The Basics

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Searchable Columns

To define which resource fields are searchable, you may assign an array of database columns to the search property of your resource class. This array includes the id column by default:

/**
 * The columns that should be searched.
 *
 * @var array
 */
public static $search = [
    'id', 'title', 'content',
];

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Full-Text Indexes

Typically, Nova searches your database columns using simple LIKE clauses. However, if you are using MySQL or Postgres, you may take advantage of any full-text indexes you have defined. To do so, you should define a searchableColumns method on your Nova resource class instead of defining a $search property.

The searchableColumns method should return an array of columns that are searchable. You may include an instance of Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableText within this array to instruct Nova to utilize your full-text indexes when querying a given column:

use Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableText;

/**
 * Get the searchable columns for the resource.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public static function searchableColumns()
{
    return ['id', new SearchableText('title')];
}

The array returned by the searchableColumns method can also include raw SQL expressions, which allow you to search through derived columns:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;

/**
 * Get the searchable columns for the resource.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public static function searchableColumns()
{
    return ['id', DB::raw("CONCAT(first_name, ' ', last_name)")];
}

​

Searching Relationships

Laravel Nova also allows you to search against a resource’s related models. For example, imagine a Post model that is related to a User model via an author relatonship. You may indicate that this relationship data should be considered when searching for users by returning an instance of Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableRelation from your resource’s searchableColumns method.

If the searchableColumns method does not exist on your resource, you should define it. Once the searchableColumns method has been defined, you may remove the $search property from your resource:

use Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableRelation;

/**
 * Get the searchable columns for the resource.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public static function searchableColumns()
{
    return ['id', new SearchableRelation('author', 'name')];
}

For convenience, you may define a relationship that should be searched by adding the field to your resource’s $search property using “dot notation”:

/**
 * The columns that should be searched.
 *
 * @var array
 */
public static $search = [
    'id', 'author.name'
];

​

MorphTo Relationships

”Morph to” relationships can be made searchable by returning an instance of Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableMorphToRelation from your resource’s searchableColumns method. The SearchableMorphToRelation class allows you to specify which types of morphed models should be searched:

use App\Nova\Post;
use Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableMorphToRelation;

/**
 * Get the searchable columns for the resource.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public static function searchableColumns()
{
    return ['id', new SearchableMorphToRelation('commentable', 'title', [Post::class])];
}

​

Searching JSON Data

If the database table associated with your resource includes a column that contains a JSON string, you may instruct Nova to search within the JSON string by returning a Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableJson instance from your resource’s searchableColumns method.

If the searchableColumns method does not exist on your resource, you should define it. Once the searchableColumns method has been defined, you may remove the $search property from your resource:

use Laravel\Nova\Query\Search\SearchableJson;

/**
 * Get the searchable columns for the resource.
 *
 * @return array
 */
public static function searchableColumns()
{
    return ['id', new SearchableJson('meta->address->postcode')];
}