From 143aff57ae1047c9ef9ec21af8f3b83f4f61d62f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul <paul@payloadcms.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2025 05:57:37 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: field inside an unnamed group field erroring when used
 as a title (#12771)

Fixes https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/issues/12632

Config sanitisation will error without this PR when attempting to
useAsTitle a field inside an unnamed group field.
---
 .../utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.spec.ts   |  6 ++---
 .../src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.ts    |  9 ++++++--
 .../admin/collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.ts | 22 +++++++++++++++++++
 test/admin/config.ts                          |  2 ++
 test/admin/slugs.ts                           |  2 ++
 5 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 test/admin/collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.ts

diff --git a/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.spec.ts b/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.spec.ts
index d9becf75a..5ff802773 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.spec.ts
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ describe('flattenFields', () => {
 
       // Should return the group as a top-level item, not the inner field
       expect(withoutExtract).toHaveLength(1)
-      expect(withoutExtract[0].type).toBe('group')
+      expect(withoutExtract[0].type).toBe('text')
       expect(withoutExtract[0].accessor).toBeUndefined()
       expect(withoutExtract[0].labelWithPrefix).toBeUndefined()
     })
@@ -635,8 +635,8 @@ describe('flattenFields', () => {
       const defaultResult = flattenTopLevelFields(unnamedTabWithUnnamedGroup)
 
       expect(defaultResult).toHaveLength(1)
-      expect(defaultResult[0].type).toBe('group')
-      expect(defaultResult[0].label).toBe('Unnamed Group In Tab')
+      expect(defaultResult[0].type).toBe('text')
+      expect(defaultResult[0].label).toBe('Nested In Unnamed Group')
       expect('accessor' in defaultResult[0]).toBe(false)
       expect('labelWithPrefix' in defaultResult[0]).toBe(false)
 
diff --git a/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.ts b/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.ts
index 71e24de53..5b0aa49d4 100644
--- a/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.ts
+++ b/packages/payload/src/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ export function flattenTopLevelFields<TField extends ClientField | Field>(
   } = normalizedOptions
 
   return fields.reduce<FlattenedField<TField>[]>((acc, field) => {
+    // If a group field has subfields and has a name, otherwise we catch it below along with collapsible and row fields
     if (field.type === 'group' && 'fields' in field) {
       if (moveSubFieldsToTop) {
         const isNamedGroup = 'name' in field && typeof field.name === 'string' && !!field.name
@@ -120,8 +121,12 @@ export function flattenTopLevelFields<TField extends ClientField | Field>(
           }),
         )
       } else {
-        // Hoisting diabled - keep as top level field
-        acc.push(field as FlattenedField<TField>)
+        if (fieldAffectsData(field)) {
+          // Hoisting diabled - keep as top level field
+          acc.push(field as FlattenedField<TField>)
+        } else {
+          acc.push(...flattenTopLevelFields(field.fields as TField[], options))
+        }
       }
     } else if (field.type === 'tabs' && 'tabs' in field) {
       return [
diff --git a/test/admin/collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.ts b/test/admin/collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c0e7fb326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/admin/collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'
+
+import { useAsTitleGroupFieldSlug } from '../slugs.js'
+
+export const UseAsTitleGroupField: CollectionConfig = {
+  slug: useAsTitleGroupFieldSlug,
+  admin: {
+    useAsTitle: 'name',
+  },
+  fields: [
+    {
+      type: 'group',
+      label: 'unnamed group',
+      fields: [
+        {
+          name: 'name',
+          type: 'text',
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ],
+}
diff --git a/test/admin/config.ts b/test/admin/config.ts
index 91525be38..15702890e 100644
--- a/test/admin/config.ts
+++ b/test/admin/config.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import { Placeholder } from './collections/Placeholder.js'
 import { Posts } from './collections/Posts.js'
 import { UploadCollection } from './collections/Upload.js'
 import { UploadTwoCollection } from './collections/UploadTwo.js'
+import { UseAsTitleGroupField } from './collections/UseAsTitleGroupField.js'
 import { Users } from './collections/Users.js'
 import { with300Documents } from './collections/With300Documents.js'
 import { CustomGlobalViews1 } from './globals/CustomViews1.js'
@@ -174,6 +175,7 @@ export default buildConfigWithDefaults({
     with300Documents,
     ListDrawer,
     Placeholder,
+    UseAsTitleGroupField,
   ],
   globals: [
     GlobalHidden,
diff --git a/test/admin/slugs.ts b/test/admin/slugs.ts
index 2fb425c27..e987283ff 100644
--- a/test/admin/slugs.ts
+++ b/test/admin/slugs.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ export const group1Collection1Slug = 'group-one-collection-ones'
 export const group1Collection2Slug = 'group-one-collection-twos'
 export const group2Collection1Slug = 'group-two-collection-ones'
 export const group2Collection2Slug = 'group-two-collection-twos'
+
+export const useAsTitleGroupFieldSlug = 'use-as-title-group-field'
 export const hiddenCollectionSlug = 'hidden-collection'
 export const notInViewCollectionSlug = 'not-in-view-collection'
 export const noApiViewCollectionSlug = 'collection-no-api-view'