Block plugin view builder

Summary

The Block plugin view builder module allows developers to programmatically render (view) block plugins without the need for the wrapping BlockContent entity. This module is an adaptation of the core BlockViewBuilder and makes sure that:

• Each block gets a cache key, so it can be cached in the render cache
• Cacheable metadata (including access metadata) is taken into account
• Block plugins get a lazybuilder callback so they can be correctly placeholdered
• Context-aware block plugins are supported by passing explicit contexts

This all results in better leveraging of the (dynamic) page cache.

Note: This module does not aim to implement rendering or viewing of BlockContent blocks as these should best be viewed using the core BlockViewBuilder.

How to use

Basic usage:

$blockPluginViewBuilder = \Drupal::service('block_plugin.view_builder');
// Pass optional configuration.
$configuration = [];
$build = $blockPluginViewBuilder->view('plugin_id', $configuration);

With contexts (for context-aware block plugins):

use Drupal\Core\Plugin\Context\Context;
use Drupal\Core\Plugin\Context\EntityContextDefinition;

$blockPluginViewBuilder = \Drupal::service('block_plugin.view_builder');
$build = $blockPluginViewBuilder->view('plugin_id', [], [
    'node' => new Context(new EntityContextDefinition('entity:node'), $node),
]);

Supported context types:

• Entity contexts (entity:node, entity:user, etc.) — stored as entity type + ID and reloaded safely in the lazy builder.
• Scalar contexts (string, integer, etc.) — passed through as-is via JSON.

Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• Drupal 10 or 11

Roadmap

• Notify other contributed modules that are rendering block plugins of the existence of this project (eg. Block field, Twig tweak, Panels, ...)