Date and Time

Three fields, not one with flags: PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker, PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DateTimePicker, and PandaPanel\Forms\Components\TimePicker. They format their value differently, validate differently, and render a different native control, so a flag on one class would have made every one of those a branch. Reach for the one whose value shape matches the column.

The minimal example

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DateTimePicker;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\TimePicker;
use PandaPanel\Forms\FormSchema;

FormSchema::make()->schema([
    DatePicker::make('born_on'),
    DateTimePicker::make('published_at'),
    TimePicker::make('opens_at'),
]);

Cast the attributes on the model so the fields receive Carbon instances rather than raw strings:

protected function casts(): array
{
    return [
        'born_on' => 'date',
        'published_at' => 'datetime',
    ];
}

At a glance

Field	FieldType	Control	Value format	Type rules
DatePicker	Date ('date')	<input type="date">	Y-m-d	date
DateTimePicker	DateTime ('datetime')	<input type="datetime-local">	Y-m-d H:i on submit	date
TimePicker	Time ('time')	<input type="time">	H:i or H:i:s	date_format:H:i[:s]

DatePicker

public function minDate(?string $date): self     // default: null
public function maxDate(?string $date): self     // default: null

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker;

DatePicker::make('starts_on')
    ->label('Start date')
    ->minDate('2020-01-01')
    ->maxDate('today')
    ->required();

Both are null by default and both do two things: they become the control's min / max attributes, and they become Laravel rules.

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker;
use PandaPanel\Forms\FormSchema;

FormSchema::make()
    ->schema([DatePicker::make('starts_on')->minDate('2020-01-01')->maxDate('2030-12-31')])
    ->validationRules();

// ['starts_on' => ['nullable', 'date', 'after_or_equal:2020-01-01', 'before_or_equal:2030-12-31']]

The string is passed through untouched, so anything after_or_equal accepts works — including relative strings such as today, which the browser will not understand as a min attribute but Laravel will honour. Passing null clears a previously set bound.

Hydration

protected function castForForm(mixed $value): ?string

Stored value	Sent to the control
a CarbonInterface	->format('Y-m-d')
a non-empty string	its first ten characters
anything else	null

The ten-character truncation is what lets an uncast datetime column work: 2026-08-15 09:30:00 becomes 2026-08-15. Clearing the control submits null.

DateTimePicker

public function minDate(?string $date): self      // default: null
public function maxDate(?string $date): self      // default: null
public function seconds(bool $seconds = true): self  // default: false

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DateTimePicker;

DateTimePicker::make('published_at')
    ->label('Publish at')
    ->minDate('2026-01-01 00:00')
    ->seconds()
    ->helperText('Stored and displayed in the application timezone.');

seconds() decides the format the value is rendered in — Y-m-d\TH:i:s rather than Y-m-d\TH:i — and sets the control's step to 1, which is the only thing that makes a browser show a seconds spinner at all. Without it the control rounds to the minute and a value carrying seconds is truncated on the first edit.

The rules are date plus the same after_or_equal / before_or_equal pair as DatePicker. seconds() adds no rule: date accepts both precisions.

The T on the boundary

PHP formats the value for the control with a literal T (2026-08-15T09:30), which is what datetime-local requires. The control submits it back with a space (2026-08-15 09:30), because that is what a column would rather hold. The translation happens once, in DateTimeField.vue, and neither side has to change its mind about the format it prefers.

That is worth knowing when a hook reads the raw submitted value: it is Y-m-d H:i (or Y-m-d H:i:s), not ISO-8601 with a T.

Hydration

Stored value	Sent to the control
a CarbonInterface	->format('Y-m-d\TH:i'), or ...:s with seconds()
a non-empty string	unchanged
anything else	null

Unlike DatePicker, a raw string is passed through as it is. An uncast column returning 2026-08-15 09:30:00 therefore reaches the control with seconds it may not be able to show. Cast the attribute to datetime and the formatting is handled.

TimePicker

public function seconds(bool $seconds = true): self   // default: false

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\TimePicker;

TimePicker::make('opens_at'),
TimePicker::make('cron_at')->seconds(),

The rule is a strict format check rather than date:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\TimePicker;
use PandaPanel\Forms\FormSchema;

FormSchema::make()
    ->schema([TimePicker::make('opens_at'), TimePicker::make('cron_at')->seconds()])
    ->validationRules();

// [
//     'opens_at' => ['nullable', 'date_format:H:i'],
//     'cron_at'  => ['nullable', 'date_format:H:i:s'],
// ]

date_format is exact. A value with seconds fails a field without seconds(), and a value without them fails a field with it — which is the point: the two spellings are not interchangeable and a lenient rule would let a column drift between them.

Hydration

Stored value	Sent to the control
a CarbonInterface	->format('H:i'), or 'H:i:s' with seconds()
a non-empty string	unchanged
anything else	null

What crosses the wire

interface DateFieldDefinition extends BaseFieldDefinition {
    type: 'date';
    minDate: string | null;
    maxDate: string | null;
}

interface DateTimeFieldDefinition extends BaseFieldDefinition {
    type: 'datetime';
    minDate: string | null;
    maxDate: string | null;
    seconds: boolean;
}

interface TimeFieldDefinition extends BaseFieldDefinition {
    type: 'time';
    seconds: boolean;
}

All three controls emit null for an empty input rather than '', so an optional date field clears cleanly to a nullable column.

Recipes

A range whose end must not precede its start. minDate() is a rule string, so it can name another field — but it is also the control's min attribute, where a field name is meaningless. Set the bound as a rule instead:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker;

DatePicker::make('starts_on')->required(),
DatePicker::make('ends_on')->rules(['after_or_equal:starts_on']),

A timestamp that must not be in the past on create. when() comes from Conditionable, and the page is on the schema:

use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DateTimePicker;

DateTimePicker::make('scheduled_for')
    ->when(
        $schema->getPage() === 'create',
        static fn (DateTimePicker $field): DateTimePicker => $field->minDate('now'),
    );

A date stored as a Carbon instance rather than a string. The submitted value is a string; cast it on the way out if the column is not already cast:

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Date;
use PandaPanel\Forms\Components\DatePicker;

DatePicker::make('starts_on')->mutateUsing(
    static fn (mixed $value, ?Model $record): mixed => $value === null
        ? null
        : Date::parse((string) $value)->startOfDay(),
);

Gotchas

No timezone handling. The fields format and parse in whatever timezone Carbon is already using. A panel serving users across timezones has to convert in formatUsing() and mutateUsing(); the fields will not guess.

minDate and maxDate are strings, not DateTimeInterface. Pass '2026-01-01', or Date::now()->toDateString() — not the Carbon instance.

TimePicker has no minTime / maxTime. Bound it with rules() if you need to: date_format is the only rule the field generates.

An uncast column bypasses formatting. DateTimePicker and TimePicker pass strings through unchanged, so what the database returns is what the control receives. Cast the attribute, or shape it in formatUsing().

before_or_equal and after_or_equal, never the strict versions. The bounds are inclusive; maxDate('today') accepts today.

See also

• Number — the other bounded scalar field
• Visibility
• State Lifecycle — formatUsing() and mutateUsing()
• Validation
• Table Filters — the date range filter over the same columns
• Forms and Schemas