Expandable Table Row Laravel Package

Getting Started

This is a small, single-purpose package: it lets a Nova resource index row expand in place to reveal extra data, instead of forcing users into the detail page or a modal. Treat it as one or two public methods plus a Vue component, not a framework.

1. Install and register:

composer require digital-creative/expandable-table-row
php artisan vendor:publish --tag=expandable-table-row   # check the repo for the exact tag
php artisan nova:publish                                # if you ship custom Nova assets

2. Read the source before the README. With ~19 stars and no dependents, src/ is short enough to skim in ten minutes and is the authoritative answer for method names, namespace, and what the component expects. Confirm it targets your Nova major version (last release Oct 2023 — Nova 3/4 are the realistic targets).

3. First use case: an Order index where the row shows #, customer, total, status — and expanding reveals line items, shipping address, and last payment attempt. That is exactly the "peek without navigating" job this package exists for.

// app/Nova/Order.php  (method/class names: verify against src/)
public function expandableRow(): array
{
    return [
        'items'   => $this->items()->with('product:id,name,sku')->get(),
        'address' => $this->shipping_address,
        'paid_at' => optional($this->paid_at)->toDateTimeString(),
    ];
}

Implementation Patterns

Payload on the resource, not in the component. Keep the extra data in one resource method so it inherits the resource's authorization context and stays testable. Return arrays of primitives or already-serialized models, not collections the Vue side has to understand.

Lazy vs eager loading. The whole value proposition is that the index stays fast. Two workable shapes:

• Eager (simple, fine under ~25 rows/page): load the relation in indexQuery() and hand the loaded relation to the expanded row.
• Lazy (correct for heavy payloads): return only counts/IDs on the index, and let the expansion trigger a fetch. If the package doesn't ship a lazy endpoint, add one — a small Nova route returning JSON keyed by resource ID — and have the row call it on first open.

public static function indexQuery(NovaRequest $request, $query)
{
    return $query->withCount('items')->with('latestPayment');
}

Row-level summaries are the sweet spot. items_count, last_activity_at, open_tickets, refund_total — cheap aggregates that answer "do I need to look closer?" before the user commits a click. Reserve the expanded panel for the detail that follows.

Authorize the payload separately. Index fields run through field-level authorization; a raw array returned from a resource method does not. Gate sensitive extras explicitly:

public function expandableRow(): array
{
    $data = ['items' => $this->items];

    if (Gate::allows('viewFinancials', $this->resource)) {
        $data['margin'] = $this->margin;
    }

    return $data;
}

Compose with existing index customization. If you already use a custom indexQuery, fieldsForIndex, or metric cards, add expansion last and re-check pagination and sorting afterwards — the expanded <tr> is a sibling row, so anything that re-renders the table body (search, sort, filter, page change) will collapse it.

Gotchas and Tips

• Maintenance risk is the headline. 19 stars, 0 dependents, one release in 2023, score ~1.2. MIT means you can fork, and at this size forking is realistic — budget a day to vendor it into packages/ rather than pinning a version you may not be able to get fixes for. Check the repo's issue/PR activity before betting a core admin screen on it.
• Nova version drift. Nova 4 → 5 changed asset registration and component conventions. Test in a staging Nova install before assuming compatibility; the failure mode is usually a silent missing component rather than an exception.
• Column count. The expanded panel spans the full table width. If you add/remove index fields, the span can drift and the panel renders misaligned. Set the span from the field count rather than hardcoding.
• State is not persisted. Expansion resets on pagination, sort, and filter. That is usually fine, but don't build a workflow that expects a row to stay open — and don't store per-row UI state server-side.
• N+1 is the default failure. The first version of any expandable row tends to lazy-load a relation per row. Watch the query count on the index with Debugbar before shipping; a 25-row page turning into 26 queries is the classic regression.
• CSS bleed. Nova index overrides (custom row classes, sticky headers, row hover colors) collide with an extra <tr>. Keep overrides scoped to your own component rather than editing Nova's index styles.
• Debugging loop. Component not appearing → check nova:publish ran after install, then the browser console for a failed chunk, then config/nova.php for asset registration. Payload empty but row expands → the resource method is being called but authorization or serialization is dropping it; dd() in the method first, network tab second.
• Extension points. The component is small enough to copy into resources/js/ and adapt — a good move if you need lazy loading, custom empty states, or nested expansion that the package doesn't provide.