Directory Structure

When you download a fresh copy of Craft 3, your project will have the following folders and files in it:

# config/

Holds all of your Craft and plugin configuration files, as well as your license.key file.

You can customize the name and location of this folder by setting the CRAFT_CONFIG_PATH PHP constant in web/index.php.

# modules/

Holds any Yii modules (opens new window) your site might be using.

# storage/

This is where Craft stores a bunch of files that get dynamically generated at runtime.

Some of the folders you might find in there include:

  • backups/ – Stores database backups that get created when you update Craft or run the DB Backup utility.
  • logs/ – Stores Craft’s logs and PHP error logs.
  • rebrand/ – Stores the custom Login Page Logo and Site Icon files, if you’ve uploaded them.
  • runtime/ – Pretty much everything in here is there for caching and logging purposes. Nothing that Craft couldn’t live without, if the folder happened to get deleted.

For the curious, here are the types of things you will find in storage/runtime/ (though this is not a comprehensive list):

  • assets/ – Stores image thumbnails, resized file icons, and copies of images stored on remote asset volumes, to save Craft an HTTP request when it needs the images to generate new thumbnails or transforms.
  • cache/ – Stores data caches.
  • compiled_classes/ – Stores some dynamically-defined PHP classes.
  • compiled_templates/ – Stores compiled Twig templates.
  • temp/ – Stores temp files.
  • validation.key – A randomly-generated, cryptographically secure key that is used for hashing and validating data between requests.

You can customize the name and location of this folder by setting the CRAFT_STORAGE_PATH PHP constant in web/index.php.

# templates/

Your front-end Twig templates go in here. Any local site assets, such as images, CSS, and JS that should be statically served, should live in the web folder.

You can customize the name and location of this folder by setting the CRAFT_TEMPLATES_PATH PHP constant in web/index.php.

# vendor/

This is where all of your Composer dependencies go, including Craft itself, and any plugins you’ve installed via Composer.

You can customize the name and location of this folder by changing the CRAFT_VENDOR_PATH PHP constant in web/index.php.

# web/

This directory represents your server’s web root. The public index.php file lives here and this is where any of the local site images, CSS, and JS that is statically served should live.

You can customize the name and location of this folder. If you move it so it’s no longer living alongside the other Craft folders, make sure to update the CRAFT_BASE_PATH PHP constant in <Webroot>/index.php.

# .env

This is your PHP dotenv (opens new window) .env configuration file. It defines sensitive or environment-specific config values that don’t make sense to commit to version control.

# .env.example

This is your PHP dotenv (opens new window) .env file template. It should be used as a starting point for any actual .env files, stored alongside it but out of version control on each of the environments your Craft project is running in.

# .gitignore

Tells Git which files it should ignore when committing changes.

# composer.json

The starting point composer.json file that should be used for all Craft projects. See the Composer documentation (opens new window) for details on what can go in here.

# composer.lock

This is a Composer file that tells Composer exactly which dependencies and versions should be currently installed in vendor/.

# craft

This is a command line executable used to execute Craft’s console commands.