Working with `documentObject` and TV Output Through the Evolution CMS API

When people first start using the Evolution API, one of the most confusing points is the difference between document fields and template variables. They may all feel like “page data”, but they do not live in the same structure.

A typical starting point looks like this:

$id = $modx->documentIdentifier;
$doc = $modx->getDocument($id);
$tvs = $modx->getTemplateVarOutput('*', $id);

The important distinction is:

• documentObject or getDocument() gives you core fields such as id, pagetitle, alias, and other standard resource properties;
• getTemplateVarOutput() gives you TV data, which is separate and may need its own output handling.

This matters when building snippets, API endpoints, export scripts, or custom renderers. If you expect a TV inside the document field array, you will eventually end up debugging “missing” values that were never supposed to be there in the first place.

As a mental model, think of the resource and its TVs as two coordinated data layers. Once you do that, working with the Evolution API becomes much more predictable.