feat: expand plugin API

[paulpopus]

Why

Payload's plugin system works but lacks built-in support for execution ordering, cross-plugin discovery, and typed options. Plugin authors manually attach metadata and consumers have no ergonomic way to find or interact with other plugins. This PR adds a small, opt-in API layer on top of the existing (config) => config contract.

What

definePlugin helper

Replaces boilerplate for published plugins. The plugin function receives a single flat object with config, a plugins map, and user options spread in:

import { definePlugin } from 'payload'

export const seoPlugin = definePlugin<SEOPluginOptions>({
  slug: 'plugin-seo',
  order: 10,
  plugin: ({ config, plugins, collections, generateTitle }) => ({
    ...config,
    // collections and generateTitle come from SEOPluginOptions
  }),
})

Execution ordering via order

Plugins are sorted by order before execution (lower runs first, default 0). Array position is used as a tiebreaker.

plugins: [
  analyticsPlugin(), // order 10 — runs second
  basePlugin(),      // order 1  — runs first
]

Typed plugins map for cross-plugin communication

Each definePlugin function receives a slug-keyed plugins map — no imports needed:

plugin: ({ config, plugins }) => {
  const seo = plugins['plugin-seo']
  seo?.options?.collections.push('my-collection')
  return config
}

RegisteredPlugins module augmentation

Plugin packages register their slug/options type for automatic type safety:

declare module 'payload' {
  interface RegisteredPlugins {
    'plugin-seo': SEOPluginOptions
  }
}

What's unchanged

The plain function form (config) => ({ ...config }) still works and always will. Everything above is opt-in.

[github-actions]

📦 esbuild Bundle Analysis for payload

This analysis was generated by esbuild-bundle-analyzer. 🤖

Meta File	Out File	Size (raw)	Note
packages/next/meta_index.json	esbuild/index.js	984.34 KB	✅ No change
packages/payload/meta_index.json	esbuild/index.js	1.38 MB	⚠️ +287 B (+0.0%)
packages/payload/meta_shared.json	esbuild/exports/shared.js	191.27 KB	✅ No change
packages/richtext-lexical/meta_client.json	esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js	280.56 KB	✅ No change
packages/ui/meta_client.json	esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js	1.18 MB	✅ No change
packages/ui/meta_shared.json	esbuild/exports/shared_optimized/index.js	16.32 KB	✅ No change

Largest paths

These visualization shows top 20 largest paths in the bundle.

Meta file: packages/next/meta_index.json, Out file: esbuild/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████████████▌ }}}$ 82.4%, 807.63 KB
dist/views/Version	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▎ }}}$ 5.3%, 51.49 KB
dist/views/Dashboard	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.2%, 21.37 KB
dist/views/Document	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.7%, 16.59 KB
dist/views/List	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 11.38 KB
dist/views/Root	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 9.03 KB
dist/views/Versions	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 6.17 KB
dist/views/API	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 6.13 KB
dist/elements/Nav	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 5.96 KB
dist/views/Account	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 5.55 KB
dist/elements/DocumentHeader	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 4.81 KB
dist/views/Login	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 4.40 KB
dist/layouts/Root	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 3.20 KB
dist/views/ForgotPassword	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 3.13 KB
dist/views/CreateFirstUser	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.81 KB
dist/templates/Default	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.64 KB
dist/views/BrowseByFolder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.61 KB
dist/views/CollectionFolders	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 2.44 KB
dist/views/ResetPassword	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 2.40 KB
dist/views/Logout	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 1.94 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████▍ }}}$ 17.6%, 172.03 KB

Meta file: packages/payload/meta_index.json, Out file: esbuild/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████████████████▏ }}}$ 68.6%, 942.29 KB
dist/fields/hooks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.2%, 44.01 KB
dist/collections/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.9%, 39.93 KB
dist/versions/migrations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 18.50 KB
dist/auth/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.1%, 15.63 KB
dist/fields/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 14.16 KB
dist/globals/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 13.28 KB
dist/utilities/configToJSONSchema.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 13.13 KB
dist/queues/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 12.69 KB
dist/fields/validations.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 10.54 KB
dist/bin/generateImportMap	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 8.91 KB
dist/collections/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 8.37 KB
dist/config/orderable	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 8.00 KB
dist/index.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.69 KB
dist/uploads/fetchAPI-multipart	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.67 KB
dist/database/migrations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 7.54 KB
dist/config/sanitize.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 6.26 KB
dist/collections/endpoints	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 6.23 KB
dist/auth/strategies	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 5.50 KB
dist/queues/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 5.31 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███████▊ }}}$ 31.4%, 431.60 KB

Meta file: packages/payload/meta_shared.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/shared.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███████████████████▊ }}}$ 79.4%, 148.89 KB
dist/fields/validations.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▍ }}}$ 5.6%, 10.54 KB
dist/config/orderable	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.7%, 3.13 KB
dist/fields/baseFields	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.5%, 2.79 KB
dist/utilities/deepCopyObject.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 2.54 KB
dist/auth/cookies.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 1.55 KB
dist/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 1.42 KB
dist/fields/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 1.28 KB
dist/utilities/getVersionsConfig.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 1.04 KB
dist/utilities/flattenAllFields.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 943 B
dist/folders/utils	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 916 B
dist/utilities/unflatten.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 779 B
dist/utilities/sanitizeUserDataForEmail.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 713 B
dist/utilities/getFieldPermissions.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 651 B
dist/collections/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 570 B
dist/bin/generateImportMap	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 561 B
dist/auth/sessions.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 525 B
dist/fields/getFieldPaths.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 485 B
dist/utilities/getSafeRedirect.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 423 B
dist/utilities/deepMerge.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 413 B
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████▏ }}}$ 20.6%, 38.72 KB

Meta file: packages/richtext-lexical/meta_client.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
dist/features/blocks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███▏ }}}$ 12.8%, 35.38 KB
dist/lexical/plugins	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▉ }}}$ 11.5%, 32.00 KB
dist/lexical/ui	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▏ }}}$ 8.8%, 24.36 KB
dist/features/experimental_table	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▏ }}}$ 8.5%, 23.70 KB
dist/packages/@lexical	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▋ }}}$ 6.8%, 18.99 KB
dist/features/link	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▋ }}}$ 6.6%, 18.24 KB
dist/features/toolbars	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▍ }}}$ 5.8%, 16.08 KB
dist/features/upload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▎ }}}$ 5.0%, 13.77 KB
dist/features/textState	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █ }}}$ 4.0%, 11.08 KB
dist/features/relationship	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.3%, 9.03 KB
dist/lexical/utils	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.1%, 8.49 KB
dist/features/debug	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.7%, 7.39 KB
dist/utilities/fieldsDrawer	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.6%, 7.15 KB
dist/features/converters	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.5%, 7.05 KB
dist/lexical/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.8%, 5.08 KB
dist/features/lists	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.8%, 5.00 KB
dist/features/format	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 3.46 KB
dist/lexical/LexicalEditor.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 3.22 KB
dist/lexical/theme	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 2.62 KB
dist/field/Field.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 2.59 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████████████████████▊ }}}$ 87.2%, 241.93 KB

Meta file: packages/ui/meta_client.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████▎ }}}$ 49.3%, 579.12 KB
dist/elements/FolderView	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.5%, 29.38 KB
dist/elements/BulkUpload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.4%, 28.24 KB
dist/elements/WhereBuilder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.5%, 17.38 KB
dist/views/Edit	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.5%, 17.30 KB
dist/forms/Form	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 15.91 KB
dist/fields/Relationship	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 15.79 KB
dist/elements/Table	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 15.77 KB
dist/fields/Upload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 14.22 KB
dist/fields/Blocks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 13.90 KB
dist/elements/QueryPresets	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 10.36 KB
dist/elements/PublishButton	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 9.11 KB
dist/providers/Folders	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.46 KB
dist/elements/HTMLDiff	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.38 KB
dist/elements/ListHeader	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.06 KB
dist/fields/Array	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 7.73 KB
dist/views/CollectionFolder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.50 KB
dist/views/List	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.36 KB
dist/elements/ReactSelect	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.33 KB
dist/elements/LivePreview	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.03 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████▋ }}}$ 50.7%, 595.21 KB

Meta file: packages/ui/meta_shared.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/shared_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
dist/graphics/Logo	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████ }}}$ 20.0%, 3.12 KB
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████▎ }}}$ 17.0%, 2.65 KB
dist/graphics/Icon	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▍ }}}$ 9.8%, 1.52 KB
dist/utilities/formatDocTitle	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▏ }}}$ 8.5%, 1.32 KB
dist/providers/TableColumns	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▍ }}}$ 5.5%, 862 B
dist/utilities/groupNavItems.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▎ }}}$ 5.2%, 814 B
dist/utilities/getGlobalData.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▏ }}}$ 4.9%, 762 B
dist/utilities/api.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▏ }}}$ 4.8%, 756 B
dist/elements/Translation	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.2%, 493 B
dist/utilities/handleTakeOver.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.8%, 440 B
dist/utilities/traverseForLocalizedFields.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.6%, 399 B
dist/elements/withMergedProps	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.2%, 339 B
dist/utilities/getVisibleEntities.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.1%, 329 B
dist/utilities/getNavGroups.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.9%, 301 B
dist/elements/WithServerSideProps	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.5%, 232 B
dist/utilities/handleGoBack.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 180 B
dist/fields/mergeFieldStyles.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 159 B
dist/utilities/handleBackToDashboard.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 152 B
dist/forms/Form	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 147 B
dist/utilities/abortAndIgnore.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 146 B
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████████████ }}}$ 80.0%, 12.51 KB

Details

Next to the size is how much the size has increased or decreased compared with the base branch of this PR.

• ‼️: Size increased by 20% or more. Special attention should be given to this.
• ⚠️: Size increased in acceptable range (lower than 20%).
• ✅: No change or even downsized.
• 🗑️: The out file is deleted: not found in base branch.
• 🆕: The out file is newly found: will be added to base branch.

[github-actions]

🚀 This is included in version v3.83.0