3.5. Using Composer to Download and Update Files

Last updated on

14 April 2025

Goal

Use Composer to download or update files and dependencies in the core software, or in add-on modules and themes. Skip this topic if you are not using Composer.

Prerequisite knowledge

Sección 3.2, “Concept: Additional Tools”

Site prerequisites

If you want to use Composer, it must be installed either on a local development server or your live site. See Sección 3.2, “Concept: Additional Tools”.

Steps

If you are unable to install the Composer tool on your live server, you can follow the steps in any of the sections below on your local server, and then transfer any updated or added files to your live server. The recommended procedure is to make an archive or zip file of the new and changed directories, transfer the archive to your live server, delete the directories that have changed, and extract the archive. Make sure to check for updates and additions to the following files, in the root of your installation:

vendor directory
autoload.php
composer.json
composer.lock

Using Composer to download the core software

Follow these steps if you have not yet downloaded or installed the core software, and you want to use Composer to download both the core software and its external dependencies:

At the command line, change to one level above the directory where you want the software to reside.

Enter this command, where mydir is the directory you want to create:

composer create-project drupal-composer/drupal-project:8.x-dev mydir --no-interaction

The latest release of the core software will be downloaded to the mydir/web sub-directory; you’ll also get some extra tools such as Drush and Drupal Console in the mydir/vendor directory.

Converting a previously-downloaded site to use Composer

If you previously downloaded the core software without using Composer, you may find later that you want or need to use Composer to manage and update dependencies. To convert your existing site to using Composer, enter the following commands at the root of your site:

composer global require grasmash/composerize-drupal
composer composerize-drupal --composer-root=. --drupal-root=.

Note that this will also make modules, themes, and profiles that you previously downloaded without using Composer available to Composer, if they were placed in the modules/contrib, themes/contrib, and profiles/contrib directories. If you placed them in another location, you might consider deleting previously-downloaded modules and themes, and then following the instructions below to re-download them using Composer.

Using Composer to download a module or theme

Follow these steps if you are already using Composer to manage the core software, and you want to use Composer to add a contributed module or theme with its dependencies.

Each time you want to add a contributed module or theme, determine the project’s short name. This is the last part of the URL of the project page; for example, the Geofield module, at https://www.drupal.org/project/geofield, has short name geofield.
To download the contributed module or theme, along with its external dependencies, enter the following command at the root of your site (substituting the short name of the module or theme for geofield):
```
composer require drupal/geofield
```

Using Composer to update previously-downloaded files

Follow these steps to update the files for the core software or a contributed module or theme, after having already started to manage dependencies with Composer:

Determine the short name of the project you want to update. For the core software, it is core. For contributed modules and themes, it is the last part of the URL of the project page; for example, the Geofield module, at https://www.drupal.org/project/geofield, has short name geofield.
If you want to update to the latest stable release, use the following command, substituting the short name of the project to be updated for geofield:
```
composer update drupal/geofield --with-dependencies
```
If you need a specific version, determine how to enter the version number you want to update to. For example, for version 8.x-1.7 of a contributed module, you would enter just the 1.7, and for the core software version 8.3.1, you would enter 8.3.1. Then enter the following command at the root of your site (substituting the short name of the project for geofield and the correct version number):
```
composer require drupal/geofield:1.7
```

Expand your understanding

You can learn more about Composer commands by using Composer’s built-in help system. For example, to learn more about the create-project command, enter composer help create-project in your command window.

Videos

Using Composer and Git to Download Files

Additional resources

Attributions

Adapted by Jennifer Hodgdon, Hans Fredrik Nordhaug, and Joe Shindelar at Drupalize.Me from "Using Composer to manage Drupal site dependencies", copyright 2000-2025 by the individual contributors to the Drupal Community Documentation.

This page is generated from AsciiDoc source from the User Guide. To propose a change, edit the source and attach the file to a new issue in the User Guide project. PDF and e-book formats are available on the User Guide project page.

Source file: install-composer.asciidoc

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Capítulo 3. Instalación