- What is lab404/nova-signature and what does it do?
- It is a narrow-scope Laravel Nova field that renders a drawable signature pad inside a Nova resource form. Users sign with a mouse, finger, or stylus, and the captured signature is saved as an image on your model with configurable pad options. It is capture-only presentation-layer tooling: no signing workflow, audit trail, timestamping, or e-signature service is included.
- How do I install lab404/nova-signature in a Laravel app?
- Run composer require lab404/nova-signature, then add the package's Signature field class to the fields() method of the Nova resource that needs signing. Add a matching database column via a migration and make it fillable or otherwise persistable so Nova can save the capture. Because the README is thin, read the field class source to confirm the exact option and storage conventions before wiring it up.
- Which Laravel and Nova versions does it support?
- The last release was January 2020, which places it in the Nova 2/3 era and predates Nova 4's Vue 3 and Inertia-based frontend and its field API changes. There is no evidence of Nova 4+ or current Laravel support, and the repository has 14 stars and zero dependents, so nothing downstream confirms compatibility. Treat it as incompatible with Nova 4+ until you prove otherwise in a short spike.
- Is the package still maintained and safe for a new project?
- No, treat it as effectively unmaintained: no releases in roughly five years and no maintainer activity signal. Abandonment risk is high and upgrade risk is high, because Nova field components are tightly coupled to Nova's frontend contracts and there is no upstream fix path when a Nova major version lands. If you adopt it, plan to fork and own it, or isolate it behind a resource-level abstraction.
- Does it store the signature as base64 in a database column or as a file?
- The package captures the signature and leaves persistence to you, so both patterns are viable depending on how you configure the field and your column. Storing base64 in a text column is the simplest path but grows row sizes, bloats backups, and requires escaping when rendered to avoid XSS. For high volumes or long retention, prefer writing the image to an object storage disk and saving the path.
- Can I use the signature pad outside Nova, for example in an API, SPA, or mobile app?
- No. The package is a Nova field, meaning the drawable canvas behavior ships as a Nova frontend component, so a non-Nova Laravel app or a headless API-first architecture gets essentially nothing reusable. If you need capture outside the Nova admin, wrap a generic signature-pad JavaScript library in your own frontend instead.
- What pad options can I configure?
- The field exposes configurable pad options so you can tune the signing experience, such as stroke appearance and pad behavior, from the field definition. Because documentation is limited, inspect the field class and its Vue component to confirm the exact option names and defaults in the version you install. Test the rendered pad on both desktop and touch devices, since stylus and finger input behave differently.
- Is a captured signature legally binding or compliant with ESIGN, eIDAS, or HIPAA?
- Not by itself. The package only captures an image; it provides no timestamping, signer identity binding, document hash, consent capture, retention policy, or tamper evidence, so ESIGN, eIDAS, GDPR, and HIPAA obligations sit entirely with your team. If signature capture is a regulatory requirement rather than a UX nicety, use a real e-signature provider or build the audit trail yourself and get compliance sign-off.
- What are the alternatives if this package is unmaintained?
- Look for a currently maintained Nova signature field first, since that keeps the upgrade path someone else's problem. A generic signature-pad JavaScript library wrapped in a small custom Nova field is the most durable option and typically takes only a couple of days. If the signature is legally significant, use a dedicated e-signature provider such as DocuSign or Dropbox Sign instead of capturing images in an admin panel.
- Should I fork this package or build my own Nova field?
- For a Nova 3 internal admin tool collecting acknowledgements or internal approvals, a short spike on this package may be acceptable if you isolate it behind a resource-level abstraction so it can be swapped later. For Nova 4+, or anything legally significant, a small custom field built on a maintained signature-pad library is usually cheaper and safer than adopting and forking a five-year-old package. Either way, decide storage, retention, and deletion policy before writing the migration.