Drupal Contrib Module Management

Core Update Commands

composer require drupal/module_name --with-all-dependencies
composer require drupal/module_name:^3.0 --with-all-dependencies
drush updb -y && drush cr

Checking Drupal 11 Compatibility

Fastest method — check .info.yml:

cat docroot/modules/contrib/MODULE_NAME/MODULE_NAME.info.yml | grep core_version_requirement

core_version_requirement: ^9.5 || ^10 || ^11   # D11 compatible
core_version_requirement: ^9 || ^10              # Not D11 compatible

• upgrade_status warnings ≠ incompatible — module may still declare ^11 support
• "Check manually" status is often a false positive (runtime version checks)

Drupal Lenient Plugin

For modules that haven't updated version requirements yet:

{
  "require": { "mglaman/composer-drupal-lenient": "^1.0" },
  "config": { "allow-plugins": { "mglaman/composer-drupal-lenient": true } },
  "extra": {
    "drupal-lenient": { "allowed-list": ["drupal/module_name"] }
  }
}

Patch Management (cweagans/composer-patches)

IMPORTANT: Use 2.x — uses git apply (reliable). Version 1.x uses patch binary (fragile).

{
  "require": { "cweagans/composer-patches": "^2.0" },
  "config": { "allow-plugins": { "cweagans/composer-patches": true } },
  "extra": {
    "composer-exit-on-patch-failure": true,
    "patches": {
      "drupal/module_name": {
        "Description of patch - Issue #3552531": "patches/module-fix-3552531-2.patch"
      }
    }
  }
}

2.x gotcha: Hash-based caching — patches can silently go missing after reinstalls.

Verifying Patches Are Applied

./scripts/verify-patches.sh        # Check all critical patches
./scripts/verify-patches.sh --fix  # Auto-reinstall affected modules

Adding a new patch to verification — edit scripts/verify-patches.sh:

CRITICAL_PATCHES=(
  "docroot/modules/contrib/MODULE:src/File.php:patternToFind:Description"
)

When patches go missing:

1. ./scripts/verify-patches.sh to identify
2. composer reinstall drupal/module_name or ./scripts/verify-patches.sh --fix
3. If still failing: composer update --lock

Finding Patches — Search BEFORE Creating

CRITICAL: Always search drupal.org issue queue before writing a custom patch.

1. Extract exact error string: e.g. "Unsupported operand types: array + null"
2. Search: https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues?text=Unsupported+operand+types+array+null
3. Look for RTBC (Reviewed & Tested by Community) issues with .patch attachments
4. Download to patches/ and add to composer.json

Patch naming: module-issue-NODEID-COMMENT.patch (e.g. audiofield-d11-3432063-12.patch)

When existing patch fails after update:

• Extract node ID from filename → visit drupal.org/node/NODEID → find updated patch in latest comments

Creating Local Patches

Always patch from a separate clone of the contrib repo, not the installed vendor copy.

cd ~/Sites && git clone git@git.drupal.org:project/module_name.git module_name-contrib
cd module_name-contrib && git checkout 1.0.3   # match installed version
# make changes...
git diff > ~/Sites/your-project/patches/module_name-custom-fix.patch

Then add to composer.json and run composer reinstall drupal/module_name.

Patch Application

composer install                       # Install with patches
composer reinstall drupal/module_name  # Re-patch a single module
composer patches-repatch               # Re-patch all patched deps

Drupal 11 Deprecation Quick Reference

Upgrade Status Scan

drush upgrade_status:analyze --all
drush upgrade_status:analyze module1 module2
drush upgrade_status:analyze --all --ignore-contrib   # custom code only

Troubleshooting