# TYPO3 guide

Source: https://docs.fortrabbit.com/guides/more/typo3-cms
Reviewed: 2026-07-06


## Get ready

We assume you've already created a new app and chose TYPO3 in the [software template](/platform/concepts/software-templates). If not: You can do so in the fortrabbit dashboard.

You should also have a [local PHP development environment](/integrations/local-development/intro) running on your local machine. TYPO3 has good backward compatibility, usually not introducing breaking changes. This guide most likely works for older versions as well.

We recommend following the [official TYPO3 install guides](https://docs.typo3.org/m/typo3/reference-coreapi/main/en-us/Administration/Installation/Install.html) to install TYPO3 locally first. You can start with [Composer](/dev/learn/composer) like so:



```shell
composer create-project typo3/cms-base-distribution example-project-directory "^13"
```

## Root path

If you have chosen TYPO3 when creating the environment in the dashboard at first, `public` was pre-selected as the root path. If you have a different root path, go to the dashboard and set the [root path](/platform/settings/root-path) to `public`.

:BlockLink{title="Change the root path for {{app-env-id}}" path="/environments/{{app-env-id}}/settings/rootpath"}

## MySQL

TYPO3 does not support ENV var based MySQL connection out of the box. We recommend to extend your TYPO3 installation to use ENV vars for database access. [ENV vars](/dev/env-vars/intro) can be changed with the dashboard.

:BlockLink{title="Edit ENV vars for {{app-env-id}}" path="/environments/{{app-env-id}}/env-vars/edit"}

The other solution is to run the web installer after the TYPO3 code base has been deployed. This will alter configuration files directly.

## Deployment

TYPO3 supports git-driven applications and Composer-driven workflows. You can deploy via GitHub. See the [GitHub app](/platform/deployment/github-app) guide on how to connect fortrabbit to your Git repo. Use ENV vars for database access when using Git deployment. SSH and SFTP are also available.