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Config Actions - Universal

When to Use

Use universal config actions when you need to update simple config or config entities without entity-type-specific methods.

Config actions that work on ANY config entity or simple config. Use these for generic config updates.

Items: Universal Config Actions

simpleConfigUpdate

Description: Updates simple (non-entity) configuration Parameters: | Param | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | value | associative array | Keys are config keys, values are new values |

Usage Example: 

config:
  actions:
    system.site:
      simpleConfigUpdate:
        page.front: /node
        name: 'My Site'
Gotchas: Deprecated for config entities (use setProperties instead); config must exist before update

setProperties

Description: Sets properties on config entities Parameters: | Param | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | value | associative array | Keys are entity properties, values are new values |

Usage Example: 

config:
  actions:
    node.type.article:
      setProperties:
        name: 'Article'
        description: 'Use articles for news.'
Gotchas: Only works on config entities; for simple config use simpleConfigUpdate

entity_create:createIfNotExists

Description: Creates config entity if it doesn't exist Parameters: | Param | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | value | associative array | Entity property values; ID derived from config name |

Usage Example: 

config:
  actions:
    user.role.editor:
      createIfNotExists:
        label: 'Editor'
        weight: 5
Gotchas: Shorthand is createIfNotExists; full ID is entity_create:createIfNotExists

setThirdPartySetting / setThirdPartySettings

Description: Sets third-party settings on config entities (used by contrib modules) Parameters: | Param | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | module | string | Module providing the third-party setting | | key | string | Setting key | | value | mixed | Setting value |

Usage Example: 

config:
  actions:
    node.type.article:
      setThirdPartySetting:
        scheduler:
          publish_enable: true
      setThirdPartySettings:
        metatag:
          tags:
            title: '[node:title] | [site:name]'
Gotchas: Module providing the third-party setting must be installed; setThirdPartySetting for single setting, setThirdPartySettings for multiple

entity_clone

Description: Clones an existing config entity to new ID Parameters: | Param | Type | Notes | |-------|------|-------| | id | string | ID of entity to clone |

Usage Example: 

config:
  actions:
    user.role.custom_editor:
      entity_clone:
        id: content_editor
Gotchas: Target entity must exist; new entity ID from config name

Common Mistakes

  • Using simpleConfigUpdate on config entities → Deprecated; use setProperties or entity-specific actions
  • Forgetting createIfNotExists is idempotent → Safe to run multiple times; only creates if missing
  • Not understanding action order → Actions apply in YAML order; later actions override earlier ones
  • Applying actions to non-existent config → Prefix with ? to make optional: ?user.role.maybe_exists:
  • Hardcoding values that should be inputs → Use ${input_name} syntax to reference input values

See Also