payload-automation/CUSTOMER-DIAGNOSTIC.md

🔍 CRITICAL DIAGNOSTIC: Why The Plugin Works Locally But Not For You

The Key Insight

Our tests work because we define collections inline in the config:

// OUR TEST ENVIRONMENT - WORKS
export default buildConfig({
  collections: [
    {
      slug: 'posts',
      fields: [...],
      // Collection defined RIGHT HERE
    }
  ],
  plugins: [
    workflowsPlugin({...}) // Plugin can see collections above
  ]
})

The Likely Customer Setup

You probably have collections defined separately:

// YOUR ENVIRONMENT - LIKELY STRUCTURE
import { Orders } from './collections/Orders'
import { Users } from './collections/Users'
import { Products } from './collections/Products'

export default buildConfig({
  collections: [
    Orders,  // Imported from separate file
    Users,   // Imported from separate file
    Products // Imported from separate file
  ],
  plugins: [
    workflowsPlugin({...}) // Plugin runs but collections might be different
  ]
})

The Critical Question

How are your collections defined?

Option 1: Separate Files (Most Common)

// collections/Orders.ts
export const Orders: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'orders',
  hooks: {
    // Your existing hooks here
  },
  fields: [...]
}

Option 2: Factory Functions

// collections/Orders.ts
export const Orders = (): CollectionConfig => ({
  slug: 'orders',
  // ...
})

Option 3: Class-based or Complex Setup

// Something more complex that might not be in config.collections yet

🚨 THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Add this to your payload.config.ts BEFORE the workflowsPlugin:

export default buildConfig({
  collections: [Orders, Users, Products],
  plugins: [
    // ADD THIS DIAGNOSTIC PLUGIN FIRST
    (config) => {
      console.log('🔍 DIAGNOSTIC: Collections in config:')
      console.log('  - config.collections exists?', !!config.collections)
      console.log('  - config.collections length:', config.collections?.length)
      console.log('  - Collection slugs:', config.collections?.map(c => c.slug))
      
      // Check if orders collection has hooks already
      const ordersConfig = config.collections?.find(c => c.slug === 'orders')
      console.log('  - Orders collection found?', !!ordersConfig)
      console.log('  - Orders has hooks?', !!ordersConfig?.hooks)
      console.log('  - Orders afterChange hooks:', ordersConfig?.hooks?.afterChange?.length || 0)
      
      return config
    },
    
    // THEN your automation plugin
    workflowsPlugin({...})
  ]
})

🎯 What This Will Tell Us

1. If collections show up: The plugin should work with v0.0.20
2. If collections are empty/undefined: That's why hooks aren't registering
3. If orders already has hooks: There might be a conflict

💡 The Likely Solution

If your collections are in separate files, you might need to:

Option A: Add hooks directly to collection files

// collections/Orders.ts
import { automationHook } from '@xtr-dev/payload-automation/hooks' // We'd need to export this

export const Orders: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'orders',
  hooks: {
    afterChange: [
      automationHook, // Add directly here
      // ... your other hooks
    ]
  }
}

Option B: Modify collections before passing to buildConfig

// payload.config.ts
import { Orders } from './collections/Orders'
import { addAutomationHooks } from '@xtr-dev/payload-automation/utils' // We'd need to create this

const OrdersWithAutomation = addAutomationHooks(Orders)

export default buildConfig({
  collections: [OrdersWithAutomation, Users, Products],
  // ...
})

🔑 The Bottom Line

The plugin works when collections are defined inline because they exist in config.collections when the plugin runs.

If your collections are imported from separate files, they might not be in the right structure for the plugin to modify them.

Run the diagnostic above and share the console output - it will tell us exactly why the hooks aren't registering in your environment!