Theme Hooks (OOP)

When to Use

You are writing hook_preprocess_HOOK(), hook_theme_suggestions_HOOK_alter(), hook_form_alter() or hook_page_attachments_alter() in a theme, and your minimum core is 11.3.0 or later. Themes support #[Hook] classes since 11.3.0 (change record 3551652); the .theme file is deprecated in 11.5.0 (unreleased at verification, change record 3581222).

Decision

If your theme supports...	Put hooks in...	Why
11.3.0 or later only	`src/Hook/*.php` classes, no `.theme` file	Claro ships no `.theme` file in 11.4.5. Change record 3581222: "Drupal supports themes without a .theme file on all versions greater than Drupal 11.3.0"
11.2 or earlier as well	`.theme` file, procedural. If you also ship the class, add a `#[LegacyHook]` shim that calls `\Drupal::classResolver(MyThemeHooks::class)->method(...)`; the class then needs no constructor arguments, or implements `ContainerInjectionInterface` with `create()`: 11.2 and earlier register no service for it	The theme collector landed in 11.3.0; older cores never see `src/Hook/` in a theme, and a theme cannot ship a `services.yml`, so `\Drupal::service()` throws there. `ClassResolver::getInstanceFromDefinition()` returns the container service when one exists, else calls `create()` on a `ContainerInjectionInterface` class, else `new` with no arguments. On 11.3.0 and later the collector skips the shim and autowires the class through its constructor, never `create()`, so constructor arguments must be autowirable
Anything, after 11.5.0 ships	Classes, and `#[ExtensionFileIsConverted]` on the first function of `.theme` only if it must remain for cores below 11.3.0	Change record 3581222: the attribute only silences the deprecation; `.theme` files are no longer auto-loaded in Drupal 13. The attribute is not present in 11.4.5

Rules that differ from modules, from core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/ThemeHookCollectorPass.php and change record 3551652:

Rule	Detail
Namespace	`Drupal\<theme>\Hook`, files under `src/Hook/`, `.php` only
`module:` parameter	Forbidden. `LogicException("The 'module' parameter on the #[Hook] attribute is not allowed in themes. Found in $class.")`
`order:` parameter	Forbidden. `LogicException("The 'order' parameter on the #[Hook] attribute is not allowed in themes. Found in $class.")`
`#[ReorderHook]`, `#[RemoveHook]`	Forbidden, each with its own `LogicException`
Execution order	Base theme hooks run before the active theme. Cannot be changed
Inactive themes	Their hooks do not execute
Autowiring	Same as modules: the class is registered as an autowired service named after itself
Services	Themes cannot define services. Helper classes that are not hook classes must use `\Drupal::service()` or `\Drupal::classResolver()` (change record 3581222)
Procedural scan	`.theme`, `.inc`, and `theme-settings.php` are still scanned. `templates/` is skipped

Pattern

Preprocess with injected services, the shape of core/themes/olivero/src/Hook/OliveroPagePreprocessHooks.php:

namespace Drupal\my_theme\Hook;

use Drupal\Core\Extension\ThemeSettingsProvider;
use Drupal\Core\Hook\Attribute\Hook;

class MyThemePreprocessHooks {

  public function __construct(
    protected ThemeSettingsProvider $themeSettingsProvider,
  ) {}

  #[Hook('preprocess_html')]
  public function preprocessHtml(array &$variables): void {
    if ($this->themeSettingsProvider->getSetting('mobile_menu_all_widths') === 1) {
      $variables['attributes']['class'][] = 'is-always-mobile-nav';
    }
  }

}

Suggestion alter, from core/themes/claro/src/Hook/ClaroHooks.php:

#[Hook('theme_suggestions_form_element_alter')]
public function themeSuggestionsFormElementAlter(array &$suggestions, array $variables): void {
  if (!empty($variables['element']['#type'])) {
    $suggestions[] = 'form_element__' . $variables['element']['#type'];
  }
}

The stale core docblock

core/core.api.php and core/lib/Drupal/Core/Hook/Attribute/Hook.php both still say "Hooks implemented by themes must remain procedural." That sentence predates 11.3.0. ThemeHookCollectorPass and the src/Hook/ classes in Claro and Olivero are the working behavior; the docblock is stale.

Common Mistakes

Adding order: to a theme hook to run after the base theme → LogicException at container build. Base-before-active is fixed.
Expecting a sub-theme's src/Hook/ class to run when the parent is active → hooks in inactive themes do not execute.
Leaving helper functions in .theme after converting hooks → the file is deprecated in 11.5.0 and not auto-loaded in 13. Move helpers to a method on the hook class or a utility class.
Declaring services in a my_theme.services.yml → themes cannot define services. Only the hook classes themselves get autowired.