Introduction

Note

Proof of concept. This extension explores a concrete question: is agent-like behavior possible within the TYPO3 backend? It is not intended to answer whether this is the right architectural approach — the space is moving fast, and the tradeoffs between MCP, tool-calling, browser-side agents, and custom integrations are far from settled. The goal here is to show that it works, and to invite feedback from anyone thinking about the same problem. If you have thoughts, open an issue.

What does it do?

AI Chat adds a backend module to TYPO3 that lets administrators and editors interact with an AI assistant directly from the TYPO3 backend. The module is available under Admin Tools > AI Chat.

Through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the assistant can read and modify TYPO3 content -- pages, content elements, records -- using natural language instructions. All processing happens server-side via CLI commands, keeping the web server responsive.

AI agent creating a page, adding content, and optimizing SEO in TYPO3 — The AI agent creates a page, adds content, optimizes SEO fields, and evaluates the result — all via natural language in the TYPO3 backend.

Key features

Integrated chat module

A dedicated backend module under Admin Tools with a modern chat interface. Send messages, view responses, and manage conversations without leaving TYPO3.

Content management via MCP

Connect to hn/typo3-mcp-server to give the AI access to TYPO3 content operations -- creating pages, editing records, reading site structure, and more.

Conversation history

Conversations are persisted in the database. Resume previous chats, pin important ones, or let the system auto-archive inactive conversations.

Floating chat panel

A toolbar button opens a resizable bottom panel that stays visible across all module navigation. Chat while working in the page tree without switching context.

File attachments

Attach PDF, DOCX, TXT, and XLSX files to your messages. Text is extracted server-side when needed, so all formats work regardless of the LLM provider. Vision-capable providers also accept images (PNG, JPEG, WebP).

Markdown rendering

AI responses are rendered as rich Markdown -- headings, lists, code blocks, and tables -- using marked.js with DOMPurify for XSS safety.

Secure by design

Access is restricted to configured backend user groups. Messages are length-limited, concurrent conversations are capped, and API keys are never exposed to the browser.

Example interactions

Once configured with MCP enabled, you can ask the assistant to perform tasks like:

"Show me all pages under the homepage"
"Create a new text content element on page 42 with the heading 'Welcome'"
"What content elements exist on page 15?"
"Move the news page to be a subpage of 'About Us'"
"List all hidden pages in the site"

Without MCP, the assistant works as a general-purpose AI chat (using the configured LLM provider from nr-llm), but cannot interact with TYPO3 content.

Acknowledgments

This extension builds on the work of others:

hauptsache.net: For creating hn/typo3-mcp-server, the MCP server that exposes TYPO3 content operations as tools.
nr-llm: The Netresearch LLM abstraction layer for TYPO3 that provides provider-agnostic access to language models.
nr-vault: Secure credential storage for TYPO3, used to protect API keys for LLM providers.