Adding `joins` on already present relationships breaks GraphQL

[carstenblt]

Describe the Bug

When adding a join to a collection, where a relationship has already been created, any GraphQL query to that collection fails with

[22:13:15] ERROR: Cannot set properties of undefined (setting '0')
    err: {
      "type": "GraphQLError",
      "message": "Cannot set properties of undefined (setting '0')",
      "stack":
          TypeError: Cannot set properties of undefined (setting '0')
              at populate (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/relationshipPopulationPromise.js:61:65)
              at rowPromise (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/relationshipPopulationPromise.js:120:31)
              at file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/relationshipPopulationPromise.js:137:34
              at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
              at relationshipPopulationPromise (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/relationshipPopulationPromise.js:117:108)
              at promise (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/promise.js:233:37)
              at file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:4:28
              at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
              at traverseFields (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:3:12)
              at promise (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/promise.js:639:17)
              at file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:4:28
              at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
              at traverseFields (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:3:12)
              at promise (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/promise.js:673:17)
              at file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:4:28
              at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
              at traverseFields (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/traverseFields.js:3:12)
              at afterRead (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/afterRead/index.js:21:5)
              at file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/collections/operations/find.js:205:70
              at Array.map (<anonymous>)
              at findOperation (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/payload/dist/collections/operations/find.js:205:53)
              at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
              at async resolver (file:///Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/@payloadcms+graphql@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_payload@3.42.0_graphql@16.11.0_typescript@5.8.3__typescript@5.8.3/node_modules/@payloadcms/graphql/dist/resolvers/collections/find.js:33:25)
              at async Promise.all (index 0)
              at async handler (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/../../node_modules/.pnpm/graphql-http@1.22.4_graphql@16.11.0/node_modules/graphql-http/lib/handler.mjs:338:22)
              at async handleRequest (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/../../node_modules/.pnpm/graphql-http@1.22.4_graphql@16.11.0/node_modules/graphql-http/lib/use/fetch.mjs:102:34)
              at async eval (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/../../node_modules/.pnpm/@payloadcms+next@3.42.0_@types+react@19.0.8_graphql@16.11.0_monaco-editor@0.38.0_next@1_38eba045ea89910b8113433f526663bb/node_modules/@payloadcms/next/dist/routes/graphql/handler.js:107:23)
              at async AppRouteRouteModule.do (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-route.runtime.dev.js:26:34112)
              at async AppRouteRouteModule.handle (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-route.runtime.dev.js:26:41338)
              at async doRender (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1518:42)
              at async DevServer.renderToResponseWithComponentsImpl (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1920:28)
              at async DevServer.renderPageComponent (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:2408:24)
              at async DevServer.renderToResponseImpl (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:2445:32)
              at async DevServer.pipeImpl (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1008:25)
              at async NextNodeServer.handleCatchallRenderRequest (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/next-server.js:305:17)
              at async DevServer.handleRequestImpl (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:900:17)
              at async /Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/dev/next-dev-server.js:371:20
              at async Span.traceAsyncFn (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/trace/trace.js:157:20)
              at async DevServer.handleRequest (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/dev/next-dev-server.js:368:24)
              at async invokeRender (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:237:21)
              at async handleRequest (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:428:24)
              at async requestHandlerImpl (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:452:13)
              at async Server.requestListener (/Users/carsten/dev/tarabao/node_modules/.pnpm/next@15.3.3_@babel+core@7.27.4_@opentelemetry+api@1.9.0_@playwright+test@1.50.1_babel-p_a8fe3bc094ff9acb889a7fb77357310c/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/start-server.js:158:13)
      "path": [
        "Products"
      ],
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 2,
          "column": 3
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {}
    }

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

requires data and modifications...

Reproduction Steps

1. Create collection A and B. B has a relationship to A.
2. Create some document of A and a document of B, that links to A.
3. In collection A create a join with B.
4. Query A with GraphQL

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

db-mongodb

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 22.16.0
  npm: 10.9.2
  Yarn: 1.22.19
  pnpm: 10.12.1
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.42.0

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Useful Resources

• Reproduction Guide
• Contributing to Payload

[github-actions]

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