Payload CMS Development

Payload is a Next.js native CMS with TypeScript-first architecture. This skill fuses expert knowledge from official PayloadCMS skills + community best practices.

Mental Model

Think of Payload as three interconnected layers:

•Config Layer → Collections, globals, fields define your schema
•Hook Layer → Lifecycle events transform and validate data
•Access Layer → Functions control who can do what

Every operation flows: Config → Access Check → Hook Chain → Database → Response Hooks

Quick Reference

Task	Solution	Reference
Auto-generate slugs	`slugField()` helper	[reference/FIELDS.md#slug-field-helper]
Restrict by user	Access control with query	[reference/ACCESS-CONTROL.md#row-level-security]
Local API with auth	`user` + `overrideAccess: false`	[reference/QUERIES.md#access-control-in-local-api]
Draft/publish workflow	`versions: { drafts: true }`	[reference/COLLECTIONS.md#versioning--drafts]
Computed fields	`virtual: true` with afterRead	[reference/FIELDS.md#virtual-fields]
Conditional fields	`admin.condition`	[reference/FIELDS.md#conditional-fields]
Filter relationship list	`filterOptions` on field	[reference/FIELDS.md#relationship]
Prevent hook loops	`req.context` check	[reference/HOOKS.md#hook-context]
Cascading deletes	beforeDelete hook	[reference/HOOKS.md#collection-hooks]
Transactions	Pass `req` to operations	[reference/ADAPTERS.md#threading-req-through-operations]
Background jobs	Jobs queue with tasks	[reference/ADVANCED.md#jobs-queue]
Custom API routes	Collection endpoints	[reference/ENDPOINTS.md]
Reverse relationships	`join` field type	[reference/FIELDS.md#join-fields]
Next.js revalidation	afterChange with context	[reference/HOOKS.md#nextjs-revalidation]
Create plugin	`(options) => (config) => Config`	[reference/PLUGIN-DEVELOPMENT.md]

Quick Start

bash

npx create-payload-app@latest my-app
cd my-app
pnpm dev

Minimal Config

import { buildConfig } from 'payload'
import { mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb'
import { lexicalEditor } from '@payloadcms/richtext-lexical'
import path from 'path'
import { fileURLToPath } from 'url'

const filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
const dirname = path.dirname(filename)

export default buildConfig({
  admin: {
    user: 'users',
    importMap: { baseDir: path.resolve(dirname) },
  },
  collections: [Users, Media, Posts],
  editor: lexicalEditor(),
  secret: process.env.PAYLOAD_SECRET,
  typescript: { outputFile: path.resolve(dirname, 'payload-types.ts') },
  db: mongooseAdapter({ url: process.env.DATABASE_URL }),
})

Core Patterns

Collection Definition

import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'

export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'posts',
  admin: {
    useAsTitle: 'title',
    defaultColumns: ['title', 'author', 'status', 'createdAt'],
  },
  fields: [
    { name: 'title', type: 'text', required: true },
    { name: 'slug', type: 'text', unique: true, index: true },
    { name: 'content', type: 'richText' },
    { name: 'author', type: 'relationship', relationTo: 'users' },
    { name: 'status', type: 'select', options: ['draft', 'published'], defaultValue: 'draft' },
  ],
  timestamps: true,
}

Hook Pattern

export const Posts: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'posts',
  hooks: {
    beforeChange: [
      async ({ data, operation }) => {
        if (operation === 'create' && data.title) {
          data.slug = data.title.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, '-')
        }
        return data
      },
    ],
  },
  fields: [{ name: 'title', type: 'text', required: true }],
}

Access Control Pattern

import type { Access } from 'payload'
import type { User } from '@/payload-types'

// Admin-only access
export const adminOnly: Access = ({ req }) => {
  const user = req.user as User
  return user?.roles?.includes('admin') ?? false
}

// Row-level: users see only their own posts
export const ownPostsOnly: Access = ({ req }) => {
  const user = req.user as User
  if (!user) return false
  if (user.roles?.includes('admin')) return true
  return { author: { equals: user.id } }
}

Query Pattern

// Local API with access control
const posts = await payload.find({
  collection: 'posts',
  where: {
    status: { equals: 'published' },
    'author.name': { contains: 'john' },
  },
  depth: 2,
  limit: 10,
  sort: '-createdAt',
  user: req.user,
  overrideAccess: false, // CRITICAL: enforce permissions
})

// With populated relationships (depth: 2 is default)
const post = await payload.findByID({
  collection: 'posts',
  id: '123',
  depth: 2, // Returns: { author: { id: "user123", name: "John" } }
})

// IDs only
const post = await payload.findByID({
  collection: 'posts',
  id: '123',
  depth: 0, // Returns: { author: "user123" }
})

⚠️ Critical Security Rules

1. Local API Access Control (CRITICAL)

Default behavior bypasses ALL access control. This is the #1 security mistake.

// ❌ SECURITY BUG: Access control bypassed even with user
await payload.find({ collection: 'posts', user: someUser })

// ✅ SECURE: Explicitly enforce permissions
await payload.find({
  collection: 'posts',
  user: someUser,
  overrideAccess: false, // REQUIRED for access control
})

When to use each:

•overrideAccess: true (default) → Server-side operations you trust (cron jobs, system tasks)
•overrideAccess: false → When operating on behalf of a user (API routes, webhooks)

2. Transaction Integrity

Operations without req run in separate transactions.

// ❌ DATA CORRUPTION: Separate transaction
hooks: {
  afterChange: [async ({ doc, req }) => {
    await req.payload.create({
      collection: 'audit-log',
      data: { docId: doc.id },
      // Missing req - breaks atomicity!
    })
  }]
}

// ✅ ATOMIC: Same transaction
hooks: {
  afterChange: [async ({ doc, req }) => {
    await req.payload.create({
      collection: 'audit-log',
      data: { docId: doc.id },
      req, // Maintains transaction
    })
  }]
}

3. Infinite Hook Loops

Hooks triggering themselves create infinite loops.

// ❌ INFINITE LOOP
hooks: {
  afterChange: [async ({ doc, req }) => {
    await req.payload.update({
      collection: 'posts',
      id: doc.id,
      data: { views: doc.views + 1 },
      req,
    }) // Triggers afterChange again!
  }]
}

// ✅ SAFE: Context flag breaks the loop
hooks: {
  afterChange: [async ({ doc, req, context }) => {
    if (context.skipViewUpdate) return
    await req.payload.update({
      collection: 'posts',
      id: doc.id,
      data: { views: doc.views + 1 },
      req,
      context: { skipViewUpdate: true },
    })
  }]
}

4. Logger Usage

// ✅ Valid
payload.logger.error('Something went wrong')
payload.logger.error({ msg: 'Failed to process', err: error })

// ❌ Invalid: don't pass error as second argument
payload.logger.error('Failed to process', error)

// ❌ Invalid: use `err` not `error`, use `msg` not `message`
payload.logger.error({ message: 'Failed', error: error })

Common Field Types

// Text
{ name: 'title', type: 'text', required: true }

// Relationship
{ name: 'author', type: 'relationship', relationTo: 'users' }

// Rich text
{ name: 'content', type: 'richText' }

// Select
{ name: 'status', type: 'select', options: ['draft', 'published'] }

// Upload
{ name: 'image', type: 'upload', relationTo: 'media' }

// Array
{
  name: 'tags',
  type: 'array',
  fields: [{ name: 'tag', type: 'text' }],
}

// Blocks (polymorphic content)
{
  name: 'layout',
  type: 'blocks',
  blocks: [HeroBlock, ContentBlock, CTABlock],
}

// Join (reverse relationship)
{
  name: 'comments',
  type: 'join',
  collection: 'comments',
  on: 'post',
}

Decision Framework

Scenario	Approach
Data transformation before save	`beforeChange` hook
Data transformation after read	`afterRead` hook
Enforce business rules	Access control function
Complex validation	`validate` function on field
Computed display value	Virtual field with `afterRead`
Related docs list	`join` field type
Side effects (email, webhook)	`afterChange` hook with context guard
Database-level constraint	Field with `unique: true` or `index: true`

Getting Payload Instance

// In API routes (Next.js)
import { getPayload } from 'payload'
import config from '@payload-config'

export async function GET() {
  const payload = await getPayload({ config })
  const posts = await payload.find({ collection: 'posts' })
  return Response.json(posts)
}

// In Server Components
export default async function Page() {
  const payload = await getPayload({ config })
  const { docs } = await payload.find({ collection: 'posts' })
  return <div>{docs.map(p => <h1 key={p.id}>{p.title}</h1>)}</div>
}

Project Structure

code

src/
├── app/
│   ├── (frontend)/page.tsx
│   └── (payload)/admin/[[...segments]]/page.tsx
├── collections/
│   ├── Posts.ts
│   ├── Media.ts
│   └── Users.ts
├── globals/Header.ts
├── hooks/slugify.ts
└── payload.config.ts

Quality Checklist

• All Local API calls with user context use overrideAccess: false
• All hook operations pass req for transaction integrity
• Recursive hooks use context flags
• Types generated and imported from payload-types.ts
• Access control functions typed with Access type
• Collections have meaningful admin.useAsTitle set
• Indexes on frequently queried fields

Reference Documentation

Detailed patterns in reference/ directory:

•FIELDS.md - All field types, validation, admin options
•COLLECTIONS.md - Auth, uploads, drafts, live preview
•HOOKS.md - Collection/field hooks, context patterns
•ACCESS-CONTROL.md - RBAC, row-level, field-level
•QUERIES.md - Operators, Local/REST/GraphQL APIs
•ENDPOINTS.md - Custom API endpoints
•ADAPTERS.md - Database, storage, email, transactions
•ADVANCED.md - Auth, jobs, plugins, localization
•PLUGIN-DEVELOPMENT.md - Plugin architecture

Resources

•LLM Context: https://payloadcms.com/llms-full.txt
•Docs: https://payloadcms.com/docs
•GitHub: https://github.com/payloadcms/payload
•Examples: https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/examples
•Templates: https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/templates