Checkbox

PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Checkbox is a single boolean, rendered as a box. PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle is the same field rendered as a switch — it extends Checkbox and changes nothing but the control. Reach for either when the answer is yes or no; for several answers out of a list use CheckboxList, and for one answer out of several use Radio.

The minimal example

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Checkbox;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle;
use PandaPanel\Forms\FormSchema;

FormSchema::make()->schema([
    Checkbox::make('is_featured'),

    Toggle::make('is_admin')
        ->label('Administrator')
        ->helperText('Administrators can reach the Admin panel and manage users.'),
]);

The value

A checkbox has no field-specific options at all. What makes it a checkbox is three overrides on Field:

Override	Value
type()	FieldType::Checkbox ('checkbox'), or FieldType::Toggle ('toggle')
$default	false — not null, so a create form starts unchecked rather than empty
typeRules()	['boolean']
castForForm()	(bool) $value

The cast is why a tinyint(1) column, a 0/1 string, and a real bool all arrive at the control as true or false:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Checkbox;

Checkbox::make('is_featured')->formValue($record);   // always bool

The Vue control emits value === true, so what comes back is a real JSON boolean rather than 'on'. There is no unchecked-value trickery to configure: the field is present in the payload either way.

Everything you can set

Checkbox adds no methods of its own. These are the inherited ones that matter for a boolean:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle;

Toggle::make('is_admin')
    ->label('Administrator')                 // default: Str::headline('is_admin')
    ->helperText('Grants access to the Admin panel.')
    ->default(true)                          // overrides the field's false
    ->inlineLabel()                          // label beside the switch
    ->columnSpan(2)
    ->disabled()
    ->rules(['accepted']);                   // see Gotchas

Method	Signature	Notes
label()	(string $label): static	defaults to Str::headline($name)
helperText()	(string $text): static	a line under the control
default()	(mixed $default): static	false unless set
disabled()	(bool $disabled = true): static	still validated and still dehydrated
inlineLabel()	(bool $inline = true): static	label beside rather than above
columnSpan() / columnSpanFull()	(int $span): static / (): static	resolved against the container
rules()	(list<mixed> $rules): static	appended after boolean
required()	(bool $required = true): static	see Gotchas — rarely what you want

placeholder() exists on Field but a checkbox has no text input to place it in; the definition carries it and the control ignores it.

Mapping a checkbox onto a different column

The classic case is a nullable timestamp presented as a switch. Three hooks do it, and they stay separate because they answer different questions:

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Date;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle;

Toggle::make('verified')
    ->label('Email verified')
    ->formatUsing(static fn (mixed $value, ?Model $record): bool => $record instanceof User
        && $record->email_verified_at !== null)
    ->dehydrateTo('email_verified_at')
    ->mutateUsing(static function (mixed $value, ?Model $record): mixed {
        if ($value !== true) {
            return null;
        }

        return $record instanceof User && $record->email_verified_at !== null
            ? $record->email_verified_at
            : Date::now();
    });

formatUsing() shapes the value on the way in, dehydrateTo() names the column, mutateUsing() shapes the value on the way out. The field is called verified on the wire and in the rules; nothing had to be renamed and no column had to be invented.

Note the formatUsing() closure returns a bool rather than reading data_get($record, 'verified') — there is no such attribute, and without the hook the field would read null and render unchecked for a verified user.

Driving other fields

A checkbox is the natural subject of a declarative condition, because Truthy is the default operator:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\TextInput;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle;

Toggle::make('notify'),
TextInput::make('notify_email')->visibleWhen('notify'),

No request is made: the browser re-evaluates the condition as the switch flips. See Visibility.

If something has to be rebuilt by the server when the box changes — options that depend on it, a computed total — mark it live():

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Toggle;

Toggle::make('use_custom_pricing')->live();

Gotchas

required() on a checkbox does not insist on a tick. Field::validationRules() puts required first, and Laravel's required passes for false — the value is present, and being present is all it asks. All the flag changes is the asterisk beside the label. A box that must be ticked — terms and conditions — wants Laravel's accepted rule instead:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\Checkbox;

Checkbox::make('accepts_terms')->rules(['accepted']);   // ['nullable', 'boolean', 'accepted']

The default is false, not null. A create form starts unchecked and submits false, so a non-nullable boolean column is safe without a database default.

Toggle is a subclass, not a flag. Toggle::make() returns a Toggle; instanceof Checkbox is true for it. If a page hook branches on field class, remember that.

Checkbox is not final. It and TextInput are the only field classes in the package that are not, which is how Toggle exists. Override type() to reach a different control, and remember that the frontend union is closed — a new FieldType case needs a Vue renderer too.

A disabled checkbox still dehydrates. Disabling is a browser state. Use dehydrated(false) for a box whose value must never reach a column.

See also

• Toggle — the same field as a switch
• Radio — one choice from several
• Visibility — visibleWhen() and the condition operators
• Live Fields — live() and the form-state endpoint
• State Lifecycle — formatUsing(), mutateUsing(), dehydrateTo()
• Validation
• Forms and Schemas