Getting Started

Install with composer require and run the service provider discovery; publish any config with php artisan vendor:publish if the package exposes schema/type mappings.
Look first at the package's type-mapping or grammar class, the service provider bindings, and the 1.0.2 changelog entry. The binary-vs-blob change is the key behavioural signal in this release.
First use case: define or introspect a binary column and confirm the generated SQL uses the platform-appropriate binary type. Start with a throwaway migration and DB::listen() or ->toSql() to inspect what the package emits before touching existing migrations.
Run the package's own test suite against your target driver (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite) before adopting it in a shared codebase.

Implementation Patterns

Prefer the package's column-type helpers or constants over hard-coded blob/binary strings. This lets the 1.0.2 mapping correction flow through without editing every migration.
When generating migrations from an existing schema, treat the package output as a draft: diff it against your current migrations and normalise any remaining blob references to binary.
Wrap schema comparison or introspection in a test that asserts column types. A small assertion on Schema::getColumns() output catches type drift early.
In multi-database projects, centralise type normalisation in one service or macro rather than scattering driver-specific branches across migrations.
If you maintain snapshot/fixture files, regenerate them after upgrading to 1.0.2 and commit the diff separately so the blob→binary change is reviewable.

1.0.2 changes the emitted type from blob to binary. Existing migrations, schema dumps, or snapshot fixtures containing blob may now report false schema drift. Regenerate or add a normalisation step.
Driver semantics differ: MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite do not treat binary, bytea, and blob identically. Verify the resulting DDL on each driver rather than trusting a single local SQLite run.
Introspection round-trips are the usual failure point: write a test that creates a binary column, reads it back, and asserts the reported type matches what the package expects.
Check whether the package caches type mappings or schema state. Clear config and application caches after upgrading, otherwise you may still see the old blob behaviour.
Extension point: most packages of this shape expose a mapping array or a custom grammar hook. Override there rather than subclassing internals, which are likely to change again in minor releases.
When debugging, log the raw SQL and bindings (DB::enableQueryLog()) before and after the upgrade; the difference should be isolated to the binary column definition.
Treat 1.0.2 as a patch-level but behaviour-affecting release: pin the version in CI until your schema tests pass on all target drivers.