typo3-backend-rights

TYPO3 backend rights

Source: https://github.com/dirnbauer/typo3-skills

Build one complete editor group from the live project. Treat permissions as a verified model, not a copied backend record.

Contract

Identify the TYPO3 installation selected by the user before writing. If several projects could be meant, ask which one to use. Apply the approved group model, User TSconfig, and user settings to that installation; a permission plan without the requested live/local integration is incomplete.
Inventory the current group topology and obtain the explicit group-model decision below before consolidating anything. If approved, create or maintain exactly one user-facing main editor group with four required leaf subgroups: Base, Content, Site access, and Extensions. If declined, preserve the existing user-facing role separation and audit each intended group independently. Never interpret “one group” as permission to delete group rows or replace user memberships.
Derive rights from installed TCA, existing records, backend modules, configured sites, pages marked is_siteroot, file mounts, and file storages. Never clone a legacy group without auditing every field.
Add every configured site root and every non-deleted page marked Use as Root Page (pages.is_siteroot = 1) as a database mount. Use all site languages; in TYPO3 v14 an empty allowed_languages value means unrestricted access to all current and future site languages.
Allow every content type currently used for editorial content. Record every exception with its CType and reason.
Keep infrastructure content elements such as list/detail renderers, login endpoints, or system integration plugins admin-only when editors manage their underlying records instead. Decide from the actual record, FlexForm, page purpose, and workflow—not from the CType name alone.
For every table in tables_modify, grant every runtime editor-accessible exclude field. Never grant fields hidden with HIDE_FOR_NON_ADMINS, a table's ctrl.editlock field, or read-only, passthrough, generated, or otherwise system-managed fields. Do not present a read-only form as successful editing. Plugin placement and domain-record rights remain separate.
Make tables_select a superset of tables_modify. A table used in an editing workflow belongs in both lists; select-only access is reserved for a documented lookup or reporting use case.
Include every required web mount and every active file mount. Ensure every online, browsable file storage is covered by an active file mount and works in Media and record selectors. Do not replace real mounts with hard-coded example paths.
Allow exactly the installed editor modules defined below, including Forms, Visual Editor, and Solr only when present. Allow the MFA providers totp and recovery-codes.
Verify page ownership and permission bits throughout every mounted site tree; DB mounts alone do not grant access. Resolve one explicit default owner user and the intended page-owner group. In the single-main-group model, use the main group. In the preserved-role model, retain or explicitly select the appropriate existing owner group per Site tree without broadening other roles. Apply the complete baseline 31/27/1: owner user 31, owner group 27, and everybody view-only 1. Never switch ownership before an enabled non-admin member of that owner group passes a login test.
Preserve a different enabled, login-capable administrator. Never demote the administrator used for the current work or the last remaining administrator. Ask whether each target user's existing groups should be appended to or replaced; do not infer a bulk membership cutover.
Apply customer branding and the actual TYPO3 application context before and after login using supported Core configuration and a small sitepackage stylesheet. Keep it version-controlled.
When typo3/cms-workspaces is installed, add the safe basic Workspace setup below. Do not write stale Workspace permissions or module identifiers when it is absent.

Decide the group model first

Before proposing a topology, inventory active be_groups, direct memberships in be_users.usergroup, inheritance in be_groups.subgroup, and material differences in mounts, languages, modules, tables, fields, Workspaces, and site scope. Show which groups are duplicates, which encode a real authorization boundary, and which enabled users depend on each group.

Then ask exactly this project-level question and record the answer as evidence:

Can this project live with one user-facing, non-admin editor group for all normal editors? This means one directly assigned main role, with inherited internal Base, Content, Site, and Extensions leaves. It is simpler to maintain, but all included editors share the same authorization boundary.

Recommend yes only when normal editors genuinely have the same site, language, module, table, field, Workspace, and file scope. A yes answer authorizes building the single-main-group topology; it does not authorize deleting legacy groups or changing any user's membership.
Recommend no when the installation has meaningful role separation, limited-site editors, translators, publishers, form-only users, agency/customer boundaries, or other least-privilege differences. Preserve those roles and repair their rights independently.
If the user has not answered, stop before group creation, consolidation, membership replacement, or page-owner changes. Do not turn convenience into implied authorization.

TYPO3 stores all groups—including the internal leaves—in be_groups. Direct group assignments are stored in be_users.usergroup; there is no be_user_group table. Therefore “one group” in this decision means one user-facing main membership, not literally one database row.

The topology decision and the later per-user cutover are separate approvals. Even after a yes, show every target user's current memberships and ask append-versus-replace for that user.

Approved single-main-group model

Use this model only after the user answered yes to the project-level question above. Use one flat inheritance level:

Group	Owns
`<main> · Base`	Core editor modules, page types, all languages, MFA, file operations, User TSconfig
`<main> · Content`	Editorial CTypes, Core content/FAL/category tables, and their editor fields
`<main> · Site`	Database mounts and file mounts
`<main> · Extensions`	Installed extension modules, domain tables, editor fields, and conditional Workspace access

The main group contains only those subgroup references and remains the page group owner. To add a website later, attach one new leaf such as <main> · Site: Example; to add a separately maintained extension capability, attach <main> · Extension: Example. Do not nest leaves. Preserve additional leaf groups when regenerating the four required groups. This is a baseline of four, not a permanent limit of four.

Report the selected installation's DDEV/project name, root, TYPO3 version, and affected group/user UIDs. Never apply one installation's audited permissions to another installation.

Preserved-role model

When the answer is no, keep the existing user-facing groups, direct membership intent, and meaningful inheritance boundaries. Apply the same least-privilege rules in this skill to every intended role, but evaluate CTypes, fields, tables, modules, mounts, languages, Workspaces, file operations, page ACLs, and Redirects separately for each group. Do not broaden a narrow group just because a broader group already has the capability.

Run the read-only audit once per target title and produce a role matrix showing effective and missing permissions. Do not use apply-backend-rights.php to pretend it supports a multi-role consolidation: that script implements only the approved single-main-group model. Make preserved-role changes through reviewed TYPO3/DataHandler operations, retain existing UIDs and inheritance unless an exact change is approved, and verify each materially different role with its own non-admin user.

Every later instruction that says “main group” describes the single-main-group mode. In the preserved-role mode, apply it only to the selected role when the capability belongs there. Page ownership still needs one explicit owner group per Site tree; it is never granted to every role.

Separate permission creation from the live cutover

Treat group configuration, user membership, and page ownership as three distinct operations:

Create/update the main group and leaves, then audit their effective permissions.
For every named target user, show the current membership and ask whether the main group should be appended or should replace the existing non-admin groups. Preserve unrelated groups until the user answers. Set the group-mount inheritance option bits without clearing other bits.
Resolve and report the default owner user. Log in as an enabled non-admin target and verify modules, page tree, content editing, Media/FAL, language, and selectors. Only then assign that user and the main group as owners with the 31/27/1 baseline.
Re-audit page ownership and repeat the non-admin test. Keep the prior owner group recoverable until the cutover is accepted.

If no enabled non-admin user belongs to the main group, page ownership remediation is blocked even when the permission model itself is valid. Do not create a temporary editor or guess membership to make the audit green.

Audit first

Run the bundled read-only audit inside the project container:

ddev exec php /dev/stdin --pretty \
  < /absolute/path/to/typo3-backend-rights/scripts/audit-backend-rights.php

Add --group-title='Editorial Main' to check a target group, --owner-username='default-owner' to verify the resolved page owner, and --strict to return non-zero for blocking findings. Add --exceptions-plan=/container/path/to/permission-plan.json to load the documented exception map used by the group. Read permission-model.md before changing a group or user.

Treat this result as a blocking defect:

tt_content.CType authMode = explicitAllow
be_groups.explicit_allowdeny has no tt_content:CType:* entries

An empty list does not mean “allow every CType.” It prevents non-admin users from using the explicitly protected types. Require each used editorial CType to appear as tt_content:CType:<value>.

Build the permission plan

Inventory enabled backend users, their groups, and enabled administrators. Identify the current working administrator and the separate administrator that will remain.
Inventory distinct non-deleted tt_content.CType values, including hidden records. Compare them with registered TCA types and the target group's explicit allow-list.
Classify each used CType:
- editorial: add it to explicit_allowdeny;
- infrastructure: omit it and record the specific reason and owner.
Inventory editable tables. Make tables_select a superset of tables_modify. Include content, FAL relations/metadata, categories, and the project's editorial domain tables. Require the registered Core set pages, tt_content, sys_category, sys_file, sys_file_collection, sys_file_metadata, and sys_file_reference. When EXT:news is installed, also require its registered news, link, and tag tables in both lists.
Add every runtime TCA column marked exclude that is genuinely editor-editable to non_exclude_fields. Exclude Core-enforced admin-only and system-managed fields. Report unexpected read-only fields instead of overriding them. For editorial records such as news, expose the complete editing form apart from those verified exceptions.
Use every configured Site root and every page with is_siteroot = 1 as db_mountpoints. Include extra storage folders only when the workflow requires them. Use every active sys_filemounts.uid as file_mountpoints, validate each identifier's storage UID against sys_file_storage, ensure every online browsable storage has an active mount, and grant the file operations required by the workflow.
Set allowed_languages to an empty value for all languages and set mfa_providers to totp,recovery-codes. Recommend TOTP in User TSconfig; requiring MFA is a separate security policy and needs an explicit decision.
Add the installed minimum modules listed below. Do not grant administration, system configuration, Powermail reporting/marketing, Solr index mutation, or infrastructure modules.
Include every page type already used below the editor's web mounts. Add unused types only when the workflow explicitly needs editors to create them.
Audit every page in the deduplicated union of all configured Site trees and every tree marked is_siteroot. Ensure the approved default user owns it with bits 31, the main group owns it with bits 27, and everybody has view-only bit 1. Remediate through the Permissions module or DataHandler after the membership/login cutover gate above passes. Configure new pages to inherit both owners and the same 31/27/1 baseline. Never grant everybody write rights.

Minimum installed modules

Resolve identifiers from the runtime ModuleRegistry; never write identifiers for absent modules.

Always when installed: web_layout, records, page_preview, content_status, web_info_overview, web_info_translations, recycler, media_management, and user_setup.
Visual Editor: web_edit.
Core Form: web_FormFormbuilder, form_manager, and form_editor.
Core Redirects: redirects. Grant only to named trusted editor groups; it manages redirects across the entire installation. Do not grant qrcodes or short_urls unless separately requested.
Solr: searchbackend and the read-only searchbackend_info entry. Keep searchbackend_coreoptimization, searchbackend_indexqueue, and searchbackend_indexadministration admin-only.
Workspaces: workspaces_publish and Live access bit workspace_perms = 1 in the Extensions subgroup.

When typo3/cms-form is installed, grant read/write access to form_definition; TYPO3 v14.3's Form persistence permission checker requires both lists even though its TCA display fields are read-only and the Form modules perform the controlled writes.

When typo3/cms-redirects is installed, grant the intended trusted editor group or groups read/write access to sys_redirect and its runtime editor-editable exclude fields. Keep read-only and system-managed fields excluded. Users inherit this through groups; never write direct per-user rights.

When Powermail is installed, grant read/write access and every editor-accessible field for tx_powermail_domain_model_form, tx_powermail_domain_model_page, and tx_powermail_domain_model_field. Do not grant Powermail mail/answer/marketing tables or any web_powermail / powermail_* reporting module by default. Keep the powermail_pi1 CType as a documented infrastructure exception so normal editors build forms but do not place or reconfigure the frontend plugin.

Use basic Workspaces settings when installed

First confirm that typo3/cms-workspaces and its runtime module workspaces_publish are installed. If they are absent, keep workspace_perms = 0, do not add the module, and do not create Workspace records. If present, read the Workspaces skill and use this baseline:

Put workspaces_publish and Live access bit workspace_perms = 1 in the Extensions leaf.
Keep the Core default stages. Do not invent review stages, notifications, or scheduled publishing for a basic editor role.
Add the main editor group—not individual users—as a member of the intended custom Workspace. Do not make it an owner. Ask who should own and publish before creating a missing Workspace.
Set publish_access = 2 so only approved Workspace owners can publish. Do not expose publishing controls to normal editors.
Use the group's audited database and file mounts for the Workspace. Do not grant sys_workspace table access; its TCA is administrator-only.
Set options.workspaces.previewLinkTTLHours = 48 in User TSconfig.

Create or update a custom Workspace through DataHandler, not raw SQL. Adding the group permission alone does not make the group a custom-Workspace member. Physical FAL files are not versioned: editors must upload replacements under new unique filenames instead of overwriting a shared file, and unpublished page content must never be treated as protection for a directly accessible file.

Configure TSconfig

Keep User TSconfig in the sitepackage and import it from the Base subgroup. Copy one bundled profile:

basic.tsconfig: page-cache clearing and safe preview access.
optimized.tsconfig: the basic rights plus useful Admin Panel sections, file-list actions, resource view, and live-search destinations.

Use the optimized profile by default for trusted content editors. Keep debug, tsdebug, and publish disabled. Verify the frontend TypoScript has config.admPanel = 1; User TSconfig alone cannot display the Admin Panel.

Both profiles recommend TOTP and make new pages inherit their parent owner user and owner group. They set owner user show,edit,delete,new,editcontent (31), owner group show,edit,new,editcontent (27), and everybody show (1). Group page deletion remains off; the profiles do not force MFA.

Both profiles set options.workspaces.previewLinkTTLHours = 48. TYPO3 ignores the option when Workspaces is absent; it does not grant Workspace access by itself.

When friendsoftypo3/visual-editor is installed, include its registered web_edit module and set:

options.pageTree.showPageIdWithTitle = 1

The Visual Editor consumes this option when building its editing context. In multi-site projects, also enable options.pageTree.showDomainNameWithTitle = 1 to make destinations unambiguous. These options improve the editor context but do not grant write access. Visual editing additionally requires the page mount, language, tables_modify, non_exclude_fields, and explicit CType rights for each rendered record. admPanel.enable.edit controls the Admin Panel and is not a substitute for the web_edit backend module.

Prefer a group import over duplicated inline TSconfig:

@import 'EXT:sitepackage/Configuration/TsConfig/User/BackendEditor/optimized.tsconfig'

Brand the login and backend

Read backend-branding.md, derive an accessible action color from the customer's design tokens/CSS/logo, and configure the Core login logo, logo alt text, highlight, background, footnote, backend logo, and favicon. Use the plain-text Core footnote for Website by webconsulting.at; TYPO3 already places it at the lower right on wide screens.

Show the exact value of Environment::getContext() before login and in the logged-in backend by adding it to the instance sitename and login footnote. Do not infer the context from the hostname and do not try to set TYPO3_CONTEXT from additional.php; it is read earlier during bootstrap. Use $GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['BE']['stylesheets'] for a small sitepackage stylesheet. Do not override TYPO3's danger/success colors, focus indicators, or structural layout.

Create the group structure

This section applies only to the approved single-main-group model. Create or update the four required leaf groups first, then create or update the main group with their UIDs in subgroup. Keep the main group's permission fields empty and each leaf's subgroup empty. Set a descriptive main title such as Editorial Main and document:

the allowed editorial CTypes;
every excluded infrastructure CType with its reason;
editable/selectable tables and non-exclude fields;
backend modules and page types;
database/file mounts and file operations;
all-languages mode and both MFA providers;
page group ownership and permission bits;
the selected TSconfig profile.

Create the complete structure before changing any user. Do not delete or repurpose old groups until the main group and all inherited rights have passed verification.

For a repeatable local/DDEV setup, prepare a reviewed JSON plan following permission-plan.example.json, then apply only the group:

ddev exec php /dev/stdin --dry-run \
  --plan=/var/www/html/var/transient/backend-rights-plan.json \
  < /absolute/path/to/typo3-backend-rights/scripts/apply-backend-rights.php

ddev exec php /dev/stdin --plan=/var/www/html/var/transient/backend-rights-plan.json \
  < /absolute/path/to/typo3-backend-rights/scripts/apply-backend-rights.php

The command validates live CTypes, exception reasons, tables, mounts, and admin presence before a transactional insert/update of the main group and four required leaves. It preserves additional leaf references and never changes users or deletes old groups.

Change user membership safely

This is a per-user decision, separate from approval of the project-level group model. Ask the user this explicit question before replacing memberships:

Should <main group> be this backend user's only group?

If yes, replace that user's group list with the main group.
If no, append the main group and preserve existing memberships.
Never assign a user directly to Base, Content, Site, Extensions, or later capability leaves.
Enable both Inherit page mounts from groups and Inherit file mounts from groups while preserving other user options (be_users.options |= 3). Otherwise the Site leaf has no effect.
If the target user is an administrator, set admin = 0 only after proving a different enabled, login-capable administrator remains.
Never demote the current working administrator. Use a second account for the editor test.

Changing one user's memberships does not authorize bulk changes to other users.

After the approved membership/login gate, use the bundled DataHandler cutover script to apply the same default owner and 31/27/1 matrix to every configured or flagged Site tree. Start with a dry run and name the default owner explicitly; the script never guesses it:

ddev exec php /dev/stdin --dry-run \
  --group-title='Editorial Main' --owner-username='default-owner' \
  --usernames='editor-one,editor-two' --membership-mode=replace \
  --replace-group-title='Legacy Editors' --apply-pages \
  < /absolute/path/to/scripts/apply-page-permissions.php

Run without --dry-run only after review. Use membership-mode=append for the pre-cutover login test, then replace only when the user approved replacement. The script preserves unrelated group memberships, sets the two group-mount inheritance bits, deduplicates nested Site roots, and writes users/pages through DataHandler.

Verify as a non-admin

Use a real non-admin session and verify all of these:

The page tree covers every required web mount.
Every used editorial CType can be opened, changed, saved, hidden/unhidden, copied, and created.
Each documented infrastructure CType is unavailable for creation and cannot be reconfigured.
Editorial records such as news open with every required field and can be saved.
Every Site tree is mounted and has the same default owner plus 31/27/1 page baseline, every configured site language can be edited, and newly created pages inherit both owners and those permissions.
Core Forms can be created, edited, duplicated, and saved when installed. Powermail forms, pages, and fields can be created and changed when installed, while marketing/reporting modules and the frontend plugin remain unavailable.
All active file mounts appear in Media and in file selectors; upload, replace, metadata edit, move/copy, and delete behave according to the plan.
If installed, the Visual Editor module opens and every allowed rendered field can be changed and saved; page IDs are present in its editing context and multi-site destinations are clear.
If installed, Redirects opens for the named trusted non-admin, who can list, create, follow, edit, disable and delete a DDEV-only redirect; cleanup and redirects:checkintegrity pass.
Preview, Status, Recycler, Media, and the Admin Panel work; page cache clearing is available, while debugging, page deletion, Solr index mutation, and publishing controls remain unavailable.
When Workspaces is installed, the main group can enter the intended custom Workspace, edit and preview versioned content, and create a 48-hour preview link, but cannot publish. Confirm the group is a member rather than an owner and test file replacement with a new unique filename.
TOTP and recovery codes can be configured in User Settings; MFA enforcement matches the separately approved policy.
Login, password reset, MFA, and the logged-in top bar show the customer identity and exact application context with accessible contrast.
The separate administrator can still log in.

Re-run the audit with --group-title and --strict. Report the main and leaf group UIDs, target user, remaining administrator, allowed/missing CTypes, exceptions, tables, fields, mounts, TSconfig profile, and the non-admin verification evidence.

Resources

permission-model.md: database field mapping, classification rules, and verification queries.
backend-branding.md: supported login/backend branding, accessible color selection, application-context display, and verification.
typo3-workspaces: Workspace versioning, DataHandler setup, preview, publishing, and the physical-file limitation.
scripts/audit-backend-rights.php: read-only runtime TCA/database audit.
scripts/apply-backend-rights.php: validate and transactionally create/update the main group and four required leaves from a reviewed plan; never changes users.
scripts/apply-page-permissions.php: dry-run/apply the approved membership cutover and complete default-owner/main-group/everybody 31/27/1 baseline across all configured Site trees via DataHandler.
assets/tsconfig/: basic and optimized User TSconfig templates.