TYPO3 Fractor Skill

Fractor is a generic file refactoring tool that automates non-PHP migrations for TYPO3 upgrades. It complements Rector (which handles PHP) by migrating FlexForms, TypoScript, Fluid templates, YAML, Htaccess files, and composer.json.

TYPO3 API First: Always use TYPO3's built-in APIs, core features, and established conventions before creating custom implementations. Always verify that the APIs and methods you use exist and are not deprecated in your target TYPO3 version (v13 or v14) by checking the official TYPO3 documentation.

Safety: Never run Fractor on production. Always run on a development environment with version control. Review and test changes before releasing.

Fractor vs Rector

Use both together for complete TYPO3 upgrades. See the typo3-extension-upgrade skill for the full workflow.

1. Installation

composer require --dev a9f/typo3-fractor
# or with DDEV:
ddev composer require --dev a9f/typo3-fractor

Important: Like Rector, Fractor loads the project autoloader and requires a PHP version that can parse the installed TYPO3 packages. For TYPO3 v14 targets, run Fractor with PHP 8.2+. Use DDEV or a container if your local PHP is older.

Always run Fractor, never skip it. Non-PHP files (FlexForms, TypoScript, Fluid) contain version-specific patterns that are easy to miss in manual review. Fractor rules are maintained by the TYPO3 community and cover edge cases.

This meta-package installs all TYPO3-specific file processors:

• a9f/fractor (core engine)
• a9f/fractor-xml (FlexForm/XML processing)
• a9f/fractor-fluid (Fluid template processing)
• a9f/fractor-typoscript (TypoScript/TSconfig processing)
• a9f/fractor-yaml (YAML processing)
• a9f/fractor-htaccess (Htaccess processing)
• a9f/fractor-composer-json (composer.json processing)

2. Configuration

Quick Start

Generate a default config:

vendor/bin/typo3-fractor-init

Manual Configuration

Create fractor.php in your project root:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\Set\Typo3LevelSetList;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([
        __DIR__ . '/packages/',
    ])
    ->withSets([
        Typo3LevelSetList::UP_TO_TYPO3_13,
    ]);

Configuration for v14

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\Set\Typo3LevelSetList;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([
        __DIR__ . '/Configuration/',
        __DIR__ . '/Resources/',
    ])
    ->withSets([
        Typo3LevelSetList::UP_TO_TYPO3_14,
    ]);

Skip Rules or Files

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\Set\Typo3LevelSetList;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\TYPO3v12\FlexForm\MigrateRequiredFlagFlexFormFractor;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/packages/'])
    ->withSkip([
        MigrateRequiredFlagFlexFormFractor::class,
        __DIR__ . '/packages/legacy_ext/',
        __DIR__ . '/packages/my_ext/Resources/Private/Templates/Old.html' => [
            \a9f\Typo3Fractor\TYPO3v14\Fluid\ChangeLogoutHandlingInFeLoginFractor::class,
        ],
    ])
    ->withSets([
        Typo3LevelSetList::UP_TO_TYPO3_14,
    ]);

Apply Single Rules

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\TYPO3v12\FlexForm\MigrateItemsIndexedKeysToAssociativeFractor;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/packages/'])
    ->withRules([
        MigrateItemsIndexedKeysToAssociativeFractor::class,
    ]);

3. Running Fractor

Dry Run (Preview)

vendor/bin/fractor process --dry-run

Apply Changes

vendor/bin/fractor process

Run Single Rule from Set

vendor/bin/fractor process --only="a9f\Typo3Fractor\TYPO3v14\TypoScript\RemoveExternalOptionFromTypoScriptFractor"

With DDEV

ddev exec vendor/bin/fractor process --dry-run
ddev exec vendor/bin/fractor process

4. Available Set Lists

Level Sets (Cumulative)

Apply all rules up to a target version:

Version-Specific Sets

Apply rules for a single version only:

5. Rules by File Type and Version

FlexForm Rules (v12)

TypoScript Rules (v12)

Fluid Rules (v12)

TypoScript Rules (v13)

TypoScript Rules (v14)

Fluid Rules (v14)

YAML Rules (v14)

Htaccess Rules (v14)

6. Code Style Configuration

TypoScript Formatting

<?php
use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\FractorTypoScript\Configuration\TypoScriptProcessorOption;
use Helmich\TypoScriptParser\Printer\PrettyPrinterConfiguration;
use a9f\FractorTypoScript\Configuration\PrettyPrinterConditionTermination;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/Configuration/'])
    ->withOptions([
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INDENT_SIZE => 2,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INDENT_CHARACTER => PrettyPrinterConfiguration::INDENTATION_STYLE_SPACES,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::ADD_CLOSING_GLOBAL => false,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INCLUDE_EMPTY_LINE_BREAKS => true,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INDENT_CONDITIONS => true,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::CONDITION_TERMINATION => PrettyPrinterConditionTermination::Keep,
    ]);

Indent character options:

• PrettyPrinterConfiguration::INDENTATION_STYLE_SPACES -- use spaces
• PrettyPrinterConfiguration::INDENTATION_STYLE_TABS -- use tabs
• 'auto' -- detect from file and keep existing

Condition termination options:

• PrettyPrinterConditionTermination::Keep -- keep existing
• PrettyPrinterConditionTermination::EnforceGlobal -- always [global]
• PrettyPrinterConditionTermination::EnforceEnd -- always [end]

XML/FlexForm Formatting

<?php
use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\FractorXml\Configuration\XmlProcessorOption;
use a9f\FractorXml\Configuration\Indent;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/Configuration/'])
    ->withOptions([
        XmlProcessorOption::INDENT_CHARACTER => Indent::STYLE_TAB,
        XmlProcessorOption::INDENT_SIZE => 1,
    ]);

File Extension Filtering

Control which file extensions each processor handles:

<?php
use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\FractorFluid\Configuration\FluidProcessorOption;
use a9f\FractorTypoScript\Configuration\TypoScriptProcessorOption;
use a9f\FractorXml\Configuration\XmlProcessorOption;
use a9f\FractorYaml\Configuration\YamlProcessorOption;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/packages/'])
    ->withOptions([
        FluidProcessorOption::ALLOWED_FILE_EXTENSIONS => ['html'],
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::ALLOWED_FILE_EXTENSIONS => ['typoscript', 'tsconfig'],
        XmlProcessorOption::ALLOWED_FILE_EXTENSIONS => ['xml', 'xlf'],
        YamlProcessorOption::ALLOWED_FILE_EXTENSIONS => ['yaml', 'yml'],
    ]);

Default extensions:

• Fluid: html, xml, txt
• TypoScript: typoscript, tsconfig, ts
• XML: xml
• YAML: yaml, yml

7. Writing Custom Rules

Custom XML/FlexForm Rule

Subclass \a9f\FractorXml\XmlFractor for XML-based rules:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Vendor\MyExtension\Fractor;

use a9f\FractorXml\XmlFractor;
use DOMDocument;
use DOMNode;

final class MyCustomFlexFormFractor extends XmlFractor
{
    public function canHandle(\DOMNode $node): bool
    {
        return $node->nodeName === 'config'
            && $node->parentNode?->nodeName === 'TCEforms';
    }

    public function refactor(DOMNode $node): DOMNode|int|null
    {
        // Modify the DOM node
        return $node;
    }

    public function getDescription(): string
    {
        return 'Migrate custom FlexForm configuration';
    }
}

Register Custom Rule

<?php
// fractor.php
use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use Vendor\MyExtension\Fractor\MyCustomFlexFormFractor;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([__DIR__ . '/packages/'])
    ->withRules([
        MyCustomFlexFormFractor::class,
    ]);

8. Upgrade Workflow Integration

Recommended Order

1. git checkout -b feature/typo3-upgrade
2. Run Rector (PHP migrations)        → vendor/bin/rector process
3. Run Fractor (non-PHP migrations)   → vendor/bin/fractor process
4. Run PHP-CS-Fixer (code style)      → vendor/bin/php-cs-fixer fix
5. Run PHPStan (static analysis)      → vendor/bin/phpstan analyse
6. Run Tests                          → vendor/bin/phpunit
7. Manual testing in target version

Combined fractor.php for Extension Development

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

use a9f\Fractor\Configuration\FractorConfiguration;
use a9f\Typo3Fractor\Set\Typo3LevelSetList;
use a9f\FractorTypoScript\Configuration\TypoScriptProcessorOption;
use Helmich\TypoScriptParser\Printer\PrettyPrinterConfiguration;

return FractorConfiguration::configure()
    ->withPaths([
        __DIR__ . '/Configuration/',
        __DIR__ . '/Resources/',
    ])
    ->withSkip([
        __DIR__ . '/Resources/Public/',
    ])
    ->withSets([
        Typo3LevelSetList::UP_TO_TYPO3_13,
    ])
    ->withOptions([
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INDENT_SIZE => 4,
        TypoScriptProcessorOption::INDENT_CHARACTER => PrettyPrinterConfiguration::INDENTATION_STYLE_SPACES,
    ]);

9. Troubleshooting

Fractor Fails to Parse TypoScript

# Check for syntax errors in TypoScript first
# Fractor uses helmich/typo3-typoscript-parser which requires valid TypoScript

# Skip problematic files
vendor/bin/fractor process --dry-run
# Then add them to withSkip() in fractor.php

FlexForm Changes Not Applied

# Ensure XML files are in the configured paths
# Check ALLOWED_FILE_EXTENSIONS includes 'xml'
# Verify the FlexForm has the expected structure (<T3DataStructure>)

Formatting Changes Unexpected

# Configure code style explicitly in fractor.php
# Use 'auto' indent detection to preserve existing formatting
# Review withOptions() settings

Running Fractor in CI

# .github/workflows/fractor.yml
- name: Check Fractor
  run: vendor/bin/fractor process --dry-run
  # Fails if any rules would apply = outdated code

10. Resources

• Fractor Repository: https://github.com/andreaswolf/fractor
• TYPO3 Fractor Package: https://github.com/andreaswolf/fractor-typo3-fractor
• Packagist: https://packagist.org/packages/a9f/typo3-fractor
• TYPO3 Rector (PHP companion): https://github.com/sabbelasichon/typo3-rector
• Related Skills: typo3-extension-upgrade (full upgrade workflow), typo3-rector (PHP migrations)

v14-Only Fractor Targets

The following non-PHP migration targets are v14-specific and handled by Fractor Typo3SetList::TYPO3_14 rules.

TCA Migrations [v14 only]

• ctrl.searchFields removed — migrate to per-column 'searchable' => true configuration.
• ctrl.is_static removed — remove from TCA ctrl arrays.
• TCA interface settings removed (#106412) — remove interface key from TCA.
• TCA tab labels consolidated (#107789) — use core.form.tabs short-form references.
• FlexForm pointer fields removed (#107047) — use direct TCA column references.

TypoScript Migrations [v14 only]

• config.concatenateCss / config.concatenateJs removed — remove these settings; delegate to web server or build tools.
• config.compressCss / config.compressJs removed — same as above.
• external property removed for asset inclusion — remove external = 1 from TypoScript.
• TypoScript condition getTSFE() removed — use request-based conditions.

Htaccess Migrations [v14 only]

• Updated default .htaccess template (#105244) — Fractor can apply the updated template.

FlexForm Migrations [v14 only]

• FlexForm pointer field functionality removed (#107047) — migrate to direct TCA references.
• FlexFormService merged into FlexFormTools (#107945) — update PHP references.

Credits & Attribution

Thanks to Andreas Wolf for creating and maintaining Fractor. Thanks to Netresearch DTT GmbH for their contributions to the TYPO3 community.