Text Field

The Text Field is one of the most commonly used fields. It saves a string to the database and provides the Admin Panel with a simple text input.

Admin Panel screenshot of a Text field and read-only Text field

To add a Text Field, set the type to text in your Field Config:

1import type { Field } from 'payload'
2
3export const MyTextField: Field = {
4  // ...
5  type: 'text', 
6}

Config Options

Option	Description
`name` *	To be used as the property name when stored and retrieved from the database. More details.
`label`	Text used as a field label in the Admin Panel or an object with keys for each language.
`unique`	Enforce that each entry in the Collection has a unique value for this field.
`minLength`	Used by the default validation function to ensure values are of a minimum character length.
`maxLength`	Used by the default validation function to ensure values are of a maximum character length.
`validate`	Provide a custom validation function that will be executed on both the Admin Panel and the backend. More details.
`index`	Build an index for this field to produce faster queries. Set this field to `true` if your users will perform queries on this field's data often.
`saveToJWT`	If this field is top-level and nested in a config supporting Authentication, include its data in the user JWT.
`hooks`	Provide Field Hooks to control logic for this field. More details.
`access`	Provide Field Access Control to denote what users can see and do with this field's data. More details.
`hidden`	Restrict this field's visibility from all APIs entirely. Will still be saved to the database, but will not appear in any API or the Admin Panel.
`defaultValue`	Provide data to be used for this field's default value. More details.
`localized`	Enable localization for this field. Requires localization to be enabled in the Base config.
`required`	Require this field to have a value.
`admin`	Admin-specific configuration. More details.
`custom`	Extension point for adding custom data (e.g. for plugins)
`hasMany`	Makes this field an ordered array of text instead of just a single text.
`minRows`	Minimum number of texts in the array, if `hasMany` is set to true.
`maxRows`	Maximum number of texts in the array, if `hasMany` is set to true.
`typescriptSchema`	Override field type generation with providing a JSON schema
`virtual`	Provide `true` to disable field in the database, or provide a string path to link the field with a relationship. See Virtual Fields

* An asterisk denotes that a property is required.

Admin Options

To customize the appearance and behavior of the Text Field in the Admin Panel, you can use the admin option:

1import type { Field } from 'payload'
2
3export const MyTextField: Field = {
4  // ...
5  admin: {
6    
7    // ...
8  },
9}

The Text Field inherits all of the default admin options from the base Field Admin Config, plus the following additional options:

Option	Description
`placeholder`	Set this property to define a placeholder string in the text input.
`autoComplete`	Set this property to a string that will be used for browser autocomplete.
`rtl`	Override the default text direction of the Admin Panel for this field. Set to `true` to force right-to-left text direction.

Example

1import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
2
3export const ExampleCollection: CollectionConfig = {
4  slug: 'example-collection',
5  fields: [
6    {
7      name: 'pageTitle', // required
8      type: 'text', // required
9      required: true,
10    },
11  ],
12}

Custom Components

Field

Server Component

1import type React from 'react'
2import { TextField } from '@payloadcms/ui'
3import type { TextFieldServerComponent } from 'payload'
4
5export const CustomTextFieldServer: TextFieldServerComponent = ({
6  clientField,
7  path,
8  schemaPath,
9  permissions,
10}) => {
11  return (
12    <TextField
13      field={clientField}
14      path={path}
15      schemaPath={schemaPath}
16      permissions={permissions}
17    />
18  )
19}

Client Component

1'use client'
2import React from 'react'
3import { TextField } from '@payloadcms/ui'
4import type { TextFieldClientComponent } from 'payload'
5
6export const CustomTextFieldClient: TextFieldClientComponent = (props) => {
7  return <TextField {...props} />
8}

Label

Server Component

1import React from 'react'
2import { FieldLabel } from '@payloadcms/ui'
3import type { TextFieldLabelServerComponent } from 'payload'
4
5export const CustomTextFieldLabelServer: TextFieldLabelServerComponent = ({
6  clientField,
7  path,
8  required,
9}) => {
10  return (
11    <FieldLabel
12      label={clientField?.label || clientField?.name}
13      path={path}
14      required={clientField?.required}
15    />
16  )
17}

Client Component

1'use client'
2import React from 'react'
3import { FieldLabel } from '@payloadcms/ui'
4import type { TextFieldLabelClientComponent } from 'payload'
5
6export const CustomTextFieldLabelClient: TextFieldLabelClientComponent = ({
7  field,
8  path,
9}) => {
10  return (
11    <FieldLabel
12      label={field?.label || field?.name}
13      path={path}
14      required={field?.required}
15    />
16  )
17}

One common use case for the Text Field is to create a "slug" for a document. A slug is a unique, indexed, URL-friendly string that identifies a particular document, often used to construct the URL of a webpage.

Payload provides a built-in Slug Field so you don't have to built one from scratch. This field automatically generates a slug based on the value of another field, such as a title or name field. It provides UI to lock and unlock the field to protect its value, as well as to re-generate the slug on-demand.

To add a Slug Field, import the slugField into your field schema:

1import { slugField } from 'payload'
2import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
3
4export const ExampleCollection: CollectionConfig = {
5  // ...
6  fields: [
7    // ...
8    
9    slugField(),
10    
11  ],
12}

The slug field exposes a few top-level config options for easy customization:

Option	Description
`name`	To be used as the slug field's name. Defaults to `slug`.
`overrides`	A function that receives the default fields so you can override on a granular level. See example below. More details.
`checkboxName`	To be used as the name for the `generateSlug` checkbox field. Defaults to `generateSlug`.
`fieldToUse`	The name of the field to use when generating the slug. This field must exist in the same collection. Defaults to `title`.
`position`	The position of the slug field. More details.
`required`	Require the slug field. Defaults to `true`.

Slug Overrides

If the above options aren't sufficient for your use case, you can use the overrides function to customize the slug field at a granular level. The overrides function receives the default fields that make up the slug field, and you can modify them to any extent you need.

1import { slugField } from 'payload'
2import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
3
4export const ExampleCollection: CollectionConfig = {
// ...
fields: [
  // ...
  
  slugField({
    overrides: (defaultField) => {
      defaultField.fields[1].label = 'Custom Slug Label'
      return defaultField
    },
  }),
  
],
17}

See what others are building with Payload.

"Payload has transformed the way our clients manage content. It's an indispensable tool for any modern agency."

Get the resources you need to start building today

Microsoft chose Payload to tell the world about AI.

Text Field

Config Options

Admin Options

Example

Custom Components

Field

Server Component

Client Component

Label

Server Component

Client Component

Slug Field

Slug Overrides

Textarea Field