Local API

The Payload Local API gives you the ability to execute the same operations that are available through REST and GraphQL within Node, directly on your server. Here, you don't need to deal with server latency or network speed whatsoever and can interact directly with your database.

Here are some common examples of how you can use the Local API:

Fetching Payload data within React Server Components
Seeding data via Node seed scripts that you write and maintain
Opening custom Next.js route handlers which feature additional functionality but still rely on Payload
Within Access Control and Hooks

Accessing Payload

You can gain access to the currently running payload object via two ways:

Accessing from args or `req`

In most places within Payload itself, you can access payload directly from the arguments of Hooks, Access Control, Validation functions, and similar. This is the simplest way to access Payload in most cases. Most config functions take the req (Request) object, which has Payload bound to it (req.payload).

Example:

1const afterChangeHook: CollectionAfterChangeHook = async ({
2  req: { payload },
3}) => {
4  const posts = await payload.find({
5    collection: 'posts',
6  })
7}

Importing it

If you want to import Payload in places where you don't have the option to access it from function arguments or req, you can import it and initialize it.

1import { getPayload } from 'payload'
2import config from '@payload-config'
3
4const payload = await getPayload({ config })

If you're working in Next.js' development mode, Payload will work with Hot Module Replacement (HMR), and as you make changes to your Payload Config, your usage of Payload will always be in sync with your changes. In production, getPayload simply disables all HMR functionality so you don't need to write your code any differently. We handle optimization for you in production mode.

If you are accessing Payload via function arguments or req.payload, HMR is automatically supported if you are using it within Next.js.

For more information about using Payload outside of Next.js, click here.

Local options available

You can specify more options within the Local API vs. REST or GraphQL due to the server-only context that they are executed in.

Local Option	Description
`collection`	Required for Collection operations. Specifies the Collection slug to operate against.
`data`	The data to use within the operation. Required for `create`, `update`.
`depth`	Control auto-population of nested relationship and upload fields.
`locale`	Specify locale for any returned documents.
`select`	Specify select to control which fields to include to the result.
`populate`	Specify populate to control which fields to include to the result from populated documents.
`fallbackLocale`	Specify a fallback locale to use for any returned documents.
`overrideAccess`	Skip access control. By default, this property is set to true within all Local API operations.
`overrideLock`	By default, document locks are ignored (`true`). Set to `false` to enforce locks and prevent operations when a document is locked by another user. More details.
`user`	If you set `overrideAccess` to `false`, you can pass a user to use against the access control checks.
`showHiddenFields`	Opt-in to receiving hidden fields. By default, they are hidden from returned documents in accordance to your config.
`pagination`	Set to false to return all documents and avoid querying for document counts.
`context`	Context, which will then be passed to `context` and `req.context`, which can be read by hooks. Useful if you want to pass additional information to the hooks which shouldn't be necessarily part of the document, for example a `triggerBeforeChange` option which can be read by the BeforeChange hook to determine if it should run or not.
`disableErrors`	When set to `true`, errors will not be thrown. Instead, the `findByID` operation will return `null`, and the `find` operation will return an empty documents array.
`disableTransaction`	When set to `true`, a database transactions will not be initialized.

There are more options available on an operation by operation basis outlined below.

Transactions

When your database uses transactions you need to thread req through to all local operations. Postgres uses transactions and MongoDB uses transactions when you are using replica sets. Passing req without transactions is still recommended.

1const post = await payload.find({
2  collection: 'posts',
3  req, // passing req is recommended
4})

Collections

The following Collection operations are available through the Local API:

Create

1// The created Post document is returned
2const post = await payload.create({
collection: 'posts', // required
data: {
  // required
  title: 'sure',
  description: 'maybe',
},
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUserDoc,
overrideAccess: true,
showHiddenFields: false,
14
// If creating verification-enabled auth doc,
// you can optionally disable the email that is auto-sent
disableVerificationEmail: true,
18
// If your collection supports uploads, you can upload
// a file directly through the Local API by providing
// its full, absolute file path.
filePath: path.resolve(__dirname, './path-to-image.jpg'),
23
// Alternatively, you can directly pass a File,
// if file is provided, filePath will be omitted
file: uploadedFile,
27
// If you want to create a document that is a duplicate of another document
duplicateFromID: 'document-id-to-duplicate',
30})

Find

1// Result will be a paginated set of Posts.
2// See /docs/queries/pagination for more.
3const result = await payload.find({
collection: 'posts', // required
depth: 2,
page: 1,
limit: 10,
pagination: false, // If you want to disable pagination count, etc.
where: {}, // pass a `where` query here
sort: '-title',
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
showHiddenFields: true,
16})

Find by ID

1// Result will be a Post document.
2const result = await payload.findByID({
collection: 'posts', // required
id: '507f1f77bcf86cd799439011', // required
depth: 2,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
showHiddenFields: true,
11})

Count

1// Result will be an object with:
2// {
3//   totalDocs: 10, // count of the documents satisfies query
4// }
5const result = await payload.count({
6  collection: 'posts', // required
7  locale: 'en',
8  where: {}, // pass a `where` query here
9  user: dummyUser,
10  overrideAccess: false,
11})

Update by ID

1// Result will be the updated Post document.
2const result = await payload.update({
collection: 'posts', // required
id: '507f1f77bcf86cd799439011', // required
data: {
  // required
  title: 'sure',
  description: 'maybe',
},
depth: 2,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
overrideLock: false, // By default, document locks are ignored. Set to false to enforce locks.
showHiddenFields: true,
17
// If your collection supports uploads, you can upload
// a file directly through the Local API by providing
// its full, absolute file path.
filePath: path.resolve(__dirname, './path-to-image.jpg'),
22
// If you are uploading a file and would like to replace
// the existing file instead of generating a new filename,
// you can set the following property to `true`
overwriteExistingFiles: true,
27})

Update Many

1// Result will be an object with:
2// {
3//   docs: [], // each document that was updated
4//   errors: [], // each error also includes the id of the document
5// }
6const result = await payload.update({
collection: 'posts', // required
where: {
  // required
  fieldName: { equals: 'value' },
},
data: {
  // required
  title: 'sure',
  description: 'maybe',
},
depth: 0,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
overrideLock: false, // By default, document locks are ignored. Set to false to enforce locks.
showHiddenFields: true,
24
// If your collection supports uploads, you can upload
// a file directly through the Local API by providing
// its full, absolute file path.
filePath: path.resolve(__dirname, './path-to-image.jpg'),
29
// If you are uploading a file and would like to replace
// the existing file instead of generating a new filename,
// you can set the following property to `true`
overwriteExistingFiles: true,
34})

Delete

1// Result will be the now-deleted Post document.
2const result = await payload.delete({
collection: 'posts', // required
id: '507f1f77bcf86cd799439011', // required
depth: 2,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
overrideLock: false, // By default, document locks are ignored. Set to false to enforce locks.
showHiddenFields: true,
12})

Delete Many

1// Result will be an object with:
2// {
3//   docs: [], // each document that is now deleted
4//   errors: [], // any errors that occurred, including the id of the errored on document
5// }
6const result = await payload.delete({
7  collection: 'posts', // required
8  where: {
9    // required
10    fieldName: { equals: 'value' },
11  },
12  depth: 0,
13  locale: 'en',
14  fallbackLocale: false,
15  user: dummyUser,
16  overrideAccess: false,
17  overrideLock: false, // By default, document locks are ignored. Set to false to enforce locks.
18  showHiddenFields: true,
19})

Auth Operations

If a collection has Authentication enabled, additional Local API operations will be available:

Auth

1// If you're using Next.js, you'll have to import headers from next/headers, like so:
2// import { headers as nextHeaders } from 'next/headers'
3
4// you'll also have to await headers inside your function, or component, like so:
5// const headers = await nextHeaders()
6
7// If you're using Payload outside of Next.js, you'll have to provide headers accordingly.
8
9// result will be formatted as follows:
10// {
11//    permissions: { ... }, // object containing current user's permissions
12//    user: { ... }, // currently logged in user's document
13//    responseHeaders: { ... } // returned headers from the response
14// }
15
16const result = await payload.auth({ headers })

1// result will be formatted as follows:
2// {
3//   token: 'o38jf0q34jfij43f3f...', // JWT used for auth
4//   user: { ... } // the user document that just logged in
5//   exp: 1609619861 // the UNIX timestamp when the JWT will expire
6// }
7
8const result = await payload.login({
9  collection: 'users', // required
10  data: {
11    // required
12    email: 'dev@payloadcms.com',
13    password: 'rip',
14  },
15  req: req, // optional, pass a Request object to be provided to all hooks
16  depth: 2,
17  locale: 'en',
18  fallbackLocale: false,
19  overrideAccess: false,
20  showHiddenFields: true,
21})

Forgot Password

1// Returned token will allow for a password reset
2const token = await payload.forgotPassword({
3  collection: 'users', // required
4  data: {
5    // required
6    email: 'dev@payloadcms.com',
7  },
8  req: req, // pass a Request object to be provided to all hooks
9})

Reset Password

1// Result will be formatted as follows:
2// {
3//   token: 'o38jf0q34jfij43f3f...', // JWT used for auth
4//   user: { ... } // the user document that just logged in
5// }
6const result = await payload.resetPassword({
7  collection: 'users', // required
8  data: {
9    // required
10    password: req.body.password, // the new password to set
11    token: 'afh3o2jf2p3f...', // the token generated from the forgotPassword operation
12  },
13  req: req, // optional, pass a Request object to be provided to all hooks
14})

Unlock

1// Returned result will be a boolean representing success or failure
2const result = await payload.unlock({
collection: 'users', // required
data: {
  // required
  email: 'dev@payloadcms.com',
},
req: req, // optional, pass a Request object to be provided to all hooks
overrideAccess: true,
10})

Verify

1// Returned result will be a boolean representing success or failure
2const result = await payload.verifyEmail({
3  collection: 'users', // required
4  token: 'afh3o2jf2p3f...', // the token saved on the user as `_verificationToken`
5})

Globals

The following Global operations are available through the Local API:

Find

1// Result will be the Header Global.
2const result = await payload.findGlobal({
slug: 'header', // required
depth: 2,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
showHiddenFields: true,
10})

Update

1// Result will be the updated Header Global.
2const result = await payload.updateGlobal({
slug: 'header', // required
data: {
  // required
  nav: [
    {
      url: 'https://google.com',
    },
    {
      url: 'https://payloadcms.com',
    },
  ],
},
depth: 2,
locale: 'en',
fallbackLocale: false,
user: dummyUser,
overrideAccess: false,
overrideLock: false, // By default, document locks are ignored. Set to false to enforce locks.
showHiddenFields: true,
22})

TypeScript

Local API calls will automatically infer your generated types.

Here is an example of usage:

1// Properly inferred as `Post` type
2const post = await payload.create({
3  collection: 'posts',
4
5  // Data will now be typed as Post and give you type hints
6  data: {
7    title: 'my title',
8    description: 'my description',
9  },
10})

Related Guides

Exploring Payload Local API: Faster queries for Next.js & beyond

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."

Deploy your entire stack in one place with Payload Cloud.

Microsoft chose Payload to tell the world about AI.

Local API

Accessing Payload

Accessing from args or `req`

Importing it

Local options available

Transactions

Collections

Create

Find

Find by ID

Count

Update by ID

Update Many

Delete

Delete Many

Auth Operations

Auth

Forgot Password

Reset Password

Unlock

Verify

Globals

Find

Update

TypeScript

Using Payload outside Next.js

Related Guides

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."

Deploy your entire stack in one place with Payload Cloud.

Microsoft chose Payload to tell the world about AI.

Local API

Accessing Payload

Accessing from args or req

Importing it

Local options available

Transactions

Collections

Create

Find

Find by ID

Count

Update by ID

Update Many

Delete

Delete Many

Auth Operations

Auth

Login

Forgot Password

Reset Password

Unlock

Verify

Globals

Find

Update

TypeScript

Using Payload outside Next.js

Related Guides

Accessing from args or `req`