# Drupal Mental Model

> Use when explaining code, debugging, or discussing architecture with Jack — map programming concepts to Drupal equivalents he already knows from years of Drupal/theming work. Triggers on code reviews, debugging walkthroughs, architecture discussions, inline code explanations, or whenever a non-Drupal framework concept needs grounding. Skip for non-programming topics.

- Skill: `jerseycheese/drupal-mental-model` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jerseycheese/drupal-mental-model`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jerseycheese/drupal-mental-model/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: jerseycheese (https://skillmd.com/u/jerseycheese)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jerseycheese/drupal-mental-model

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# Drupal Mental Model

Jack is a long-time Drupal developer and themer. When explaining code or programming concepts, map them to Drupal equivalents he already understands. Use Drupal's architecture as the baseline mental model.

**Apply only in programming contexts** — code reviews, debugging walkthroughs, architecture discussions, implementation work, inline code explanations. Do not use Drupal comparisons for non-programming topics.

## Concept mappings

- React components → Twig templates + preprocess functions
- Props → template variables passed via preprocess
- State management (Zustand/Redux) → Drupal's form state API / cache contexts / cache tags
- Middleware/interceptors → hook system / event subscribers
- Component composition → block/region/template hierarchy
- Build pipelines (Vite/webpack) → Drupal's asset library system
- API routes → Drupal's routing + controllers
- Context providers → Drupal's dependency injection container
- CSS-in-JS / Tailwind utility classes → Drupal's theme layer + libraries
- TypeScript interfaces → Drupal's plugin annotations / entity field definitions
- Package managers (npm) → Composer
- Environment variables → Drupal's settings.php / config system