Files
payloadcms/packages/payload
Tobias Odendahl 7eacd396b1 feat(db-mongodb,drizzle): add atomic array operations for relationship fields (#13891)
### What?
This PR adds atomic array operations ($append and $remove) for
relationship fields with `hasMany: true` across all database adapters.
These operations allow developers to add or remove specific items from
relationship arrays without replacing the entire array.

New API:
```
// Append relationships (prevents duplicates)
await payload.db.updateOne({
  collection: 'posts',
  id: 'post123',
  data: {
    categories: { $append: ['featured', 'trending'] }
  }
})

// Remove specific relationships
await payload.db.updateOne({
  collection: 'posts', 
  id: 'post123',
  data: {
    tags: { $remove: ['draft', 'private'] }
  }
})

// Works with polymorphic relationships
await payload.db.updateOne({
  collection: 'posts',
  id: 'post123', 
  data: {
    relatedItems: {
      $append: [
        { relationTo: 'categories', value: 'category-id' },
        { relationTo: 'tags', value: 'tag-id' }
      ]
    }
  }
})
```

### Why?
Currently, updating relationship arrays requires replacing the entire
array which requires fetching existing data before updates. Requiring
more implementation effort and potential for errors when using the API,
in particular for bulk updates.

### How?

#### Cross-Adapter Features:
- Polymorphic relationships: Full support for relationTo:
['collection1', 'collection2']
- Localized relationships: Proper locale handling when fields are
localized
- Duplicate prevention: Ensures `$append` doesn't create duplicates
- Order preservation: Appends to end of array maintaining order
- Bulk operations: Works with `updateMany` for bulk updates

#### MongoDB Implementation:
- Converts `$append` to native `$addToSet` (prevents duplicates in
contrast to `$push`)
- Converts `$remove` to native `$pull` (targeted removal)

#### Drizzle Implementation (Postgres/SQLite):
- Uses optimized batch `INSERT` with duplicate checking for `$append`
- Uses targeted `DELETE` queries for `$remove`
- Implements timestamp-based ordering for performance
- Handles locale columns conditionally based on schema

### Limitations
The current implementation is only on database-adapter level and not
(yet) for the local API. Implementation in the localAPI will be done
separately.
2025-09-30 13:58:09 -04:00
..
2025-07-07 20:00:02 +00:00
2025-09-30 09:22:02 -04:00

Payload headless CMS Admin panel built with React

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Important

🎉 We've released 3.0! Star this repo or keep an eye on it to follow along.

Payload is the first-ever Next.js native CMS that can install directly in your existing /app folder. It's the start of a new era for headless CMS.

Benefits over a regular CMS

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