Novalinkresource Laravel Package

Getting Started

Requirements: Laravel with Laravel Nova (this package was built against Nova 1.x/2.x), plus its published assets. It is a Nova tool, not a model-backed resource.

1. Install

composer require ericlagarda/novalinkresource

2. Publish anything it ships (config/views/assets — check the package's ToolServiceProvider for tags):

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="EricLagarda\NovaLinkResource\ToolServiceProvider"

3. Register the tool in app/Providers/NovaServiceProvider.php. It belongs in tools(), not resources():

public function tools()
{
    return [
        new \EricLagarda\NovaLinkResource\NovaLinkResource,
    ];
}

4. Define your first link. Create a small class (conventionally in app/Nova or app/Nova/Links) extending the package's abstract link class and describing the target:

namespace App\Nova\Links;

use EricLagarda\NovaLinkResource\LinkResource;

class Documentation extends LinkResource
{
    public $label  = 'Documentation';
    public $url    = 'https://nova.laravel.com';
    public $icon   = 'document-text';
    public $target = '_blank';
}

Register that class wherever the package expects link definitions (either via the tool constructor or the published config — check config/novalinkresource.php after publishing; that file is the authoritative place to look).

Where to look first: vendor/ericlagarda/novalinkresource/src/ — the abstract link class (for the exact properties/overridable methods) and the tool class (for registration shape). Then the README, then the published config.

First use case: external dashboards. Add links to Horizon, Telescope, Mailhog, your status page, or your API docs so the team stops bookmarking URLs. This is the lowest-risk, highest-value use and doesn't touch Eloquent at all.

After any change: php artisan config:clear && php artisan view:clear, then hard-refresh Nova.

Implementation Patterns

Pure external links. The simplest pattern: $url, $label, $icon, $target = '_blank'. Group several together as a "Support" or "Ops" cluster in the sidebar so they read as a block instead of scattered icons.

Shortcuts to resources you've hidden from the sidebar. Nova auto-generates a sidebar entry for every resource in Nova::resources(). If a resource is infrequently used, remove it from the sidebar (or restrict it via $displayInNavigation = false) and add a LinkResource that deep-links to it. Build the URL from Nova::path() / route() rather than hardcoding /nova/..., so a customized config('nova.path') still works:

public $url = '/nova/resources/users';
// better:
public function url()
{
    return Nova::path().'/resources/users';
}

Environment-aware targets. Pull URLs from config so staging points at staging tools and production at production tools:

public function url()
{
    return config('services.docs.url');
}

Per-user visibility. Link classes aren't policies, so gate visibility yourself — either filter the array in tools() or override the authorization hook (authorizedToSee / canSee) on the link class:

public function authorizedToSee(Request $request)
{
    return $request->user()->isAdmin();
}

Do this once at the top level if you have several admin-only links, rather than per-link.

Localization. Use __('Support') etc. for $label; sidebar labels are one of the first things that look wrong in a multilingual Nova.

Controlling order. Nova's sidebar generally follows registration order. Sort your array explicitly in tools() (or the config file) rather than relying on filesystem/class discovery order.

Composing with Nova's own menu. If a link duplicates something Nova already renders (e.g. a resource), hide one of the two — duplicated labels in the sidebar are the #1 complaint with this pattern.

Gotchas and Tips

The package is stale. Last release was February 2019. Nova 3 and 4 reworked tool bootstrapping, asset compilation (laravel-mix → Vite), and icon sets (Font Awesome → Heroicons). Expect at minimum broken icons and possibly a non-loading tool on modern Nova. Test on a throwaway branch before committing; if it breaks, forking and vendoring a patched copy is realistic given the size of the codebase (~a few hundred lines).

Icon names are version-specific. $icon = 'book' from the 2019 Font Awesome set will silently render nothing on Nova 4. Look at vendor/laravel/nova/resources/js/components/Icons/ in your installed Nova to get valid names.

Nova's modern menus can supersede this. Newer Nova versions ship Nova::mainMenu() / Nova::userMenu(). If you're on Nova 4, a five-line custom tool that calls MenuSection::make()->add(MenuItem::externalLink(...)) may be less maintenance than this package. Evaluate the built-in path before adopting.

Assets not published = invisible tool. If nothing appears at all, check public/vendor/novalinkresource exists and that the provider's boot() actually called Nova::script()/Nova::style(). php artisan nova:publish fixes a stale asset manifest.

Labels. If the link text defaults to the class basename (e.g. Documentation from Documentation.php), set an explicit $label anyway — it keeps names decoupled from namespace/class refactors.

target="_blank" without rel. If the package passes $target straight through to the anchor tag, you get reverse-tabnabbing exposure on external links. Inspect the rendered HTML; if rel="noopener noreferrer" is missing, patch the Blade view (publish views first) or set it via whatever rel/attribute hook the class exposes.

Debugging checklist: php artisan route:list | grep nova to confirm the URL you're linking to exists; inspect the sidebar's rendered HTML in devtools; dd() inside the tool's boot() to confirm registration; check storage/logs/laravel.log for provider errors that Nova swallows into a blank sidebar.

Ordering surprises after caching. If you use config:cache in production, any closure-based link definitions in the config file will fail to serialize. Prefer class references over closures in the config.

Extension points: the abstract link class is the seam — override url(), label(), icon(), target(), and the visibility method to derive links dynamically (e.g. a link whose URL depends on the current team). Because the package is small and unmaintained, treat those method signatures as frozen and wrap your own base class around it, so a future replacement is a one-file change.