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Version: 2026.1

Debugging Pimcore

This page covers debugging tools and techniques for Pimcore development.

Debug Mode​

To enable debugging tools (profiler, toolbar, ...), Pimcore relies on the environment variable APP_ENV in the .env file in your project root directory. Set APP_ENV=dev to activate it. Additionally you can set the debug flag on the kernel by using APP_DEBUG=1. For more details, see the Symfony docs.

Dev Mode​

The development mode enables some debugging features. This is useful if you're developing on the core of Pimcore or when creating a bundle. Please don't activate it in production systems!

Dev mode enables:

  • Disabling of some caches
  • Extensive logging to log files
  • ... and some more minor behaviors

Add the following line to your .env file to enable dev mode. PIMCORE_DEV_MODE=true

Server-Side Debugging​

Use standard PHP and Symfony debugging tools for server-side debugging:

  • Reading log files as described here
  • Using Symfony profiler console depending on the active environment. Details see Symfony docs
  • Using Xdebug and a proper IDE for stepwise debugging, see the Xdebug docs

HTTP Headers​

Pimcore might add following headers to its responses to provide additional debug information, especially concerning full page cache:

If response is delivered directly from full page cache:

  • X-Pimcore-Output-Cache-Tag:output_<SOME_HASH>: Cache tag of delivered information.
  • X-Pimcore-Cache-Date:<CACHE_DATE>: Date when information was stored to cache.

If response could be delivered from full page cache, but is not:

  • X-Pimcore-Output-Cache-Disable-Reason:<SOME REASON>: Describes reason why response is not delivered directly from full page cache. Reasons can be in debug mode, backend user is logged in, exclude path pattern in system-settings matches, exclude cookie in system-settings matches, etc.

One additional header to identify that response is sent by Pimcore.

  • X-Powered-By:pimcore: Added to every request.