--- title: "Task inputs and placements" manual: "LLM Foundation" version: "main" permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/netresearch/nr-llm:configuration-task-inputs@main" source: "Configuration/TaskInputs.rst" rendered: "2026-11-12T15:41:35+00:00" --- # Task inputs and placements {#configuration-task-inputs} ## Input sources {#input-sources} The `input_type` selects how automatic task input is resolved. `input_source` stores JSON options for sources that support them: - **`manual`** The run form supplies input. `input_source` has no effect. - **`syslog`** Reads `sys_log` from newest to oldest. Use `limit` (default `50`) and `error_only` (default `true`). For example: `{"limit":100,"error_only":true}`. - **`table`** Reads rows from the configured `table` with `limit` (default `50`). For example: `{"table":"sys_log","limit":100}`. The record-picker exclusion policy applies. The editor list and form do not offer table tasks; the record-picker endpoints require administrator rights. A `where` option does not apply a SQL filter. `format` selects how the rows reach the model: `json` (default) or `toon`, see [Table rows as TOON](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/netresearch/nr-llm:configuration-task-inputs-toon@main). - **`deprecation_log`** Reads the last 100 lines from `var/log/typo3_deprecations.log`. `input_source` has no effect. - **`file`** A reserved persisted value retained for compatibility. It has no reader or established source schema and currently produces empty automatic input. Paths, URLs and file identifiers in `input_source` are ignored. Supply text through `manual` input when a task needs file contents. Use a positive `limit` for syslog and table sources. Numeric strings are converted to integers. Unrecognised JSON options are ignored; invalid JSON falls back to the source defaults. ## Table rows as TOON {#configuration-task-inputs-toon} By default a table task sends its rows as pretty-printed JSON, which repeats every column name in every row. With `"format":"toon"` it sends them in TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation, specification 4.4): the column names once in a header, then one line of values per row. **input_source of a table task that sends TOON** ```json {"table": "sys_category", "limit": 20, "format": "toon"} ``` The input then reads like this, with one line that tells the model how to read it and the rows in a `toon` code fence: **What the model receives in place of {{input}} (columns shortened)** ```text The rows below are in TOON format: the header [N]{field,...}: gives ... ```toon [2]{uid,pid,title,description}: 1,0,Fruit,"Apples, pears" 2,0,Vegetables,Leeks ``` ``` On the first 50 rows of five tables of the demo installation, TOON needed 45 to 71 % fewer tokens than the JSON sent before (66.9 % over all five); [ADR-286](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/netresearch/nr-llm:adr-286@main) has the table and the method. What to know before switching a task: - Rows that are not one flat table stay JSON: no rows at all, or a column holding bytes that are not valid UTF-8 (JSON sends `[]` for those, as before). Rows read from one table share their columns, so a table task otherwise always gets TOON when it asks for it. - A prompt template that says "the JSON below" should say "the rows below" instead. - Only token counts were measured. Run the task in both formats and compare the answers before keeping `toon`. - The run form shows the input that will be sent, so you can see the TOON text before you run the task. The record picker in the run form still loads records as JSON. ## Deprecation-log input {#deprecation-log-input} The `deprecation_log` input type reads the tail of TYPO3's deprecation log. A missing or unreadable log produces a localized placeholder. A reader failure also preserves this best-effort behavior: the original cause and task context are passed to diagnostic logging, while the task input receives the generic read-error placeholder rather than private paths or exception details. If diagnostic logging itself fails, the placeholder is preserved. The same diagnostic containment applies to failed syslog and table reads, including record-picker policy rejection. ## Placements {#configuration-tasks-placements} `placements` (*Offered first in*) marks the places where a task is listed first, in a group of its own. nr-llm declares one place: - **`ai_tasks`** The editors' module *AI tasks*. Marked tasks appear under *Prepared for this module*; a task marked for no place follows under its category, and a task marked for other places only is not listed there. Other extensions add their own places to the same field. nr-landingpage, for example, adds *Landing page: image prompt* for the template field that switches on image generation. A place decides whether it shows the unmarked tasks after the marked ones or hides them; a place that hides them still shows the task a record already holds, and shows every task while none is marked for it. [ADR-245](https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/netresearch/nr-llm:adr-245@main) records the decision. An extension that offers tasks in a TCA select names its place and lets nr-llm order the items: **Configuration/TCA/Overrides/tx_nrllm_task.php** ```php $GLOBALS['TCA']['tx_nrllm_task']['columns']['placements']['config']['items'][] = [ 'label' => 'LLL:EXT:my_ext/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_db.xlf:placement', 'value' => 'my_ext_place', ]; ``` **The select that offers tasks** ```php 'config' => [ 'type' => 'select', 'renderType' => 'selectSingle', 'foreign_table' => 'tx_nrllm_task', 'itemsProcFunc' => \Netresearch\NrLlm\Form\Tca\TaskPlacementItems::class . '->groupByPlacement', 'itemsProcConfig' => ['placement' => 'my_ext_place', 'unmarked' => 'hide'], 'itemGroups' => [ 'nrllm_placement' => 'LLL:EXT:nr_llm/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_tca.xlf:tx_nrllm_task.placements.group.marked', 'nrllm_unmarked' => 'LLL:EXT:nr_llm/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_tca.xlf:tx_nrllm_task.placements.group.unmarked', ], ], ``` `unmarked` is `after` (default) or `hide`. Code that reads task records itself asks `Task::isPlacedIn()`.