- What is hammerstone/refine-nova and what does it do?
- It is a Laravel Nova integration for the Refine React admin framework, acting as an adapter between Nova's Eloquent-backed resources and a Refine frontend. Instead of relying on Nova's generated screens, you get a customizable Refine UI that can combine advanced filter conditions defined with a fluent API. It is best suited to teams already running Nova as their system of record who want more control over the admin interface.
- How do I install hammerstone/refine-nova in a Laravel Nova app?
- Install it with Composer alongside your existing Laravel Nova installation, since Nova is a paid, licensed package that must already be present. Because versions must align, pin Laravel, PHP, Nova, and Refine versions before running composer require hammerstone/refine-nova. After installing, verify the Nova endpoints, auth middleware, and response shape against your app before building UI on top.
- Which Laravel, PHP, and Nova versions does refine-nova support?
- The published release history points to October 2023 as the last update, so Nova 4 and 5 or Refine v4+ support should not be assumed. Check the package's composer.json constraints and run a spike against your exact production versions. Treat it as a versioned dependency with an explicit compatibility matrix rather than an open-ended upgrade path.
- Does refine-nova enforce Nova policies and field visibility?
- The package is likely a thin data-provider layer, so how much of Nova's authorization model it preserves depends on its implementation. Nova policies, field visibility, and hidden attributes need to be verified explicitly with tests before exposing data. Do not assume policy enforcement is automatic; validate read and write access per resource.
- How are authentication, CSRF, and CORS handled between Refine and Nova?
- Refine runs as a separate frontend, so requests to Nova's endpoints pass through Laravel's session, CSRF, and authorization middleware, and cross-origin setups may require CORS configuration. Verify how the adapter sends credentials and whether it uses Nova's existing session auth or API tokens. Test in a staging environment that mirrors production middleware and cookie settings.
- Does refine-nova support Nova actions, filters, and relationships?
- The core value is advanced filtering over Nova resources, while support for Nova actions, custom filters, and relationship screens is where adapter coverage tends to vary. Start with a read-only pilot on one low-risk resource and confirm pagination, filtering, and field mapping before adding more. If your workflows depend on actions or relationships, prove those paths early or plan to extend the adapter.
- Is hammerstone/refine-nova actively maintained and production ready?
- Community signals are weak: low stars, zero dependents, a single maintainer, and a last release in October 2023. That means you should budget for internal ownership, dependency upgrades, and possibly a fork if upstream stalls. It can be viable in production if you time-box a spike, add integration tests, and keep a documented fallback plan.
- What are the alternatives to refine-nova for a custom Laravel admin UI?
- Alternatives include using Nova's native screens, building a custom Refine data provider directly against your Laravel API, or generating admin panels with tools like Filament. A custom data provider gives you full control over auth, response shape, and upgrade cadence at the cost of more work. Choose refine-nova when the adapter's coverage matches your needs and you are prepared to maintain it.
- How should I test a refine-nova integration before going to production?
- Start with a sandbox containing one Nova resource and real authentication, then assert policy enforcement, field-level visibility, pagination, filtering, and response shape. Add integration tests around authorization and data exposure, and cover error handling for mutations. Only widen scope to more resources after those checks pass against your exact Nova and Refine versions.
- How do I handle create, update, and delete operations through refine-nova?
- Begin read-only, then add create, update, and delete flows incrementally while confirming that Nova policies and validation rules still apply. Watch for response-shape changes and error handling differences between the adapter and Nova's native UI. Harden with logging, rate limits, and audit trails before enabling writes in production.