Add Live Chat to TYPO3 12 and 13: Setup Guide

If you want to add live chat to TYPO3, you have two good routes: install the Talkmio extension, which takes a few minutes, or paste one script tag into your site template. Both put a chat bubble on every page of your TYPO3 12 or 13 site, where Mio, the AI assistant, answers visitors from your own content and hands the chat to your team when a person is needed.

This guide walks through the extension install with Composer, the classic install without Composer, the site key, the cache step that people forget and a short test plan. Everything about the extension comes from the Talkmio integrations page for TYPO3, checked on 14 October 2026.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather four things first, and the whole job fits into a coffee break.

A TYPO3 site on version 12 or 13. The extension is built for these two releases. If you run an older version, use the script-tag route described later in this guide.
Backend admin rights, so you can open Admin Tools and change extension configuration.
A free Talkmio account. Create it at app.talkmio.com, confirm your e-mail and open Websites → Add. You receive a 12-character site key and an install snippet. No card is needed for the Free plan.
The extension package, a ZIP file you download from the Talkmio TYPO3 integration page.

If you want a quick look at the plans before you begin, the pricing page lists what the Free plan includes: 1 operator, 1 website, 50 AI answers a month and 20 knowledge base pages.

How the Talkmio Extension Works

The extension does very little on purpose. It stores your site key in the extension configuration and adds the Talkmio widget script to every page through TypoScript, using page.footerData. Nothing in your Fluid templates changes, which means no template overrides to maintain and no risk of the widget disappearing after a template refactor.

It also identifies logged-in frontend users. If your TYPO3 site has a members area, customer portal or intranet, the visitor’s account is passed to the chat, so your team sees who is writing. For the ideas behind this, read our guide to identity verification in live chat.

For background on the platform, the TYPO3 project site explains the release cycle, and the official TYPO3 documentation covers extension installation in depth.

Add Live Chat to TYPO3 With Composer

Most current TYPO3 projects run in Composer mode, so start here.

Step 1: Put the package in your project

Download talkmio-typo3-1.0.0.zip and unzip it into a packages/talkmio folder at the root of your project. Because the package is not published on a public registry, you load it as a path repository.

Step 2: Require the extension

Make sure your composer.json contains a path repository that points to packages/*, then run:

composer require talkmio/typo3-talkmio:@dev

The @dev constraint tells Composer to accept the local development version. If you have never used path repositories, the Composer documentation describes them in the repositories chapter.

Step 3: Activate and configure

In the backend, open Admin Tools → Settings → Extension Configuration and choose the talkmio entry. Paste your site key and save.

Step 4: Clear caches

Clear the system caches from the backend toolbar or with your usual command. This is the step most people skip. TypoScript is cached, so until you flush it the widget does not appear, and it looks as if the install failed.

Classic Mode Install Without Composer

If your site still runs in classic mode, the steps are shorter.

Upload the unzipped folder to typo3conf/ext/talkmio on your server.
Open Admin Tools → Extensions, find Talkmio and activate it.
Open Admin Tools → Settings → Extension Configuration → talkmio, paste the site key and save.
Clear all caches.

Use file permissions that match the rest of typo3conf/ext. If your host runs the web server as a different user from the one that uploads files, check ownership before you assume the extension is broken.

The Script-Tag Alternative

You can also add live chat to TYPO3 without the extension. The widget is one script tag, and any platform that lets you inject code into the page footer can load it. Add this to your page template or to a TypoScript footer snippet, replacing the key with your own:

<script src="https://app.talkmio.com/w/YOUR_SITE_KEY.js" async></script>

This route works on older TYPO3 versions and on multi-site setups where you want a different key for each site. The trade-off is that you give up the logged-in user identification, because the extension is what passes the account to the chat. Our walkthroughs for Joomla and other CMS platforms use the same idea.

Comparing the Install Options

Option	Best for	Effort	Logged-in user identification
Extension with Composer	Projects on TYPO3 12 or 13 in Composer mode	About ten minutes	Yes
Extension in classic mode	Older hosting setups without Composer	About ten minutes	Yes
Script tag in template	Older TYPO3 versions or special multi-site cases	About five minutes	No
Tag manager container	Teams that control all scripts through one tool	About ten minutes	No

Test the Chat Before Going Live

A working bubble is not the same as a working assistant. Use this short test plan.

Open your site in a private browser window. The bubble should appear in the corner of every page.
Ask Mio two or three questions your customers ask most. Check that each answer comes from your own pages.
If something is missing, add the page or a Q&A pair to the knowledge base and ask again.
Ask for a person and confirm that the chat appears in the Talkmio Inbox with a needs-human badge.
Sign in as a frontend user and start a chat to confirm the account details arrive.

Teach Mio your TYPO3 content

In Mio AI → Knowledge base, add your website address. Mio reads every public page on the same domain and respects robots.txt. You can also add single pages, Q&A pairs, free text and files such as PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD, CSV and HTML up to 15 MB. Use Business instructions to tell Mio what you sell, the tone to use and what it must never promise. The Try Mio screen shows the answer, the knowledge pieces used and the time it took.

Common Problems and Quick Fixes

The bubble does not show. Clear the TYPO3 caches again, then clear any CDN or full-page cache in front of the site.
It shows on some pages only. Check whether those pages use a different page type or a TypoScript condition that skips the footer.
The key is rejected. Copy it again from Websites in the Talkmio app. It is 12 characters, so look for a stray space.
Cookie banner conflicts. If your consent tool blocks scripts until consent, make sure the widget is categorised correctly. Our article on chat widget cookies and consent explains the options.

Changes you make to widget colour, position, welcome text or business hours in the Talkmio app apply within five minutes, so you never need to edit TYPO3 for a design tweak.

Multi-Site and Multilingual TYPO3 Setups

TYPO3 is often chosen for exactly the projects that are hard for simpler systems: several sites in one installation, many languages and strict editorial roles. Chat fits into all three, with a few decisions to make up front.

One key or one key per site

Each website you add in Talkmio has its own site key, its own knowledge base and its own widget settings. If your TYPO3 installation serves a corporate site and a separate shop, give each its own key so Mio answers shop questions from shop content and corporate questions from corporate pages. The extension configuration holds one key, so for several sites in one installation the script-tag route, placed per site in TypoScript, is the cleaner choice.

Languages

Mio replies in the language the visitor writes in, and questions in one language can find answers written in another, for example a Lithuanian question answered from an English page. You do not need a separate chat per language tree. In the widget settings you can leave the interface language on auto-detect or fix it, and you can write the welcome and offline texts yourself. For the language side of the project, see our guide to multilingual live chat.

Editors and permissions

Your TYPO3 editors do not need access to Talkmio. Keep chat roles in the Talkmio Team page: Agents handle conversations, Admins also manage websites, Mio and settings, and the Owner handles billing. That separation means a content editor can update pages without touching chat settings, and a support agent can reply without any backend rights.

Keeping the Integration Healthy

An extension that runs quietly still deserves a short maintenance routine.

After a TYPO3 upgrade, reopen the extension configuration and confirm the site key survived, then reload a page and look for the bubble.
After a deployment that rebuilds caches, check one page in a private window. A missing bubble right after a release usually means a cache layer served an old page.
When content changes, use Re-read in the Mio knowledge base so answers match the new pages. A price change that is live on the site but not in the knowledge base is how wrong answers happen.
Every month, read the Reports section for the share answered by Mio alone and the hand-offs, and fix the topics that keep reaching your team.

If you also care about speed scores, our article on live chat widget page speed shows how to test the impact of any chat script on your TYPO3 pages.

After the Install: Make the Chat Useful

Once the bubble is live, spend an hour on three things. First, write a welcome text and an offline text in the language of your visitors. Second, set your business hours so visitors know when a person is available. Third, invite colleagues under Team so chats have someone to land with. Agents handle conversations, while Admins also manage websites, Mio and settings.

When your whole team is offline, visitors are asked for an e-mail before their first message, and your later reply goes out as an e-mail. The Talkmio mobile app for iOS and Android sends push notifications for new messages and hand-offs, which suits small TYPO3 agencies supporting several client sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which TYPO3 versions does the Talkmio extension support?

The extension is built for TYPO3 12 and 13. It adds the chat widget to every page through TypoScript and identifies logged-in frontend users. For older versions, paste the Talkmio script tag into your page template instead, which also works on any other TYPO3 setup.

Do I need Composer to add live chat to TYPO3?

No. In classic mode, upload the folder to typo3conf/ext/talkmio, activate it under Admin Tools → Extensions, enter your site key in the extension configuration and clear the caches. Composer mode uses a path repository and the composer require command instead.

Why does the chat bubble not appear after installing?

The most common cause is cache. TypoScript is cached, so the widget script is missing until you clear the TYPO3 system caches. If it still does not appear, clear any CDN or page cache and confirm the site key was saved without extra spaces.

Can I use one Talkmio account for several TYPO3 sites?

Yes, within your plan limits. Each website you add in Talkmio gets its own site key, and the Free plan allows 1 website, Pro 3 and Ultimate 10. In a multi-site TYPO3 installation, use a separate key for each site so chats and knowledge stay separate.

Does the chat widget slow down my TYPO3 site?

The widget loads asynchronously from a single script, so it does not block page rendering. Always measure on your own pages with a speed test before and after installing. Our page speed guide for chat widgets explains what to check and how to read the results.

Where is the chat data stored?

Talkmio stores data on servers in the EU, in Germany. Only conversation text and relevant knowledge base excerpts are sent to the AI model provider, and you can export or delete data at any time by writing to [email protected].

The Bottom Line

To add live chat to TYPO3, download the extension, install it with Composer or in classic mode, paste your site key, clear the caches and test with a few real questions. The whole job takes about ten minutes and leaves your templates untouched. Create a free Talkmio account, add your TYPO3 site and let Mio start answering from your own pages today.

Add Live Chat to TYPO3 12 and 13: Extension Setup Guide