obsidian/wiki/payloadcms/fields-text.md

title	aliases	tags	sources	created	updated
Text Field	payload-text-field text-field-payloadcms slug-field-payload	payloadcms fields text slug forms	raw/fields__text.md	2026-05-15	2026-05-15

Overview

The Text Field is one of the most-used Payload fields. It saves a plain string to the database and renders a simple text input in the Admin Panel. Set type: 'text' in the field config.

import type { Field } from 'payload'

export const MyTextField: Field = {
  name: 'pageTitle',
  type: 'text',
  required: true,
}

Key Takeaways

• Stores a string in the database; one column per field (or multiple rows when hasMany: true).
• hasMany: true turns it into an ordered string array — use minRows/maxRows to bound it.
• unique: true creates a database-level unique index — not just an app-level check.
• saveToJWT: true embeds the value in the user JWT — useful for roles/flags without extra DB lookups. See wiki/payloadcms/authentication-token-data.
• hidden: true excludes the field from all APIs and the Admin Panel but still persists to DB.
• virtual: true (boolean) disables DB persistence; or pass a string path to link to a wiki/payloadcms/fields-relationship.
• Supports localized: true — requires wiki/payloadcms/localization in root config.
• Built-in Slug Field (slugField()) is available from payload — auto-generates URL-safe slugs from another field, with lock/unlock UI and re-generate button.

Config Options

Option	Description
name *	DB property name
label	Admin Panel label (string or { [lang]: string })
unique	DB-level unique index
minLength / maxLength	Character length validation
validate	Custom validation function (runs client + server)
index	Build a DB index for faster queries
saveToJWT	Include in user JWT (top-level auth fields only)
hooks	Field lifecycle hooks
access	Field-level access control
hidden	Remove from all APIs; still saved to DB
defaultValue	Default value or function
localized	Per-locale string values
required	Non-empty validation
hasMany	Store as ordered string array
minRows / maxRows	Array bounds when hasMany: true
virtual	Disable DB column (boolean) or link to relationship (path string)
typescriptSchema	Override generated TS type with JSON schema

Admin Options

Extends the base wiki/payloadcms/fields-overview with:

Option	Description
placeholder	Placeholder string in the text input
autoComplete	Browser autocomplete attribute value
rtl	Force right-to-left text direction (true)

hasMany Mode

{
  name: 'tags',
  type: 'text',
  hasMany: true,
  minRows: 1,
  maxRows: 10,
}

Stores an ordered array of strings. Each value is a separate DB entry; the order is preserved.

Built-in Slug Field

Import slugField from payload to get an auto-generating slug with lock UI:

import { slugField } from 'payload'

export const PagesCollection: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'pages',
  fields: [
    { name: 'title', type: 'text' },
    slugField(),                       // defaults: name='slug', useAsSlug='title'
  ],
}

Slug Config Options

Option	Default	Description
name	'slug'	Field name
useAsSlug	'title'	Source field to generate slug from
checkboxName	'generateSlug'	Lock/unlock checkbox field name
disableUnique	false	Disable unique index (useful for multi-tenant slugs)
localized	false	Localize both slug and checkbox fields
required	true	Require the slug field
overrides	—	Function to modify default field definitions
slugify	—	Override default slugify function
position	—	Admin Panel position

Custom Slugify Function

import slugify from 'slugify'

slugField({
  slugify: ({ valueToSlugify, data, req }) =>
    slugify(valueToSlugify, { lower: true, strict: true }),
})

Warning: The built-in Slug Field is experimental and may change or be removed in future releases.

Custom Components

Payload supports custom Server and Client Components for both the Field and Label slots. Import base components from @payloadcms/ui and wrap them.

// Server Field component
import { TextField } from '@payloadcms/ui'
import type { TextFieldServerComponent } from 'payload'

export const CustomTextField: TextFieldServerComponent = ({
  clientField, path, schemaPath, permissions,
}) => (
  <TextField field={clientField} path={path} schemaPath={schemaPath} permissions={permissions} />
)

See wiki/payloadcms/custom-components-authoring for RSC vs Client rules and Import Map details.

Related Articles

• wiki/payloadcms/fields-overview — shared config: virtual, validation, defaultValue, admin options
• wiki/payloadcms/fields-email — text variant with built-in format validation
• wiki/payloadcms/fields-number — numeric equivalent with hasMany support
• wiki/payloadcms/fields-select — enum dropdown (use when values are constrained)
• wiki/payloadcms/database-indexes — unique and index gotchas
• wiki/payloadcms/authentication-token-data — saveToJWT pattern
• wiki/payloadcms/localization — enabling localized fields
• wiki/payloadcms/custom-components-authoring

---

Source: raw/fields__text.md — https://payloadcms.com/docs/fields/text