddev exec chown -R www-data:www-data web/sites/default/files

Drush Issues

Drush not found:

# Always run through DDEV
ddev drush status

# Not just: drush status

Configuration sync failures:

# Check for overridden configuration
ddev drush config:status

# Force import
ddev drush cim -y --partial

# Check specific config
ddev drush config:get system.site

Database update failures:

# Run with verbose output
ddev drush updb -v

# Check specific module updates
ddev drush updatedb:status

# Check logs
ddev drush watchdog:show

Performance Optimization

DDEV Performance (Mac)

Enable Mutagen:

# In .ddev/config.yaml
ddev config --mutagen-enabled

# Restart
ddev restart

Enable NFS:

# In .ddev/config.yaml
ddev config --nfs-mount-enabled

# Restart
ddev restart

Drush Performance

Disable Xdebug when not debugging:

ddev xdebug off

Use specific commands instead of aliases:

# Faster (loads less)
ddev drush cache:rebuild

# vs
ddev drush cr

Resources

Reference Documentation

references/ddev.md - Complete DDEV reference
- Project initialization and configuration
- Database and file operations
- Add-ons and services (Redis, Elasticsearch, etc.)
- Performance optimization
- Troubleshooting
references/drush.md - Complete Drush reference
- Cache management commands
- Configuration management
- Module and theme operations
- Database operations
- User management
- Custom command development

Searching References

# Find DDEV command
grep -r "ddev snapshot" references/

# Find Drush command
grep -r "config:import" references/

# Find deployment info
grep -r "deployment" references/

Common Use Cases

Local Development Setup

Clone project: git clone <repo>
Configure DDEV: ddev config
Start: ddev start
Install dependencies: ddev composer install
Import DB: ddev import-db --src=db.sql.gz
Clear cache: ddev drush cr
Launch: ddev launch

Deploying Configuration Changes

Export config: ddev drush cex -y
Commit to git: git add config/ && git commit
Push: git push
On server: drush cim -y && drush cr

Debugging Performance Issues

Enable Xdebug: ddev xdebug on
Set breakpoints in IDE
Trigger request: ddev launch
Step through code
Disable Xdebug: ddev xdebug off