- How do I install pavloniym/nova-action-buttons in Laravel Nova 5?
- Install it with Composer (composer require pavloniym/nova-action-buttons); the package supports Laravel package auto-discovery, so no manual provider registration is normally needed. The hard precondition is an existing Laravel Nova 5 installation, because the v2.x line targets Nova 5 only. Confirm your Nova major version before you commit engineering time, and pin to v2.0.0 or later.
- Does this package work with Laravel Nova 4?
- No. The v2.x releases target Nova 5, and installing alongside Nova 4 typically succeeds at the Composer level but fails at render time with class-not-found or signature errors. That is an expensive debugging mode because nothing warns you during installation. Verify the Nova major version first.
- How do I define action buttons on a Nova resource index view?
- Buttons are declared with a simple PHP or JSON configuration instead of a bespoke Vue custom tool. You map existing Laravel\Nova\Actions\Action classes to button definitions and apply styling and visibility rules. Because they are real Nova actions, they inherit the normal action lifecycle and authorization behaviour.
- Can I show action buttons only on the detail view or only on index?
- Yes. The package honours Nova's onlyOnIndex and onlyOnDetail scoping, so the buttons respect the same visibility rules as the underlying actions rather than bypassing them. You can layer additional visibility rules in the button configuration itself. Verify this against the specific view types you use before rollout.
- How do I add a confirmation dialog to a Nova action button?
- Since the buttons wrap standard Nova actions, confirmText() on the action class drives the confirmation dialog — the package does not replace the action lifecycle. Use it for destructive or irreversible operations such as refunds, deletes, or escalations. Test for double-submit behaviour on larger click targets, since confirmation alone does not make handle() idempotent.
- Can I add plain links or custom URLs as buttons instead of Nova actions?
- Yes. The package is built to trigger custom actions, links, or dialog workflows, all defined through the simple PHP/JSON configuration. If a workflow needs multi-step forms, wizards, or bespoke layout, a custom Nova tool or card is the better fit and this configuration-over-Vue trade stops paying off.
- Does the package respect Nova's canSee and canRun authorization per row?
- Each button is a Nova action, so Nova authorizes it per row through canSee, canRun, and your policies, which keeps one permission model rather than two. The cost is scale: six buttons on a 50-row index is roughly 300 policy evaluations per page load. Keep canSee cheap — avoid database or API calls inside it.
- What changed in v2.0.0 and how do I migrate from v1?
- v2.0.1 contains no code changes; it is a re-tag of v2.0.0 cut from a cleaned-up main history. That makes v2.0.0 the actual upgrade event and the only source of Nova 5 breaking-change detail, including PHP and Nova floors and renamed button APIs. Read the v2.0.0 release notes before upgrading, and do not read the 2.0.1 patch bump as a bugfix signal.
- Does nova-action-buttons work with Nova lenses and relationship indexes?
- Treat this as unproven until you test it on your own resources. The package is a Nova 5 field that renders actions, but lenses, relationship indexes, and per-row canSee resolution are flagged as open questions in the technical evaluation. Run a spike against the index types you actually use before committing.
- Is pavloniym/nova-action-buttons safe to use in production, and what are the alternatives?
- It is MIT licensed with a single maintainer, roughly 15 stars, and zero dependents, meaning essentially no external production validation — you would be an early adopter. That is acceptable for internal admin tooling, but not as a load-bearing dependency for revenue-critical back-office flows without a fork-or-vendor contingency. Remember Nova itself is a paid, closed-source dependency, so a Nova 5.x point release is the most likely future break; alternatives are custom Nova tools or cards, or hand-rolled action buttons.