Introduction

What does it do?

The goal of this extension to improve the command line usage with TYPO3 CMS inspired by the command line interface of TYPO3 Flow. It aims to provide a consistent and easy to use interface for users and an easy API for developers. Every command that is shipped provides helpful information about usage and is easy to understand and use.

TYPO3 CMS already has a command line interface but executing commands can look like this:

# Run reference index check
./typo3/cli_dispatch.phpsh lowlevel_refindex -c

# Update translated labels
./typo3/cli_dispatch.phpsh extbase language:update

# Lock editing in the backend
./cli_dispatch.phpsh lowlevel_admin setBElock

This extension comes with a command line tool called typo3cms and you can execute the commands from above like this:

# Run reference index check
typo3cms cleanup:updatereferenceindex --dry-run

# Update translated labels
typo3cms language:update

# Lock editing in the backend
typo3cms backend:lock

Additionally it provides some commands, that wouldn’t be possible at all with the current core command line interface:

# Force flush all caches in a reliable and robust way
typo3cms cache:flush --force

# Interactively set up a new TYPO3 instance from command line (instead of
# using the install tool) typo3cms install:setup

# Non interactive automatic setup of a new TYPO3 instance
typo3cms install:setup --no-interaction \
   --database-user-name="root" \
   --database-host-name="localhost" \
   --database-port="3306" \
   --database-name="travis_test" \
   --admin-user-name="admin" \
   --admin-password="password" \
   --site-name="Travis Install"

# Perform safe database schema updates
typo3cms database:updateschema "*.add,*.change"

A help system is integrated, so that you can easily list all available commands or get help for individual commands:

# List all commands with a short description
typo3cms help

# Show detailed help for an individual command
typo3cms help cache:flush

FAQ

Q: How does typo3_console compare to coreapi?

A: There is a blog post that explains the differences and points out the benefits of typo3_console.

Q: Why isn’t this functionality part of the TYPO3 core?

Wouldn’t it make sense?

A: Absolutely! Only, nobody did this until now. I also think that it is good to develop and stabilize this as third party product. It is possible to get feedback, iterate and improve much faster than with a TYPO3 CMS core release. Once the extension has matured, I’m fine to integrate it as core functionality.

Q: When will this be part of the TYPO3 CMS core?

A: It might find its way into the next TYPO3 LTS version, who knows. Until then you can already use it as extension for all current LTS versions.