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Default Content - Exporting

When to Use

Use content export when you need to bundle existing content entities with a recipe for demo or starter content.

Export existing content entities to YAML for bundling with recipes.

Steps: Export Entities, Dependencies and Files

  1. Export single entity via Drush — Export entity by ID 

    drush content:export node 123 recipes/my_recipe/content

  2. Export with dependencies — Export entity and all referenced entities 

    drush content:export node 123 recipes/my_recipe/content --dependencies

  3. Programmatic export — Use Exporter service 

    $exporter = \Drupal::service(Exporter::class);
$entity = Node::load(123);
$result = $exporter->exportWithDependencies($entity, '/path/to/recipe/content');

  4. Export result — YAML file with metadata and field values 

    _meta:
  entity_type: node
  uuid: a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-1234567890ab
  bundle: article
  default_langcode: en
  depends:
    uuid-of-referenced-user: user
    uuid-of-referenced-media: media
default:
  title:
    - value: 'Article Title'
  body:
    - value: 'Article body text...'
      format: basic_html

  5. File attachments — Media/file entities copy physical files 

    content/
  media/
    uuid.yml
    photo.jpg  # Physical file copied

Decision Points: References, Files, Translations and Serial IDs

At this step... If... Then...
Content has references Referenced entities matter Use --dependencies flag to export full tree
Content has files Media or file fields exist Files automatically copy to content directory
Content has translations Multi-language content All translations export in same YAML under translations:
Serial IDs matter Referencing users 0/1 UID 0/1 export as IDs; others as UUIDs

Common Mistakes

  • Exporting without dependencies → Referenced entities won't exist on import; causes validation failures
  • Not committing physical files → Files in content/ directory must be in version control
  • Editing YAML manually without understanding structure → Breaking _meta.depends causes import errors
  • Exporting user passwords → Passwords export as pre-hashed; secure but can't derive plaintext
  • Forgetting to export dependency tree → Use --dependencies or manually track entity references
  • Expecting bundle filtering → No way to export all nodes of a type (e.g., all articles); must export individually by entity ID

See Also