TYPO3 Extension: t3_cowriter

AI-powered content assistant for TYPO3 CKEditor - write better content with help from AI.

Features

• Task-based dialog: Select from predefined tasks (Improve, Summarize, Extend, Fix Grammar, Translate) with result preview before inserting
• Vision / Alt Text: Analyze images and generate descriptive alt text via the CKEditor toolbar
• Translation: Translate selected text into 10+ languages directly from the toolbar dropdown
• Prompt Templates: Load reusable prompt presets from the backend for consistent content generation
• Tool Calling: Structured function calling that lets the LLM query TYPO3 content during conversations
• CKEditor Integration: Four toolbar components — main dialog, vision, translation, and templates
• Multi-Provider Support: Works with all LLM providers supported by nr-llm (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, etc.)
• Secure Backend Proxy: API keys never exposed to frontend — all requests proxied through TYPO3 backend
• Context control: Choose between selected text or full content element as context
• Ad-hoc instructions: Add custom instructions per request (e.g., "Write in formal tone")
• Rate limiting: 20 requests/minute per backend user
• Streaming: Server-Sent Events for real-time completions
• Content sanitization: Frontend DOMParser-based sanitization with CKEditor's HTML processing pipeline

Requirements

• PHP 8.2+
• TYPO3 v13 or v14
• netresearch/nr-llm extension (LLM provider abstraction)

Installation

Install via Composer:

composer require netresearch/t3-cowriter

Configuration

1. Configure nr-llm Extension

First, set up at least one LLM provider in the nr-llm extension:

1. Navigate to Admin Tools → LLM Management
2. Add a provider (e.g., OpenAI with your API key)
3. Create a model configuration
4. Create an LLM configuration and set it as default

2. Add CKEditor Preset

Option A: Use the included preset

Add the cowriter preset to your Page TSconfig:

RTE.default.preset = cowriter

Option B: Extend your existing preset

Add to your RTE configuration YAML:

editor:
  config:
    importModules:
      - { module: '@netresearch/t3_cowriter/cowriter', exports: ['Cowriter'] }
    toolbar:
      items:
        - cowriter
        - cowriterVision
        - cowriterTranslate
        - cowriterTemplates

Usage

1. Open a content element with a rich text field in the TYPO3 backend
2. Optionally select text in CKEditor (or leave empty to use full content)
3. Click the Cowriter button in the toolbar
4. A dialog opens where you can:
   • Select a task (Improve Text, Summarize, Extend, Fix Grammar, Translate to EN/DE)
   • Choose context scope — selected text or whole content element
   • Add instructions — optional ad-hoc rules like "Write in formal tone"
5. Click Execute — the task is sent to the LLM
6. Review the result in the preview area
7. Click Insert to replace content, or Retry to re-execute

Available tasks

Tasks are managed in the nr-llm extension (tx_nrllm_task table) with category = 'content'. Default tasks:

Task	Description
Improve Text	Enhance readability and quality
Summarize	Create a concise summary
Extend / Elaborate	Add depth and detail
Fix Grammar & Spelling	Correct grammar and spelling
Translate to English	Translate to English
Translate to German	Translate to German

Architecture

CKEditor Toolbar
  ├─ cowriter         → [CowriterDialog] → AIService.js → AjaxController
  ├─ cowriterVision   → AIService.js     ──────────────→ VisionController
  ├─ cowriterTranslate→ AIService.js     ──────────────→ TranslationController
  ├─ cowriterTemplates→ AIService.js     ──────────────→ TemplateController
  └─ (tool calling)   → AIService.js     ──────────────→ ToolController
                                                              ↓
                                                   [LlmServiceManagerInterface]
                                                              ↓
                                                        [nr-llm Provider]
                                                              ↓
                                                        [External LLM API]

All LLM requests are proxied through the TYPO3 backend. API keys are stored encrypted and never exposed to the browser.

Development

Prerequisites

• DDEV for local development
• PHP 8.2+ with required extensions

Setup

ddev start
ddev composer install
ddev install-v14

Testing

# Run all quality checks (lint, phpstan, rector, code style)
make ci

# Run all tests (unit, functional, integration, e2e)
make test

# Individual test suites
make test-unit           # Unit tests
make test-functional     # Functional tests
make test-integration    # Integration tests
make test-e2e            # End-to-end tests

# Code quality
make lint               # PHP-CS-Fixer
make phpstan            # PHPStan level 10

Test Coverage

Target: >80% code coverage

make test-coverage
open var/coverage/unit/index.html

Security

• API keys stored in nr-llm with sodium encryption
• All backend AJAX endpoints require TYPO3 authentication
• Frontend DOMParser-based content sanitization via CKEditor's HTML processing pipeline
• TYPO3 backend route authentication with nonce-based URL tokens
• Content Security Policy (CSP) compatible

Migration to v3.x

Version 3.0 requires TYPO3 v13.4+ and PHP 8.2+. It removes the frontend-only architecture and uses the nr-llm extension for provider-agnostic LLM access. API keys are no longer stored in extension settings.

See CHANGELOG.md for migration details.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines.

Contact

Netresearch DTT GmbH - Your TYPO3 and eCommerce experts.

Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub