Columns Reference

Each entry in the columns array describes one DB column and how it participates in each generated operation.

---

Column Object Shape

{
  "id":              "uuid-v5-of-column-name",
  "name":            "status_id",
  "type":            "foreignId",
  "relatedModule":   "Statuses",
  "length":          "255",
  "default":         "",
  "unique":          false,
  "nullable":        true,
  "indexed":         true,
  "comment":         "",
  "featureSelections": {
    "backend":  { "create": true, "list": true, "view": true, "edit": true, "delete": false },
    "frontend": { "create": true, "list": true, "view": true, "edit": true, "delete": false }
  }
}

Key	Type	Description
id	string	UUID v5 computed from the column name. Auto-set by introspection.
name	string	Exact DB column name (snake_case).
type	string	Normalized column type — see Column Types below.
relatedModule	string	StudlyCase module name for FK columns (e.g. "Statuses"). Empty string for non-FK.
length	string	Column length as a string (e.g. "255"). Empty string if not applicable.
default	string	Default value as a string, or empty string for none. Never the word NULL and never wrapped in the database's own quotes: introspection turns MariaDB's NULL string into "no default" and its 'UNPAID' into UNPAID (ColumnDefault, v3.5.31), and every generator normalises it again so a module.json written by an older engine regenerates correctly.
unique	boolean	Whether this column has a unique constraint.
nullable	boolean	Whether NULL is allowed.
indexed	boolean	Whether a plain index exists on this column.
comment	string	Human-readable note (not emitted to DB).
enum_values	string[]	Required when type is "enum", ignored otherwise. An empty/missing array with type: "enum" emits $table->enum('name', []), which fails at the DB level.
featureSelections	object	Which operations include this column — see below.

---

Column Types

type value	DB equivalent	Notes
string	VARCHAR(255)	Default for short text. Use length to override.
text	TEXT	Medium-length text.
longText	LONGTEXT	Large text / rich content.
integer	INT	32-bit signed integer.
bigInteger	BIGINT	64-bit signed integer.
decimal	DECIMAL(8,2)	Currency / precision numbers.
boolean	TINYINT(1)	Checkbox. Rendered as toggle in frontend.
date	DATE	Date only (no time).
datetime	DATETIME	Date + time.
time	TIME	Time only.
json	JSON	JSON column. Not SQLite-safe — avoid in MOBILE_APP. Gets no create/edit frontend field at all (deliberate — no generic UI for editing raw JSON); cast to array on the model. Validate its contents with json_rules.
foreignId	BIGINT UNSIGNED	FK column. Requires relatedModule to be set.
uuid	CHAR(36)	A plain data column holding a UUID reference — unrelated to id_type: "uuid" (the module's own primary key setting).
enum	ENUM(...)	Requires enum_values: string[] (see the Column Object Shape table above). Cast to string on the model; Rule::in(enum_values) added to validation; renders as a static select frontend field.

SQLite / MOBILE_APP note: Use text instead of json for mobile backend modules. The mobile backend generators substitute TEXT automatically, but specifying text explicitly avoids confusion.

---

featureSelections Object

Controls whether this column appears in each operation's generated code.

"featureSelections": {
  "backend":  { "create": true, "list": true, "view": true, "edit": true, "delete": false },
  "frontend": { "create": true, "list": true, "view": true, "edit": true, "delete": false }
}

Operation	Backend effect	Frontend effect
list	Added to $fillable, returned in list query results	Shown as a column in the list table
create	Added to validation rules and CreateService assignment	Rendered as a form field in CreateForm component
edit	Added to validation rules and EditService assignment	Rendered as a form field in EditForm component
view	Added to ViewService eager load + return	Displayed in the view/details layout
delete	No effect on backend	Shown as a confirmation field in DeleteForm

Setting any operation to false suppresses that column entirely from the corresponding generated file. Note the example above shows delete: false on both sides to illustrate that the operations are independently toggleable — schema-introspected columns default every operation, including delete, to true.

---

FK Columns

When type is "foreignId", set relatedModule to the StudlyCase module name:

{
  "name": "category_id",
  "type": "foreignId",
  "relatedModule": "Categories",
  "nullable": false
}

The generator will:

• Emit $table->foreignId('category_id') in the migration — no ->constrained(), deliberately: this project's convention is plain unsigned-bigint columns with no real DB-level FK constraint anywhere, enforced at the application layer instead
• Add a belongsTo(CategoryModel::class) relationship to the model
• Render an api-select field (infinite scroll dropdown) in frontend forms
• Use category?.name as the display path in list tables

---

Polymorphic (Morph) Columns

Morph pairs are declared on the parent module's morphs array (see module-config.md), not as individual columns. The introspector auto-detects {name}_type + {name}_id pairs and tags them with morph_role.

If you need to manually declare them, add the pair to columns with:

[
  { "name": "commentable_type", "type": "string",  "nullable": false },
  { "name": "commentable_id",   "type": "bigInteger", "nullable": false }
]

Both of these columns entries are required, not optional, if you also want the migration to collapse them: MigrationGenerator only emits $table->morphs('commentable') when it finds columns named exactly type_column/id_column while iterating columns[] — the top-level morphs[] declaration (in module-config.md) is relation metadata (drives the Model's morphTo() + morphMap()), not something that auto-adds these two columns for you.

---

Field Type Mapping (Frontend)

The frontend form field type is inferred from the column type:

Column type	field_type in form	Component rendered
string	input	Text input
text, longText	textarea	Textarea
integer, bigInteger, decimal	number-input	Numeric input
boolean	checkbox	Toggle switch
date	date	Date picker
datetime	date	Datetime picker
time	input	Plain text input (no dedicated time picker)
foreignId	api-select	Async dropdown
uuid	input	Plain text input (no dedicated UUID widget)
enum	select	Static dropdown built from enum_values
json	(none)	No create/edit field is generated at all — deliberate, there's no generic UI for editing raw JSON. Add a hand-authored field entry yourself if you need one. Validate its contents with json_rules.

Two field types exist that no column type ever maps to automatically — both are only ever added by hand as an entry in features.frontend.create.fields[] / .edit.fields[]:

field_type	Component rendered	Notes
morph-select	Type dropdown + API-backed record picker	Represents a morphs[] relation's type_column + id_column pair as one field entry — see module-config.md § morphs.
file-input	File/image upload widget	Also requires the column to be listed in the module config's top-level file_columns array so the backend routes it to a file validation rule instead of its column type's normal rule.

You can override field_type per-column inside features.frontend.create.fields[].field_type — see features-config.md for the full field-shape reference and every other available field_type (select, api-select, checkbox, item-picker, inline-items, etc).