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Core Services Reference

When to Use

When you need to know what core services are available for injection — this catalog covers the most commonly used Drupal services.

Database & Storage Services

database

Description: Database connection Interface: Drupal\Core\Database\Connection Usage: Execute queries, transactions 

$this->database->select('node_field_data', 'n')->fields('n')->execute();

entity_type.manager

Description: Manage entity types and load entities Interface: Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeManagerInterface Usage: Load entities, get storage handlers 

$storage = $this->entityTypeManager->getStorage('node');
$node = $storage->load(1);

entity.repository

Description: Entity loading and translation Interface: Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityRepositoryInterface Usage: Load entities by UUID, get translations 

$entity = $this->entityRepository->loadEntityByUuid('node', $uuid);

Configuration Services

config.factory

Description: Load and save configuration Interface: Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigFactoryInterface Usage: Get/set config values 

$config = $this->configFactory->get('system.site');
$name = $config->get('name');

config.manager

Description: Configuration schema and dependencies Interface: Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigManagerInterface

Cache Services

cache.default

Description: Default cache bin Interface: Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface Usage: Cache data 

$this->cache->set('my_key', $data, CacheBackendInterface::CACHE_PERMANENT, ['node:1']);

cache.render

Description: Render cache bin Interface: Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface

cache_tags.invalidator

Description: Invalidate cache tags Interface: Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheTagsInvalidatorInterface 

$this->cacheTagsInvalidator->invalidateTags(['node:1', 'node_list']);

Logging Services

logger.factory

Description: Create logger channels Interface: Drupal\Core\Logger\LoggerChannelFactoryInterface Usage: Get channel-specific logger 

$logger = $this->loggerFactory->get('my_module');
$logger->error('Error message');

logger.channel.{channel_name}

Description: Specific logger channel Interface: Psr\Log\LoggerInterface Usage: Direct injection of specific channel 

arguments: ['@logger.channel.my_module']

Request/Response Services

request_stack

Description: HTTP request stack Interface: Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\RequestStack Usage: Get current request 

$request = $this->requestStack->getCurrentRequest();
$param = $request->query->get('param');

current_user

Description: Current user account Interface: Drupal\Core\Session\AccountProxyInterface Usage: Check permissions, get user ID 

if ($this->currentUser->hasPermission('administer nodes')) {
  // ...
}

current_route_match

Description: Current route match Interface: Drupal\Core\Routing\RouteMatchInterface Usage: Get route parameters 

$node = $this->routeMatch->getParameter('node');

Rendering Services

renderer

Description: Render arrays to HTML Interface: Drupal\Core\Render\RendererInterface Usage: Render arrays 

$html = $this->renderer->renderRoot($render_array);

theme.manager

Description: Theme management Interface: Drupal\Core\Theme\ThemeManagerInterface

File Services

file_system

Description: File system operations Interface: Drupal\Core\File\FileSystemInterface Usage: File operations 

$this->fileSystem->copy($source, $destination);

stream_wrapper_manager

Description: Stream wrapper manager Interface: Drupal\Core\StreamWrapper\StreamWrapperManagerInterface

Utility Services

messenger

Description: User messages Interface: Drupal\Core\Messenger\MessengerInterface Usage: Display messages 

$this->messenger->addStatus('Operation successful');

state

Description: Key-value state storage Interface: Drupal\Core\State\StateInterface Usage: Store temporary data 

$this->state->set('my_module.last_run', time());

datetime.time

Description: Time and date utilities Interface: Drupal\Component\Datetime\TimeInterface Usage: Get request time 

$timestamp = $this->time->getRequestTime();

module_handler

Description: Module management Interface: Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface Usage: Invoke hooks, check modules 

if ($this->moduleHandler->moduleExists('my_module')) {
  $this->moduleHandler->invokeAll('my_hook');
}

language_manager

Description: Language and translation Interface: Drupal\Core\Language\LanguageManagerInterface

path.validator

Description: Validate URL paths Interface: Drupal\Core\Path\PathValidatorInterface

url_generator

Description: Generate URLs Interface: Drupal\Core\Routing\UrlGeneratorInterface

Reference: /core/core.services.yml (complete list of 500+ services)

Common Mistakes

  • Using deprecated services — Check change records; e.g., path.alias_manager to path_alias.manager
  • Injecting concrete classes instead of interfaces — Always type-hint against interfaces
  • Not checking if optional service exists — Some services are only available when modules are enabled
  • Injecting too many services — If you need 10+ services, your class is doing too much; refactor
  • Using database service for entity queries — Use entity.query service instead

See Also