Config export recipes

17. Views Config Export & Recipes

When to Use

When managing views as exportable configuration, deploying via config sync, or packaging in recipes.

Workflow: Exporting Views to Config

Step 1: Create/Modify View in UI

Build view in Views UI (/admin/structure/views).

Step 2: Export Single View

drush config:export --destination=/tmp/config views.view.my_view

Exports to /tmp/config/views.view.my_view.yml.

Or export all config:

drush config:export

Exports all config to config/sync/ directory.

Step 3: Commit to Version Control

git add config/sync/views.view.my_view.yml
git commit -m "Add custom articles listing view"

Step 4: Import on Other Environments

drush config:import

Imports all config from config/sync/.

Reference: Drupal Configuration API

Recipe Pattern: Packaging Views

Recipe Structure

my_recipe/
  recipe.yml
  config/
    views.view.my_view.yml

recipe.yml

name: 'Article Listing Recipe'
description: 'Adds article listing views'
type: 'Content'
config:
  import:
    views:
      - views.view.articles_listing
      - views.view.articles_block

Conditional Config (Optional vs Required)

Views in /config/install/ → Required (installed with module) Views in /config/optional/ → Installed only if dependencies exist

Example: View with taxonomy dependency

my_module/
  config/
    optional/
      views.view.tagged_content.yml  # Only installs if taxonomy module enabled

Reference: core/modules/node/config/optional/views.view.content.yml (core example)

Pattern: View Dependencies

dependencies:
  module:
    - node
    - user
    - taxonomy

When exporting, Views automatically calculates dependencies based on: - Base table module - Field modules - Plugin provider modules - Relationship entity types

Reference: core/modules/views/src/Entity/View.php lines 271-287

Config Actions in Recipes (Drupal 11+)

Create View from Scratch

config:
  actions:
    views.view.my_view:
      createIfNotExists:
        langcode: en
        status: true
        id: my_view
        label: 'My Custom View'
        module: views
        base_table: node_field_data
        display:
          default:
            # ... full config

Modify Existing View

config:
  actions:
    views.view.content:
      ensure:
        display.page_1.display_options.pager.options.items_per_page: 25

Common Mistakes

Exporting view without dependencies → Import fails on other environment; always check dependencies key
Hardcoding UUIDs in view config → UUIDs differ across environments; Views config doesn't include UUIDs by design
Putting views in /config/install/ with optional dependencies → Install fails if dependency missing; use /config/optional/
Not testing config import on clean site → View relies on manual DB state; always test on fresh install
Editing exported YAML and breaking schema → Validate against schema or import will fail silently