Create Custom Cache Clearer in Symfony 8

Symfony provides a structured cache management system that is triggered whenever the cache:clear command is executed. During this process, the framework removes and rebuilds cached resources to ensure that the application runs with fresh configuration and compiled data. In certain cases, an application or bundle may generate additional cached files outside the default directories. These resources must also be cleaned up when the main cache is cleared. This tutorial explains how to create custom cache clearer in Symfony 8 application.

Custom cache clearer should implement CacheClearerInterface, which defines a single method named clear. This method receives the cache directory and can perform any necessary cleanup operations.

Here is an example implementation that removes a custom subdirectory inside the cache directory.

src/Service/CustomCacheClearer.php

<?php

namespace App\Service;

use Symfony\Component\Filesystem\Filesystem;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\CacheClearer\CacheClearerInterface;

class CustomCacheClearer implements CacheClearerInterface
{
    public function __construct(private Filesystem $filesystem)
    {
    }

    public function clear(string $cacheDir): void
    {
        $this->filesystem->remove($cacheDir.'/custom');
    }
}

Cache clearing is executed using the console command:

php bin/console cache:clear

During this process, the main cache is cleared, and all registered custom cache clearers are triggered.