Field hooks do not fire for relationship fields in blocks embedded in Lexical rich text fields

[busbyk]

Describe the Bug

Field hooks (beforeValidate, beforeChange, afterChange, beforeDuplicate) do not execute for relationship fields that are defined within blocks embedded in Lexical rich text fields.

Only the afterRead hook fires correctly.

This prevents:

• Field validation from running (data integrity issues)
• Data transformation in beforeChange hooks
• Side effects in afterChange hooks (notifications, derived data, etc.)
• Custom duplication logic in beforeDuplicate hooks (I suppose duplicating a block like this feels uncommon though)

Expected Behavior

All field hooks should fire for relationship fields regardless of where they are defined, just as they do for direct relationship fields on collections.

Actual Behavior

For relationship fields in blocks within Lexical fields:

• ✗ beforeValidate - does NOT fire
• ✗ beforeChange - does NOT fire
• ✗ afterChange - does NOT fire
• ✓ afterRead - fires correctly
• ✗ beforeDuplicate - does NOT fire

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/busbyk/field-hooks-in-lexical-reproduction

Reproduction Steps

Reproduction Steps:

1. Clone the reproduction repository
2. Install dependencies: pnpm install
3. Copy environment variables: cp .env.example .env
4. Generate types: pnpm run generate:types
5. Run the integration tests: pnpm run test:int tests/int/field-hooks.int.spec.ts

Expected Result

All tests should pass - all hooks should fire for both direct relationship fields and block relationship fields.

Actual Result

Control tests pass (direct relationship fields work correctly), but 2 of 3 block relationship field tests fail:

✓ Direct Relationship Fields (Control) - All hooks fire
✓ should fire beforeValidate, beforeChange, and afterChange hooks on create
✓ should fire afterRead hook on read
✓ should fire beforeDuplicate hook on duplicate

✗ Block Relationship Fields in Lexical (BUG)
✗ should fire beforeValidate, beforeChange, and afterChange hooks on create
✓ should fire afterRead hook on read (ONLY ONE THAT WORKS)
✗ should fire beforeDuplicate hook on duplicate

The test output clearly shows that for blocks in Lexical fields, only afterRead hooks fire. All "write-path" hooks are bypassed.

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

plugin: richtext-lexical

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 22.14.0
  npm: 11.2.0
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: 10.14.0
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.59.1
  next: 15.4.4
  @payloadcms/db-sqlite: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/drizzle: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/email-nodemailer: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/payload-cloud: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.59.1
  react: 19.1.0
  react-dom: 19.1.0
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:40 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6041
  Available memory (MB): 24576
  Available CPU cores: 14

[github-actions]

Please add a reproduction in order for us to be able to investigate.

Depending on the quality of reproduction steps, this issue may be closed if no reproduction is provided.

Why was this issue marked with the invalid-reproduction label?

To be able to investigate, we need access to a reproduction to identify what triggered the issue. We prefer a link to a public GitHub repository created with create-payload-app@latest -t blank or a forked/branched version of this repository with tests added (more info in the reproduction-guide).

To make sure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible, please make sure that the reproduction is as minimal as possible. This means that you should remove unnecessary code, files, and dependencies that do not contribute to the issue. Ensure your reproduction does not depend on secrets, 3rd party registries, private dependencies, or any other data that cannot be made public. Avoid a reproduction including a whole monorepo (unless relevant to the issue). The easier it is to reproduce the issue, the quicker we can help.

Please test your reproduction against the latest version of Payload to make sure your issue has not already been fixed.

I added a link, why was it still marked?

Ensure the link is pointing to a codebase that is accessible (e.g. not a private repository). "example.com", "n/a", "will add later", etc. are not acceptable links -- we need to see a public codebase. See the above section for accepted links.

Useful Resources

• Reproduction Guide
• Contributing to Payload

[busbyk]

Please add a reproduction in order for us to be able to investigate.

Depending on the quality of reproduction steps, this issue may be closed if no reproduction is provided.

Why was this issue marked with the invalid-reproduction label?

To be able to investigate, we need access to a reproduction to identify what triggered the issue. We prefer a link to a public GitHub repository created with create-payload-app@latest -t blank or a forked/branched version of this repository with tests added (more info in the reproduction-guide).

To make sure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible, please make sure that the reproduction is as minimal as possible. This means that you should remove unnecessary code, files, and dependencies that do not contribute to the issue. Ensure your reproduction does not depend on secrets, 3rd party registries, private dependencies, or any other data that cannot be made public. Avoid a reproduction including a whole monorepo (unless relevant to the issue). The easier it is to reproduce the issue, the quicker we can help.

Please test your reproduction against the latest version of Payload to make sure your issue has not already been fixed.

I added a link, why was it still marked?

Ensure the link is pointing to a codebase that is accessible (e.g. not a private repository). "example.com", "n/a", "will add later", etc. are not acceptable links -- we need to see a public codebase. See the above section for accepted links.

Useful Resources

• Reproduction Guide
• Contributing to Payload

Hmm not sure what's wrong with my reproduction link. I included a link to a public repo created with pnpx create-payload-app@latest -t blank that includes tests demonstrating the issue. Let me know if you need something modified.