---
title: "Breaking: #55298 - Decoupled sys_history functionality"
manual: "TYPO3 Core Changelog"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/changelog:breaking-55298"
source: "Changelog/9.0/Breaking-55298-DecoupledHistoryFunctionality.rst"
modified: "2026-09-14T09:47:36+00:00"
---

# Breaking: #55298 - Decoupled sys_history functionality

See [forge#55298](https://forge.typo3.org/issues/55298)

## Description

Tracking of record changes within the TYPO3 Backend is now handled via the database table `sys_history` only,
the connection towards `sys_log` has been removed - at the same time, the backend view for showing the history
of a database record has been updated.

### Database-related changes

Changes of database records within DataHandler are now always tracked regardless of enabled logging within DataHandler.
It is not possible to disable this functionality by design (e.g. for bulk-inserts), otherwise the history of a database
record would not be complete.

DataHandler now tracks inserts/deletes/undelete entries into `sys_history` as well. Previously this was only
stored within `sys_log` (where it is still logged, if logging is enabled).

Instead of having sys_history database entries that are referenced into sys_log contain all necessary data, all data
is now stored within sys_history. All additional payload data is stored as JSON and not as serialized array.

A PHP new class `RecordHistory` store has been introduced to act as API layer for storing any activity (including
moving records).

### BE-log module

Referencing history entries within the BE-Log module is now done reverse (sys_log has a reference to an existing
sys_history record, and not vice-versa), speeding up the module rendering. The following related PHP classes
have been removed which were previously needed for rendering within the BE-Log backend module:

-   `\TYPO3\CMS\Belog\Domain\Model\HistoryEntry`
-   `\TYPO3\CMS\Belog\Domain\Repository\HistoryEntryRepository`
-   `\TYPO3\CMS\Belog\ViewHelpers\HistoryEntryViewHelper`

### History view

The "highlight" functionality for selecting a specific change within the history module of the TYPO3 Backend
has been removed.

A clear separation of concerns has been introduced between `ElementHistoryController`, which is the entry-point
for viewing changes of a record, and `RecordHistory`. The latter is now the place for fetching the history
data and doing rollbacks, where the Controller class is responsible for evaluating display-related settings inside the
module, and for preparing and rendering the Fluid-based output.

The following public PHP methods have now been removed or made protected.

-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->maxSteps` (see the added setMaxSteps() method)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->showDiff`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->showSubElements` (see the added setShowSubElements() method)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->showInsertDelete` (moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->element`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->lastSyslogId`
-   \[not scanned\] `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->returnUrl`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->showMarked`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->main()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->toggleHighlight()`
-   Method parameter of `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->performRollback()`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->displaySettings()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->displayHistory()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->displayMultipleDiff()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->renderDiff()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->generateTitle()` (logic moved into controller)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->linkPage()` (logic moved into view)
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->removeFilefields()`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->resolveElement()`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\History\RecordHistory->resolveShUid()`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Controller\ContentElement\ElementHistoryController->content`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Controller\ContentElement\ElementHistoryController->doc`
-   `TYPO3\CMS\Backend\Controller\ContentElement\ElementHistoryController->main()`

## Impact

Calling any of the PHP methods will result in a fatal PHP error. Getting or setting any of the PHP properties
will trigger a PHP warning.

Using the affected database tables directly will produce unexpected results than before.

## Affected Installations

Any installation using the record history, or extensions extending sys_history.

## Migration

An upgrade wizard to separate existing history data from `sys_log` can be found within the Install Tool.

The install tool also checks for existing extensions making use of the dropped and changed PHP code.