View config schema

2. View Config Schema (views.view.*.yml)

When to Use

When writing or editing views.view.*.yml files directly, or understanding config structure for recipes and exports.

Top-Level Keys

Essential Keys

Key	Type	Description	Example
id	machine_name	Unique ID, max 128 chars	my_view
label	required_label	Human-readable name	My Content Listing
module	string	Module that provides the view	views
base_table	string	Database table to query	node_field_data, users_field_data, comment_field_data
base_field	string	Primary field for the base table	nid, uid, cid

Optional Keys

Key	Type	Description
description	text	Admin-only description shown in Views UI
tag	string	Categorization tag for Views UI grouping
display	sequence	Array of display configurations (see below)

Display Structure

Each display in the display array contains:

display:
  display_id:  # e.g., 'default', 'page_1', 'block_1'
    id: display_id
    display_title: 'Human Title'
    display_plugin: page  # page, block, rest_export, etc.
    position: 0  # Order in UI
    display_options:
      # Display-specific config (see Section 3)
    cache_metadata:
      max-age: 0
      contexts: ['languages:language_interface', 'url.query_args']
      tags: []

Reference: core/modules/views/config/schema/views.schema.yml lines 62-136

Pattern

Minimal working view config:

langcode: en
status: true
dependencies:
  module:
    - node
    - user
id: simple_list
label: 'Simple Node List'
module: views
base_table: node_field_data
base_field: nid
display:
  default:
    id: default
    display_title: Default
    display_plugin: default
    position: 0
    display_options:
      title: 'Simple List'
      fields:
        title:
          id: title
          table: node_field_data
          field: title
          entity_type: node
          entity_field: title
          plugin_id: field

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

Common Mistakes

• Omitting base_field when base_table requires it → Query fails to join properly
• Wrong base_table for entity type → Use {entity_type}_field_data for most entities, not raw entity table
• Invalid display_plugin value → Must be registered display plugin (page, block, etc.)
• Exceeding 128 character limit on id → Schema validation fails on config import

See Also

• Section 3: Display Configuration — full display_options schema
• Section 32: Code Reference Map — View entity class
• Reference: views.schema.yml API docs