Utilities can't process a download with only a controller

[andjsch]

Bug description

Registering a utility with an action (custom controller) that initiates a download, the download won't work as it is dropped/not properly handled on the Intertia side of things.

How to reproduce

Register a utility that responds with a download:

Utility::register('data_wangjangler')
    ->action([WangjanglerController::class, 'csvDownload'])

See that the download response is handled with a 302 redirect on the utilities index page - nothing happens.

Logs

Environment

Environment
Laravel Version: 13.12.0
PHP Version: 8.5.6
Composer Version: 2.10.0
Environment: local
Debug Mode: ENABLED
Maintenance Mode: OFF
Timezone: Europe/Vienna
Locale: de

Cache
Config: NOT CACHED
Events: NOT CACHED
Routes: NOT CACHED
Views: CACHED

Drivers
Broadcasting: log
Cache: file
Database: mysql
Logs: stack / daily
Mail: smtp
Queue: sync
Session: file

Storage
public/storage: NOT LINKED

Livewire
Livewire: v4.3.0

Statamic
Addons: 7
License Key: Set
Sites: 1
Stache Watcher: Disabled
Static Caching: Disabled
Version: 6.20.0 PRO

Statamic Addons
marcorieser/statamic-livewire: 5.3.1
schantldev/statamic-phosphoricons: 2.0.1
statamic-rad-pack/meilisearch: 4.1.0
statamic-rad-pack/runway: 9.5.0
studio1902/statamic-peak-seo: 11.2.0
studio1902/statamic-peak-tools: 9.1.0

Installation

Fresh statamic/statamic site via CLI

Additional details

No response

[duncanmcclean]

that initiates a download

How are you returning the download in your controller? response()->download()?

[andjsch]

yup.

Edit: Using Laravel Excel from Spartner over here. I am on the 4.x branch that is currently in the works and is the only version right now supporting PHP 8.5 and L13
https://github.com/SpartnerNL/Laravel-Excel/blob/4.x/src/Excel.php#L64

[duncanmcclean]

What does your utility look like?

Are you using a <Link>? If you are, what happens if you change it to an <a>?

[andjsch]

I don't need an extra, custom Vue page for the utility. I just registered it as shown above, with one action, no routes whatsoever. The Index page for the utilities lists them as <Link>, which is likely the problem. But there's currently no way to switch to a normal <a> tag when registering.

https://github.com/statamic/cms/blob/6.x/resources/js/pages/utilities/Index.vue#L17

[duncanmcclean]

Ahh okay - didn't realise you didn't have a page. 👍

[joshuablum]

Hey @andjsch,

No need to create a full utility for this. You should be able to do the following in a service provider:

use Statamic\Facades\CP\Nav;

Nav::extend(function ($nav) {
  $nav->content('Download CSV')
    ->section('Tools')
    ->icon('add-table')
    ->url(); // comes from your controller/action
});

See https://statamic.dev/control-panel/cp-navigation#adding-items.

[andjsch]

That's definitely another option, but a completely different one. I would have liked it to be an utility, not a nav entry. This has worked in v5.

[jasonvarga]

You're saying that on the list of utilities, and from the nav, you could just click your utility's name and a download would be triggered?

That feels like it was just a happy accident in v5. A utility is supposed to be a page. We can look into a proper solution though.

[andjsch]

You're saying that on the list of utilities, and from the nav, you could just click your utility's name and a download would be triggered?

That feels like it was just a happy accident in v5. A utility is supposed to be a page. We can look into a proper solution though.

I guess this worked because it was a normal a tag and the browser knew what to do with it when it had been a response with a download. Now it's an Inertia Link. Maybe we can add a PHP method to instruct whether the utility should be a normal link instead of an Inertia one? I'd be happy to provide a PR.