CRITICAL FIX: Move hook registration to config phase

- Hooks were being registered too late (in onInit) - PayloadCMS doesn't honor hooks registered after initialization
- Move hook registration to config phase using applyHooksToCollections()
- Use global executor registry to make WorkflowExecutor available to config-phase hooks
- Add aggressive debugging to trace hook execution
- This should resolve the core issue where hooks were registered but never called

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

hook-verification-test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+// Hook verification test - run this in your PayloadCMS environment
+// This will help identify why registered hooks aren't executing
+
+console.log('🔍 === HOOK VERIFICATION TEST ===')
+
+console.log(`
+Add this code to your PayloadCMS environment after initialization:
+
+const verifyHooks = async () => {
+  console.log('🔍 === HOOK VERIFICATION DIAGNOSTIC ===')
+  
+  // 1. Check if hooks are still registered
+  const ordersCollection = payload.collections.orders
+  const hooks = ordersCollection.config.hooks.afterChange || []
+  
+  console.log('Hook count:', hooks.length)
+  console.log('Hook types:', hooks.map((h, i) => \`#\${i}: \${typeof h}\`))
+  
+  // 2. Check if hooks are actually functions
+  for (let i = 0; i < hooks.length; i++) {
+    const hook = hooks[i]
+    console.log(\`Hook #\${i}:\`)
+    console.log(\`  - Type: \${typeof hook}\`)
+    console.log(\`  - Is Function: \${typeof hook === 'function'}\`)
+    console.log(\`  - Has Name: \${hook.name || 'anonymous'}\`)
+    console.log(\`  - String Preview: \${hook.toString().substring(0, 100)}...\`)
+  }
+  
+  // 3. Try to manually execute each hook
+  console.log('\\n🧪 MANUAL HOOK EXECUTION TEST')
+  
+  const mockChange = {
+    collection: { slug: 'orders' },
+    operation: 'update',
+    doc: {
+      id: 'test-' + Date.now(),
+      orderName: 'Test Order',
+      status: 'Paid',
+      customerEmail: 'test@example.com'
+    },
+    previousDoc: {
+      id: 'test-' + Date.now(),
+      orderName: 'Test Order', 
+      status: 'Unpaid',
+      customerEmail: 'test@example.com'
+    },
+    req: { user: null } // Minimal request object
+  }
+  
+  for (let i = 0; i < hooks.length; i++) {
+    try {
+      console.log(\`\\nTesting hook #\${i}...\`)
+      console.log('About to call hook with mock data')
+      
+      const result = await hooks[i](mockChange)
+      
+      console.log(\`✅ Hook #\${i} executed successfully\`)
+      console.log('Result:', result)
+      
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.log(\`❌ Hook #\${i} failed:\`)
+      console.log('Error:', error.message)
+      console.log('Stack:', error.stack)
+    }
+  }
+  
+  // 4. Check if hooks are being called during real operations
+  console.log('\\n🔍 REAL OPERATION TEST')
+  console.log('Creating a test order to see if hooks fire...')
+  
+  // Add a simple test hook to verify hook execution
+  const testHook = async (change) => {
+    console.log('🚨 TEST HOOK FIRED! 🚨')
+    console.log('Collection:', change.collection.slug)
+    console.log('Operation:', change.operation)
+  }
+  
+  // Add test hook at the beginning
+  ordersCollection.config.hooks.afterChange.unshift(testHook)
+  console.log('Added test hook at position 0')
+  
+  try {
+    const testOrder = await payload.create({
+      collection: 'orders',
+      data: {
+        orderName: 'Hook Verification Test',
+        status: 'Unpaid',
+        customerEmail: 'hooktest@example.com',
+        totalPrice: 1000,
+        items: [{ name: 'Test Item', quantity: 1, price: 1000 }]
+      }
+    })
+    
+    console.log('Test order created:', testOrder.id)
+    
+    // Update the order to trigger hooks
+    const updatedOrder = await payload.update({
+      collection: 'orders', 
+      id: testOrder.id,
+      data: { status: 'Paid' }
+    })
+    
+    console.log('Test order updated to:', updatedOrder.status)
+    
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.log('Error during test operation:', error.message)
+  }
+}
+
+// Run after PayloadCMS is initialized
+setTimeout(verifyHooks, 3000)
+`)
+
+console.log(`
+🎯 Expected Results:
+
+If you see "🚨 TEST HOOK FIRED! 🚨" but NOT the automation plugin messages:
+- Hook execution works, but the automation plugin hook has an issue
+- Likely problem: Hook function malformed or has runtime error
+
+If you DON'T see "🚨 TEST HOOK FIRED! 🚨":
+- Hook execution is completely broken
+- PayloadCMS configuration or timing issue
+
+If hooks execute manually but not during real operations:
+- Hook registration timing issue
+- PayloadCMS lifecycle problem
+`)
+
+process.exit(0)

src/plugin/index.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ import {getConfigLogger, initializeLogger} from './logger.js'
 
 export {getLogger} from './logger.js'
 
+// Global executor registry for config-phase hooks
+let globalExecutor: WorkflowExecutor | null = null
+
+const setWorkflowExecutor = (executor: WorkflowExecutor) => {
+  console.log('🚨 SETTING GLOBAL EXECUTOR')
+  globalExecutor = executor
+}
+
+const getWorkflowExecutor = (): WorkflowExecutor | null => {
+  return globalExecutor
+}
+
 const applyCollectionsConfig = <T extends string>(pluginOptions: WorkflowsPluginConfig<T>, config: Config) => {
   // Add workflow collections
   if (!config.collections) {
@@ -27,6 +39,82 @@ const applyCollectionsConfig = <T extends string>(pluginOptions: WorkflowsPlugin
   )
 }
 
+const applyHooksToCollections = <T extends string>(pluginOptions: WorkflowsPluginConfig<T>, config: Config) => {
+  const configLogger = getConfigLogger()
+  
+  if (!pluginOptions.collectionTriggers || Object.keys(pluginOptions.collectionTriggers).length === 0) {
+    configLogger.warn('No collection triggers configured - hooks will not be applied')
+    return
+  }
+
+  configLogger.info('Applying hooks to collections during config phase')
+
+  // Apply hooks to each configured collection
+  for (const [collectionSlug, triggerConfig] of Object.entries(pluginOptions.collectionTriggers)) {
+    if (!triggerConfig) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    // Find the collection in the config
+    const collectionConfig = config.collections?.find(c => c.slug === collectionSlug)
+    if (!collectionConfig) {
+      configLogger.warn(`Collection '${collectionSlug}' not found in config - cannot apply hooks`)
+      continue
+    }
+
+    const crud = triggerConfig === true ? {
+      create: true,
+      delete: true,
+      read: true,
+      update: true,
+    } : triggerConfig
+
+    // Initialize hooks if they don't exist
+    if (!collectionConfig.hooks) {
+      collectionConfig.hooks = {}
+    }
+
+    // Apply afterChange hook for create/update operations
+    if ((crud as any).update || (crud as any).create) {
+      if (!collectionConfig.hooks.afterChange) {
+        collectionConfig.hooks.afterChange = []
+      }
+
+      // Add our automation hook - this will be called when the executor is ready
+      collectionConfig.hooks.afterChange.push(async (change) => {
+        console.log('🚨 CONFIG-PHASE AUTOMATION HOOK CALLED! 🚨')
+        console.log('Collection:', change.collection.slug)
+        console.log('Operation:', change.operation)
+        console.log('Doc ID:', change.doc?.id)
+
+        // Get the executor from global registry (set during onInit)
+        const executor = getWorkflowExecutor()
+        if (!executor) {
+          console.log('❌ No executor available yet - workflow execution skipped')
+          return
+        }
+
+        console.log('✅ Executor found - executing workflows')
+        
+        try {
+          await executor.executeTriggeredWorkflows(
+            change.collection.slug,
+            change.operation as 'create' | 'update',
+            change.doc,
+            change.previousDoc,
+            change.req
+          )
+          console.log('🚨 executeTriggeredWorkflows completed successfully')
+        } catch (error) {
+          console.log('🚨 executeTriggeredWorkflows failed:', error)
+        }
+      })
+    }
+
+    configLogger.info(`Applied hooks to collection: ${collectionSlug}`)
+  }
+}
+
 
 export const workflowsPlugin =
   <TSlug extends string>(pluginOptions: WorkflowsPluginConfig<TSlug>) =>
@@ -37,6 +125,9 @@ export const workflowsPlugin =
       }
 
       applyCollectionsConfig<TSlug>(pluginOptions, config)
+      
+      // CRITICAL FIX: Apply hooks during config phase, not onInit
+      applyHooksToCollections<TSlug>(pluginOptions, config)
 
       if (!config.jobs) {
         config.jobs = {tasks: []}
@@ -83,12 +174,12 @@ export const workflowsPlugin =
         const executor = new WorkflowExecutor(payload, logger)
         console.log('🚨 EXECUTOR CREATED:', typeof executor)
         console.log('🚨 EXECUTOR METHODS:', Object.getOwnPropertyNames(Object.getPrototypeOf(executor)))
+        
+        // Register executor globally for config-phase hooks
+        setWorkflowExecutor(executor)
 
-        // Initialize hooks
-        console.log('🚨 INITIALIZING COLLECTION HOOKS')
-        logger.info('Initializing collection hooks...')
-        initCollectionHooks(pluginOptions, payload, logger, executor)
-        console.log('🚨 COLLECTION HOOKS INITIALIZATION COMPLETE')
+        // Note: Collection hooks are now applied during config phase, not here
+        logger.info('Collection hooks applied during config phase - executor now available for them')
         
         logger.info('Initializing global hooks...')
         initGlobalHooks(payload, logger, executor)