Filament Auto Transliterate Laravel Package

Getting Started

The install is three commands plus one panel registration:

composer require iabduul7/filament-auto-transliterate
php artisan filament-auto-transliterate:install
php artisan filament:assets

The install command is the important step — it publishes the package config and wires up the HTTP endpoint the field uses. Run it before filament:assets so the JS and route config land together. Then register the plugin on your panel in app/Providers/Filament/*PanelProvider.php:

->plugin(FilamentAutoTransliteratePlugin::make())

The first use case to try is a single TextInput bound to a Urdu-script column that sits next to its Roman/English counterpart:

TextInput::make('name_ur')->translatable(),
TextInput::make('name_en'),

Type Roman Urdu into name_ur, hit space, and the token should convert in place. Confirm the header toggle and in-field spinner appear before wiring it into more fields — if they don't, the assets or route are the problem, not the field.

Implementation Patterns

• Tag every relevant field, not every field. ->translatable() (alias ->autoTransliterate()) is opt-in and should be applied to the Urdu-script inputs only. Applying it to your English fields will fight the user's intent.
• Use transliterate by default and reach for translate deliberately. Transliteration is phonetic (Roman Urdu → Urdu script); translate is semantic (English meaning → Urdu). They are strictly separated and transliterate will not silently fall through to translation, which is what you want for names and place names.
• Tune the provider chain per mode in the published config. The chain is ordered and configurable independently for transliterate vs translate. A sensible day-to-day setup is: local dictionary first (deterministic, free, instant) → Google Input Tools (best phonetic quality for Roman Urdu) → LibreTranslate/MyMemory as fallbacks. Reserve Microsoft/Google for translate mode where you need meaning and have API keys.
• Seed the local dictionary with your domain vocabulary — person names, town names, product names. That removes the most common source of "wrong spelling" complaints and cuts external calls.
• Pair bilingual fields side by side in the form schema so admins can type phonetic Urdu and English in the same row, rather than tabbing between locales.
• Works on Textarea too — use it for descriptions and notes where a whole sentence is typed word-by-word.

Gotchas and Tips

• v0.1.0 — pin it. The macro names and config shape are new and likely to move. Use "iabduul7/filament-auto-transliterate": "0.1.*" and re-read the changelog before upgrading minors.
• Conversion fires on space. Punctuation, newlines, and paste-from-clipboard are the usual "it didn't convert" reports. Multi-word input converts token by token.
• Translate mode needs credentials. MyMemory/LibreTranslate have free-tier quotas; Microsoft and Google need API keys in config. Without a key, that provider is skipped and you silently fall through to the next in the chain.
• The endpoint is auth-gated and throttled. Testing the route with curl while logged out gives a 401/403 by design. If you're seeing 403s in the panel, check the route landed in the correct middleware group (the install command handles this — re-run it if you upgraded).
• Forgot php artisan filament:assets? The field renders normally but nothing happens on space. The header toggle and spinner are the fastest visual tell that JS loaded.
• Cache is permanent and hash-indexed, keyed across DB drivers. Great for repeated vocabulary; it does not self-expire. If your input space is high-cardinality (free-text notes), plan a pruning job on whatever store the config points at.
• The enabled/disabled toggle is persisted client-side. "It stopped working for one user" is usually a toggled-off state in their browser, not a config regression.
• Debugging: open the network tab — one request per converted token, batched per space. Provider errors surface server-side; check the Laravel log and the provider order in config rather than the JS.
• Extension point: the provider chain is pluggable — implement a provider against the package's contract and append it to the transliterate chain if you have an internal transliteration service. That's the cleanest route to fully offline, quota-free behavior.