---
title: "Checking confval fields"
manual: "Render guides"
version: "0.45"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/t3renderguides:confvalfieldcheck"
source: "Developer/ConfvalFieldCheck.rst"
rendered: "2026-10-05T17:19:15+00:00"
---

# Checking confval fields {#confvalfieldcheck}

A field of `..  confval::` is matched by its exact name. So
`:Default:`, `:default:` and `:de-fault:` are three different
fields, and only `:default:` is the default the directive knows. The
others fall through without a word: they are shown as fields of their own,
listed in `confvals.json` under their own name, and
empty as a column of a `..  confval-menu::`.

A manual can name the fields it uses, and the rendering warns about every
other one:

**Documentation/guides.xml**

```xml
<extension class="\T3Docs\Typo3DocsTheme\DependencyInjection\Typo3DocsThemeExtension"
           interlink-shortcode="t3tca"
           confval-fields="TCA path, Scope, Types, RenderType"
/>
```

The names are separated by commas and may contain spaces. The check is off
until a manual sets them, and a warning fails a render with
`--minimal-test`, which is what the pipelines of the manuals run.

## What is checked {#what-is-checked}

-   **Fields of `..  confval::`**

    Every field that is neither declared nor one of those always allowed.

-   **Columns of `..  confval-menu::`**

    Every column that names such a field, since it would stay empty.

Always allowed are the fields the directive reads itself, `:name:`,
`:type:`, `:default:`, `:required:` and `:noindex:`, and
those the theme reads for the search, `:searchFacet:` and
`:searchKeywords:`. The options of a site set's settings are not
checked: the theme writes them itself.

A field that differs from an allowed one only in case, spaces, hyphens or
underscores gets the spelling that was probably meant:

```text
The confval "cols" has the field "Default", which the manual does not
declare. Did you mean the built-in "default"?
```

A rule for all manuals would not help: their fields differ, and each manual
knows its own.