Skip to content

Composer Integration & Publishing

When to Use

Use Composer packaging when you need to distribute recipes with version management and dependency resolution.

Decision

Situation Choose Why
Recipe needs contrib modules Add to require Dependencies outside core
Recipe version matters Use Git tags Semantic versioning via Composer
Recipe is organization-internal Private Packagist or artifact Not public distribution
Recipe installer missing Configure drupal-recipe type Ensures installation to recipes directory

Pattern

Create composer.json (declare recipe package type):

{
  "name": "myorg/my-recipe",
  "type": "drupal-recipe",
  "description": "My reusable recipe",
  "require": {
    "drupal/core": "^10.3 || ^11"
  }
}

Configure installer-paths:

{
  "extra": {
    "installer-paths": {
      "recipes/{$name}": ["type:drupal-recipe"]
    }
  }
}

Publish to repository:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0
# Submit to packagist.org or add to private repositories

Install via Composer:

composer require myorg/my-recipe
# Installs to recipes/my-recipe/

Apply installed recipe:

drush recipe recipes/my-recipe

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong: Forgetting type: drupal-recipe → Right: Composer treats as library; doesn't install to recipes directory
  • Wrong: Not declaring module dependencies → Right: Modules must be installed before recipe applies; declare in composer.json
  • Wrong: Hardcoding version constraints → Right: Use caret/tilde ranges for flexibility; ^10.3 || ^11 for Drupal 11 compatibility
  • Wrong: Assuming recipes update → Right: Recipes are apply-once; version bumps don't re-apply; communicate to users
  • Wrong: Not testing clean install → Right: Always test recipe on vanilla Drupal before publishing

See Also