Varbase Patches

Varbase uses cweagans/composer-patches to manage patches applied to Drupal core, contributed modules, and other dependencies. Patches address bugs, add features, or apply fixes that have not yet been committed to the upstream projects.

How Patches Are Applied

Patches are defined in the composer.json file and are automatically applied by the cweagans/composer-patches Composer plugin during package installation and updates. Each patch entry includes a description and a URL pointing to the patch file.

Example patch configuration in composer.json:

{
  "extra": {
    "patches": {
      "drupal/core": {
        "Fix for issue #1234567 - Description of the fix": "https://www.drupal.org/files/issues/2026-01-15/1234567-fix-description.patch"
      },
      "drupal/some_module": {
        "Fix for issue #7654321 - Another fix description": "https://www.drupal.org/files/issues/2026-02-01/7654321-another-fix.patch"
      }
    }
  }
}

The vardot/varbase-patches Repository

Vardot maintains a centralized patches repository at vardot/varbase-patches that provides a curated set of patches required for Varbase to function correctly. This repository is included as a Composer dependency and supplies patch definitions that are applied automatically.

GitHub Repository

The patches repository is available at:

https://github.com/Vardot/varbase-patches

Updating Varbase Patches

To update to the latest set of Varbase patches:

composer update vardot/varbase-patches

Reviewing Available Patches

You can review the patches currently defined by vardot/varbase-patches by examining the package's composer.json file or visiting the repository on GitHub. Each patch includes:

• A link to the Drupal.org issue it addresses.

• A description of the fix.

• The URL of the patch file.

Adding Custom Patches

You can add your own patches alongside the Varbase patches by adding entries to the patches section of your project's composer.json:

{
  "extra": {
    "patches": {
      "drupal/custom_module": {
        "Custom fix for project-specific issue": "patches/custom-fix.patch"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local patch files should be placed in a patches/ directory in your project root.

Patch Configuration Options

Exit on Patch Failure

To make Composer fail the entire operation if any patch cannot be applied:

{
  "extra": {
    "composer-exit-on-patch-failure": true
  }
}

This is recommended for CI/CD pipelines and production deployments.

External Patches File

To keep patches in a separate file:

{
  "extra": {
    "patches-file": "composer.patches.json"
  }
}

Managing Patches During Updates

When updating packages, patches may fail to apply if the underlying code has changed. See Handling Patches When Updating for detailed instructions on resolving patch-related issues during updates.

Best Practices

1. Always document patches: Include a descriptive label and a link to the relevant Drupal.org issue for every patch.

2. Monitor upstream issues: Check periodically whether patches have been committed upstream so they can be removed from your configuration.

3. Use strict mode in CI: Enable composer-exit-on-patch-failure in your CI/CD pipeline to catch patch failures early.

4. Keep patches minimal: Only apply patches that are genuinely needed for your project. Unnecessary patches increase maintenance burden during updates.

5. Test after changes: After adding, removing, or updating patches, thoroughly test the affected functionality.