TER REST API & tailor CLI tool

Application by
Oliver Bartch

What is your idea about?
In 2020, we introduced the REST API with token based authentication as a state of the art replacement for the SOAP API (A New Way to Manage Your Public Extensions in the TYPO3 Extension Repository).

Next to the REST API, also a GUI was introduced to https://extensions.typo3.org, which allows managing the corresponding access tokens.

Additionally, the “tailor” CLI tool was published (GitHub - TYPO3/tailor: CLI Tool for maintaining public TYPO3 Extensions) to enable extension authors to easily publish new extension versions through their existing CI /CD.

The REST API - together with the tailor CLI tool - is used by a lot of public TYPO3 extensions nowadays. Further development should therefore be ensured. Thus, the idea of this budget request is to enable further support, maintenance and improvements of the whole TER REST API ecosystem.

Next to the usual support tasks, some already requested improvements and upcoming maintenance tasks are for example:

  • Update REST API to TYPO3 v11
  • Update REST API regarding composer.json / ext_emconf.php changes in TYPO3 Core
  • Extended GUI to manage existing access tokens (also requires adjustments to the REST API)
  • Implement email notification for token expiration
  • Update tailor CLI dependencies

What is the potential impact of your idea?
Maintaince of the REST API, the GUI and the tailor CLI tool.

Who can / should implement your idea?
I will take care myself

Approximate Funds needed
€5,000 - €10,000

2 Likes

Dear Oliver,

thank you for your application. In our call for applications we asked for specific ideas to grow the membership of the TYPO3 Association. Can you please explain how you application can help to grow the number of members?

The goal of the TYPO3 Association is to reduce the amount of money spend on worktime for code. Instead the money should be used to enable people to be part of teams or to enlarge the community. Can you please explain why -in your special case- money for code should be spend?

Hi Ingo,

thanks for your questions.

For years I’ve been in meetings with customers, deciding which CMS would suit best and which CMS provides necessary functionality. The question “Is TYPO3 capable of XYZ” was therefore often answered with “Sure, there is a well maintained public extension for it”. Which means, extensibility and the number of public extensions is one of the USPs of TYPO3 ever since.

Taking the next step (technically as well as from a security point of view), the REST API has been introduced together with the GUI and the CLI tool.

Today, a lot of - especially the well known - extensions rely on the REST API for publishing new versions. As mentioned in my application, it’s therefore important to further maintain this part of the Ecosystem.

I think those topics depend on each other. Having a secure and simple to use ecosystem for maintaining public extensions, there might be even more in the future, which will also bring new members. Additionally, through new and further maintained extensions, the overall market share of TYPO3 can be increased, which in turn brings new members.

1 Like

I want to second Oli and outline that i estimate the REST API and the clients as fundamental service of the TYPO3 ecosystem, and wonder, if such projects that have proven their importance in live environment should remain in the public domain and yearly budget requests or be moved into the permanent set of services maintained by the TYPO3 GmbH (in perspective and if there is enough man power for it on GmbH side). It would mean that budget requests are mainly for the first phase of implementing an idea and trying in production, and if successful the project would move into the GmbH scope for permanent maintenance or into the companies scope, if there is a clear benefit that can be sold to them - as is with TYPO3 extensions for example.

1 Like

Just want to inform interested parties that this budget idea has also been rejected.