---
title: "Context Sensitive Help (CSH)"
manual: "TYPO3 Explained"
version: "11.5"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3coreapi:csh@11.5"
source: "ApiOverview/ContextSensitiveHelp/Index.rst"
rendered: "2026-10-21T15:30:00+00:00"
---

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# Context Sensitive Help (CSH) {#csh}

TYPO3 offers a full API for adding Context Sensitive Help to
backend modules and - especially - to all database tables and fields.
CSH then appears either as a help icon in the docheader (for modules)
or as a popup on field labels when editing database records.
The text is meant to help the user understand what the module does
or what the database field means.

![CSH for the "Title" field](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContextSensitiveHelp/ContextSensitiveHelpDatabaseRecord.png)

When hovering over a help icon or a field label with CSH,
the cursor transforms into a question mark. Clicking on the
element triggers the appearance of the popup window.

If the CSH contains more information, the bubble help displays a small
icon after the text (as in the screenshot above). Clicking on that icon
opens a popup window with lengthier explanations, possible enriched
with images.

![Popup help window](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContextSensitiveHelp/ContextSensitiveHelpPopup.png)

Clicking on the "Back" icon at the top of the popup window leads
to a table of contents of all the available CSH.

![Popup help window with TOC](../../Images/ManualScreenshots/ContextSensitiveHelp/ContextSensitiveHelpPopupToc.png)

-   [The $TCA_DESCR Array](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3coreapi:the-tca-descr-array@11.5)
-   [The Language Files for CSH](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3coreapi:the-language-files-for-csh@11.5)
-   [Implementing CSH](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3coreapi:implementing-csh@11.5)