Actions

Actions are buttons that do something with a record or a selection of records beyond create, edit and delete: approve a request, record an exit, hand over a document, open the record in another system.

use Anvil\Resource\Action;

public function actions(): array
{
    return [
        Action::make('approve')
            ->label('Approve')->icon('check2')->color('success')
            ->permission('orders.approve')
            ->visible(fn ($order) => $order->status === 'open')
            ->confirm('Approve the order?')
            ->inRow()
            ->handle(function ($order): string {
                service('orders')->approve($order);

                return 'The order has been approved.';
            }),
    ];
}

Kinds of actions

Kind	Defined in	Shown	Details
Record action	Resource::actions()	header of the detail and edit page; with inRow() in rows and cards	Record actions
Action with a form	->form(...) on any action	opens a dialog first	Actions with a form
Link action	->link(...), ->url(...)	opens a page, runs no code	Links to pages
Bulk action	Resource::bulkActions()	toolbar of the list when records are selected	Bulk actions
Relation action	Relation::headerActions(), recordActions()	in a related list on the detail page	Relation actions

What happens when an action runs

1. The button sends a request to the component endpoint of the panel, with a token that names the resource and the record.
2. The server loads the record through the resource (tenant, scopeQuery()); a record outside the scope answers 404.
3. Permission (with policies) and visibility are checked again – a stale button cannot run an action that is no longer allowed (403).
4. The input of the dialog is validated and converted (422 on errors).
5. The handler runs in a database transaction and is written to the audit log as component.action. An exception rolls everything back.
6. The user sees the returned message; the page or list is reloaded.

Details per step: Permissions and visibility, Record actions.

Where actions appear

Place	Which actions
Detail page header	all visible and allowed record actions
Edit page header	the same
Rows and cards of the list	actions with inRow(), see In rows and cards
List toolbar with a selection	bulk actions and delete
Related list on the detail page	the relation’s header and record actions
API	actions with a handler, if enabled