Symfony configuration options
In Symfony, configuration options are spread across the official documentation, YAML configuration files in your project, and the configuration reference for each component.
The best place to start is the official Symfony Configuration Reference: it documents the available options for Symfony components and bundles.
1. Official configuration reference
Symfony — All Configuration Options
This is the main index for configuration options, including:
framework— sessions, routing, cache, mailer-related framework settings, and more.security— firewalls, authentication, access control.doctrine— database and ORM configuration.twig— template configuration.monolog— logging.web_profileranddebug— development tools.
2. Inspect configuration from your terminal
Symfony provides useful console commands for discovering options in your actual project.
| Command | What it shows |
|---|---|
php bin/console config:dump-reference framework |
Available framework options and their defaults |
php bin/console debug:config framework |
Effective framework configuration |
php bin/console config:dump-reference security |
Available security configuration options |
php bin/console debug:config security |
Effective security configuration |
php bin/console debug:container |
Registered services in the dependency injection container |
For example, to inspect the available framework options, run:
php bin/console config:dump-reference framework
To see what your application actually uses:
php bin/console debug:config framework
These commands are documented in the FrameworkBundle configuration reference.
3. Explore your project files
Look in these locations:
config/
├── packages/
│ ├── framework.yaml
│ ├── security.yaml
│ ├── doctrine.yaml
│ └── twig.yaml
├── packages/
│ └── dev/
└── services.yaml
Your files may differ depending on which packages you’ve installed. The config/packages/ directory contains configuration for your application, while environment-specific directories can override settings.
My recommendation: Start with config:dump-reference whenever you want to discover every supported option for a particular configuration section. Then use debug:config to compare those options with your application’s effective settings.
One important detail: third-party bundles have their own configuration options, so the official Symfony reference won’t necessarily cover every package you install. The same config:dump-reference command often works for those bundles too, using their configuration root key.