- How do I install tightenco/nova-package-discovery in a Laravel Nova app?
- Add it with composer require tightenco/nova-package-discovery, then register the package's card in your NovaServiceProvider and publish its assets with php artisan vendor:publish. Because the package was last tagged v1.0.0 in September 2020, expect it to resolve only on Laravel 7+ and Nova 2/3 era projects running PHP 7.2 to 7.4. On a current Nova 4 or 5 stack, Composer will likely reject the constraint set before you get that far.
- Does nova-package-discovery support Laravel 8, 9, 10 and Nova 4 or 5?
- No. The only release, v1.0.0 from 12 September 2020, targets Laravel 7+ and the Nova 2/3 era on PHP 7.2 to 7.4, and the repository was archived with no further compatibility work. Nova 4 and 5 changed card and tool APIs and modern Laravel requires newer PHP, so expect Composer constraint conflicts and stale published assets that need an old Node toolchain to rebuild. Treat it as incompatible with current stacks until you have proven otherwise in a throwaway branch.
- Does it auto-register Nova tools, cards, and resources, or is it just a discovery card?
- The product description claims the package automatically finds and registers Nova tools, cards, and resources from installed Composer packages, but the release history and single v1.0.0 tag point to a read-only discovery card that lists packages. That inconsistency is unresolved and is itself a maturity signal. Read the source before relying on either behavior: if you need auto-registration, verify the service provider actually iterates installed packages and calls Nova::tools, Nova::cards, or Nova::resources.
- Do I still need to register third-party Nova tools in NovaServiceProvider?
- If it works as described, no: the whole point is to spare you from listing third-party tools, cards, and resources in NovaServiceProvider by hand. In practice you should still confirm each package's own service provider and Nova registration requirements, and keep a manual fallback for anything the discovery logic misses. Since the repository is archived, do not assume future Nova APIs or package conventions will continue to be detected.
- Is tightenco/nova-package-discovery still maintained and safe for production?
- It is archived and effectively unmaintained. The last and only release is v1.0.0 from 2020, there are roughly fifteen stars and zero dependents, and there is no upstream for security patches, compatibility bumps, or issue triage. For production, treat any persistence or outbound HTTP call as unreviewed until you have read the code, and prefer a small in-house card that you control.
- Does the package make external HTTP requests, and does it cache the results?
- The card is designed to surface a package index, which in practice means a runtime call to a third-party endpoint rather than bundled data. That is a classic silent-failure pattern: endpoint changes, rate limits, or retirement leave a stale or empty card with no owner to fix it. Check the source for caching, timeouts, and error handling before using it, and add a kill switch if you fork it. Any caching or logging also creates a freshness and data-handling obligation you own.
- What is the best alternative to nova-package-discovery for a modern Laravel Nova app?
- For most teams the pragmatic answer is to build a roughly 200-line in-house Nova card that queries Packagist's search API with a cache, a timeout, and a kill switch. That keeps the product idea, removes the abandoned-dependency liability, and lets you control the API contract and UI. Alternatives include linking to novapackages.com or Packagist search from your admin menu, which satisfies most discovery workflows for a fraction of the cost. Declining and recording 'avoid — archived' in your tech radar is also a legitimate outcome.
- How do I remove or test nova-package-discovery if it breaks my Nova admin panel?
- The package is a leaf-node dashboard card: it owns no schema, no domain logic, no queues, and no multi-tenancy, so it is trivially removable. Comment or delete the card registration in NovaServiceProvider, run composer remove tightenco/nova-package-discovery, and clear your compiled views and config cache. For testing, install it in a throwaway branch against your real lockfile first so a transitive constraint conflict does not surprise you during a platform upgrade.
- Does it require Composer package discovery or a standard Laravel vendor directory?
- It is a Composer package, so it relies on Composer's installed package metadata and Laravel's package discovery conventions to know what is present. It only makes sense in a Laravel application that already runs Laravel Nova; it has no role in headless Laravel, API-only services, or non-Nova admin panels. If your app disables package discovery or uses a custom vendor path, verify the code paths it reads actually exist.
- What PHP version does nova-package-discovery require, and why do I get Composer constraint conflicts?
- The v1.0.0 tag from 2020 targets PHP 7.2 to 7.4 alongside Laravel 7 and Nova 2/3. If your lockfile is on PHP 8.x with a modern Laravel and Nova 4 or 5, Composer will report conflicts because the package's platform and framework constraints cannot be satisfied. Forcing it with --ignore-platform-reqs is not a fix: the card's frontend assets were built for an old Node toolchain and would need rebuilding anyway.