How to Prevent Drush updb from Clearing Caches During Deployment

Staff Reporter

By default, the drush updb The command clears Drupal caches, which can slow down deployments and add unnecessary load. In a recent blog post, Matt Glaman shows how to override this behaviour using a custom Drush pre-command hook that automatically sets the --cache-clear flag to FALSE. This approach helps maintain performance and reduces risk in automated workflows.

The hook involves registering a method with the HookManager::PRE_COMMAND_HOOK type, targeting the UpdateDBCommands::UPDATEDB command. Within the hook, the $commandData->input()->setOption('cache-clear', FALSE); call disables the default cache clearing. While some consider this a controversial move due to the need for structured cache invalidation strategies, it’s an effective solution for teams focused on efficient, high-performance Drupal deployments—especially in CI pipelines or local development environments where speed matters.

Reference: Preventing a `drush updb` from clearing your caches by Matt Glaman (mglaman) (2 December 2025)

Matt Glaman

Drush

Performance Optimization

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