composer.json

– required

Note

While the file composer.json is currently not strictly required for an extension to function properly, it is considered bad practice not to add one. That is why we classify it as “required”.

Including a composer.json is strongly recommended for a number of reasons:

  1. The file composer.json is required for documentation rendering since May 29, 2019.

    See Register for docs.typo3.org for more information on the necessary changes for extension documentation rendering.

  2. Working with Composer in general is strongly recommended for TYPO3.

    If you are not using Composer for your projects yet, see Migrate TYPO3 Project to Composer in the “Installation & Upgrade Guide”.

Minimal composer.json

This is a minimal composer.json for a TYPO3 extension:

  • The vendor name is Vendorname
  • The extension key is my_extension

Subsequently:

  • The namespace will be Vendorname\MyExtension
  • The package name will be vendorname/my-extension
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{
    "name": "vendorname/my-extension",
    "type": "typo3-cms-extension",
    "description": "An example extension",
    "license": "GPL-2.0-or-later",
    "require": {
        "typo3/cms-core": "^9.5 || ^10.4"
    },
    "replace": {
        "vendorname/my-extension": "self.version",
        "typo3-ter/my-extension": "self.version"
    },
    "extra": {
        "typo3/cms": {
            "extension-key": "my_extension"
        }
    },
    "autoload": {
        "psr-4": {
            "Vendorname\\MyExtension\\": "Classes/"
        }
    }
}
name (required)
<vendorname>/<dashed extension key> “Dashed extension key” means that every underscore (_) has been changed to a dash (-). You must be owner of the vendor name and should register it on packagist. Typically, the name will correspond to your namespaces used in the Classes folder, but with different uppercase / lowercase spelling, e.g. GeorgRinger\News namespace and georgringer/news name in composer.json.
type (required)
Just use typo3-cms-extension for TYPO3 extensions
description (required)
Description of your extension (1 line)
license (recommended)
Has to be GPL-2.0-only or GPL-2.0-or-later. See: https://typo3.org/project/licenses/.
require (required)
At the least, you will want to require typo3/cms-core. You can add other system extensions and third party extensions, if your extension depends on them.
replace
The replace part allows you to modify the extension locally and to avoid conflicts with a code for this extension coming from an external repository.
extra
The extra typo3/cms section can be used to provide a TYPO3 extension_key for the package. This will be used when found. If not provided, the package-key will be used with all dashes (-) replaced by underscores (_) to follow TYPO3 and Packagist conventions.
autoload
Define namespace - path mapping for PSR-4 autoloading. In TYPO3 we follow the convention that all classes (except test classes) are in the directory Classes.

Properties no longer used:

version (not recommended)
Was used in earlier TYPO3 versions. For versions 7.6 and above you should not use the version property. The version for the extension is set in the file ext_emconf.php.

More Information

Not TYPO3 specific:

TYPO3 specific: