- What is vanilo/product used for in a Laravel application?
- vanilo/product provides the catalog domain foundation for Laravel e-commerce: Eloquent models and contracts for products, product variants, master products, product types, properties, and taxons. It is designed to be extended into a storefront or admin rather than used as a complete product information management system. Pricing, inventory, media, search, and import/export are integrated separately.
- How do I install vanilo/product with Composer?
- Install it with Composer using composer require vanilo/product, then follow Vanilo's configuration and migration steps for your Laravel app. Run the package migrations and confirm the generated tables do not collide with existing catalog tables. Because it is a domain module, expect to wire in surrounding Vanilo or Laravel infrastructure rather than getting a ready-made admin UI.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions are supported by vanilo/product?
- The provided overview does not list a tested PHP and Laravel version matrix, so check the package composer.json, README, and release notes before committing. Pin Composer versions and validate your PHP, Laravel, and database versions in an isolated spike. Treat the version matrix as part of your dependency review because the package is a domain layer with Vanilo conventions.
- Can I use vanilo/product without the full Vanilo suite?
- It can be evaluated outside the full Vanilo suite, but it is not a standalone catalog platform and expects Laravel and Vanilo contracts and conventions. Teams outside Vanilo should plan an adapter or anti-corruption layer if existing domain models must remain. A time-boxed spike in an isolated Laravel app is the safest way to confirm how much surrounding infrastructure is required.
- How extensible are the Product, ProductVariant, and ProductType models?
- The package is positioned around extendable Eloquent models for Product, ProductVariant, ProductType, Property, and Taxon, which is the intended extension point for custom storefronts. Exact extension mechanics depend on the package contracts and model configuration, so inspect the source and test overrides in a spike. Avoid assuming schema-free customization until you have validated multi-channel and attribute requirements.
- Does vanilo/product support multi-channel catalogs, localization, and custom attributes?
- The overview mentions flexible attributes but does not confirm native multi-channel or localization support, so verify those requirements against the schema and contracts. Custom attributes may be supported through product types and properties, but localization and channel scoping may need additional modeling or integration. Do not assume you can add every catalog dimension without schema changes until tested.
- What database migrations and schema changes does vanilo/product add?
- The module supplies Eloquent models and migrations for catalog structures such as products, variants, product types, properties, and taxons. Review and publish or configure migrations before running them, and check for collisions with existing product tables. For production catalogs, migrate a small representative subset first and keep a rollback plan.
- What dependency conflicts or table-name collisions should I check before adopting vanilo/product?
- Review the transitive dependency graph, Composer constraints, PHP and Laravel versions, and table-name or namespace collisions before adoption. Existing product tables and Vanilo or Concord conventions are architectural dependencies, not incidental details. Run Composer dependency inspection and a clean install in an isolated app to surface conflicts early.
- Is vanilo/product production-ready given its low GitHub adoption?
- The package is MIT-licensed and can be forked, but the evaluation notes only 19 GitHub stars and zero public dependents, which is weak external production validation. That does not make it unusable, but it raises maintainer concentration and API or schema churn risk. Treat it as a domain reference or accelerated starting point only after a spike, dependency review, and internal ownership plan.
- What are alternatives to vanilo/product for a Laravel e-commerce catalog?
- Alternatives depend on whether you need a Laravel-native catalog domain or a complete commerce platform; compare Vanilo's broader suite, other Laravel e-commerce packages, and headless commerce APIs. If you are not Laravel-first, using vanilo/product as a schema or domain reference may be more appropriate than a runtime dependency. Evaluate alternatives against attributes, variants, pricing, inventory, multi-channel, and localization needs.