These commands are essential for maintaining Magento 2 and ensuring smooth operations in both development and production environments. They handle tasks like database migrations, optimizing code execution, preparing frontend assets, and clearing cache.

1. php bin/magento setup:upgrade

Purpose: Applies any new database schema updates, runs data patches, and sets up newly installed or upgraded modules.

When to use:

• After installing/upgrading modules or themes.
• After modifying database-related configurations.

2. php bin/magento setup:di:compile

Purpose: Compiles dependency injection (DI) configurations into generated code for faster execution and performance.

When to use:

• After making changes to module code.
• After enabling/disabling a module.
• In production mode, before deploying.

3. php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy –f

Purpose: Deploys static view files (CSS, JavaScript, images) into the pub/static directory.

When to use:

• After making changes to frontend files (e.g., LESS, CSS, JS).
• Before deploying your store in production mode.

4. php -dmemory_limit=6G bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy -f

Purpose: Same as above, but this version overrides PHP’s default memory limit to 6 GB during the deployment process.

When to use:

• Use this when you encounter memory-related errors during static content deployment.

5. php bin/magento indexer:reindex

Purpose: Rebuilds Magento’s indexes to optimize database queries and improve store performance.

When to use:

• After making changes to product, category, or other data in the database that affects storefront performance.

6. php bin/magento c:f

Purpose: This is shorthand for php bin/magento cache:flush, which clears all cached data from Magento.

When to use:

• After making any configuration changes.
• When cached data might cause unexpected behavior or prevent new changes from appearing.