Installing Novus CMS

Novus is a modern headless content management system (CMS) built specifically for Laravel applications. This guide covers essential installation steps and configuration options.

Requirements

Before installing, ensure your environment meets these requirements:

PHP 8.2 or higher
Laravel 11.0 or higher
MySQL 8 or PostgreSQL 10+
Composer 2.0+
Node.js 22+ and NPM/Yarn (for frontend assets)

Required PHP extensions:

ext-fileinfo
ext-json
ext-mbstring
ext-exif (for image processing)

Installation Process

1. Install via Composer

composer require codemystify/novus

2. Run the Installation Command

The simplest way to install Novus is using the built-in installation command:

php artisan novus:prod

This command will:

Publish configuration files
Publish database migrations
Run migrations (with your confirmation)
Set up frontend assets
Build the frontend assets

Installation command options:

--force: Overwrite existing assets or config
--no-build: Skip frontend build process
--dev: Install in development mode

3. Create Admin User

Create your first administrative user:

php artisan novus:create-author

This interactive command will prompt you for name, email, and password details.

Configuration

After installation, you can customize Novus through the published configuration file:

// config/novus.php
return [
    // Route configuration
    'path' => env('NOVUS_PATH', 'novus'),          // URL path prefix
    'domain' => env('NOVUS_DOMAIN'),               // Optional custom domain
    'middleware_group' => [],                      // Additional middleware

    // Storage configuration
    'storage_disk' => env('NOVUS_STORAGE_DISK', 'public'),       // Disk for media storage
    'storage_path' => env('NOVUS_STORAGE_PATH', 'novus-media'),  // Path within storage disk

    // Access control
    'access_control' => \Shah\Novus\Services\Auth\AccessResolver::class,

    // Database configuration
    'database_connection' => env('NOVUS_DATABASE_CONNECTION', env('DB_CONNECTION', 'mysql')),

    // Additional configurations...
];

Database Configuration

By default, Novus uses your application's default database connection (typically MySQL as defined in your .env file). You can customize this by changing the database_connection config value:

'database_connection' => env('NOVUS_DATABASE_CONNECTION', 'mysql'),

This allows you to store Novus data in a separate database if needed, which can be useful for larger applications or specific deployment architectures.

Access Control

Novus provides a flexible access control system. By default, any authenticated Novus user has access to the admin panel. You can customize this behavior by implementing your own access control class:

Create a custom access resolver:

namespace App\Services;

use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Authenticatable;
use Shah\Novus\Contracts\Accessible;

class CustomAccessResolver implements Accessible
{
    public function canAccess(?Authenticatable $user = null): bool
    {
        if (!$user) {
            return false;
        }

        // Your custom logic here
        // For example, only allow specific emails
        return str_ends_with($user->email, '@yourcompany.com');

        // Or check for specific roles
        // return $user->hasRole('admin') || $user->hasRole('editor');
    }
}

'access_control' => \App\Services\CustomAccessResolver::class,

This allows you to implement complex authorization rules based on your application's needs.

Middleware Configuration

Novus allows you to add custom middleware to all admin routes through the middleware_group configuration:

'middleware_group' => ['web', 'track-admin-activity', 'log-actions'],

This is useful for:

Adding activity logging
Implementing custom authorization
Setting specific headers for admin routes
Adding monitoring or debugging middleware

By default, Novus applies the base middleware ['web', HandleInertiaRequests::class] and then appends any middleware you specify in this configuration.

Pagination Settings

Throughout the Novus admin panel, pagination is used to display lists of data. You can control the default number of items per page by setting the appropriate values in the config/novus.php file:

 'items_per_page' => env('NOVUS_PER_PAGE', 10),

Storage Setup

Novus uses Laravel's storage system for media files. By default, it uses the public disk.

Ensure your disk is properly configured in config/filesystems.php
Create a symbolic link to make the media files accessible:

php artisan storage:link

For S3 or other storage drivers, update the novus.storage_disk configuration accordingly.

Frontend Development

For local development with hot reloading:

php artisan novus:dev

This command creates the necessary symlinks and prepares your environment for frontend development.

Accessing the CMS

After installation, access your Novus CMS at:

https://your-app.com/novus

Customizing the access URL:

// For custom path
'path' => 'admin',  // https://your-app.com/admin

// For custom domain
'domain' => 'admin.your-app.com',