obsidian/wiki/payloadcms/fields-textarea.md

title	aliases	tags	sources	created	updated
Textarea Field	textarea-field payload-textarea	payloadcms fields textarea string admin	raw/fields__textarea.md	2026-05-15	2026-05-15

Identical to wiki/payloadcms/fields-text but renders a larger multiline input in the Admin Panel. Stores a plain string in the database.

Config

{
  name: 'metaDescription',
  type: 'textarea',
  required: true,
}

Config Options

Option	Description
name *	DB property name
label	Admin Panel label (string or i18n object)
unique	DB-level unique index
minLength / maxLength	Character length validation
validate	Custom validation function (runs on client + backend)
index	Build DB index for faster queries
saveToJWT	Include in user JWT (top-level auth collections only)
hooks	Field lifecycle hooks
access	Field-level access control
hidden	Hide from all APIs and Admin; still saved to DB
defaultValue	Default value
localized	Enable per-locale content
required	Non-empty validation
virtual	true = no DB column; or path string for linked relationship
typescriptSchema	Override TS type generation with JSON schema
custom	Plugin extension point

Admin Options

Option	Description
placeholder	Placeholder string
autoComplete	Browser autocomplete string
rows	Visible text rows (default: 2)
rtl	Force right-to-left text direction

Inherits all base wiki/payloadcms/fields-overview options (condition, width, description, components, etc.).

Custom Components

Field Server Component

import { TextareaField } from '@payloadcms/ui'
import type { TextareaFieldServerComponent } from 'payload'

export const CustomTextareaFieldServer: TextareaFieldServerComponent = ({
  clientField, path, schemaPath, permissions,
}) => (
  <TextareaField field={clientField} path={path} schemaPath={schemaPath} permissions={permissions} />
)

Field Client Component

'use client'
import { TextareaField } from '@payloadcms/ui'
import type { TextareaFieldClientComponent } from 'payload'

export const CustomTextareaFieldClient: TextareaFieldClientComponent = (props) => (
  <TextareaField {...props} />
)

Label (Server / Client)

Use FieldLabel from @payloadcms/ui with label, path, and required props — same pattern as other fields.

Key Takeaways

• Identical to Text field — same DB storage (string), same options; only visual difference is the multiline textarea input
• rows defaults to 2 — set higher for long content like metaDescription, bio, notes
• minLength/maxLength run on both client and server via the default validator
• virtual: true disables DB column; virtual: '<path>' links to a Relationship field
• saveToJWT embeds the value in the auth token — avoid for large text; use for short identifiers only
• RTL support — admin.rtl: true forces right-to-left for Arabic/Hebrew content fields

Key Differences vs Text Field

	Text	Textarea
Input UI	Single-line	Multiline (rows)
hasMany mode	Yes	No
Built-in Slug helper	Yes (slugField())	No
Otherwise	Identical	Identical

Sources

• raw/fields__textarea.md — compiled 2026-05-15
• https://payloadcms.com/docs/fields/textarea