strapi-v5-plugin-populate-deep

A Strapi v5 plugin that enables deep population of nested content structures via a simple query parameter.

Installation

npm install strapi-v5-plugin-populate-deep
# or
yarn add strapi-v5-plugin-populate-deep

Usage

Add pLevel to any API request to deeply populate the response.

| Parameter | Type | Description | |-----------|------|-------------| | pLevel | number (optional) | Depth of population. Omit the value to use the default depth. | | pIgnore | string or string[] (optional) | Fields or collection names to exclude from population. Accepts a comma-separated string or array. |

Examples

# Use default depth (5)
GET /api/articles?pLevel

# Use custom depth
GET /api/articles?pLevel=10

# Ignore specific fields (comma-separated string)
GET /api/articles?pLevel=5&pIgnore=author,tags

# Ignore specific fields (array syntax)
GET /api/articles?pLevel=5&pIgnore[0]=author&pIgnore[1]=tags

Configuration

Customize the default depth globally via config/plugins.js (or .ts):

// config/plugins.js
module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  'strapi-v5-plugin-populate-deep': {
    config: {
      defaultDepth: 3, // default: 5
    },
  },
});

Good to Know

• Default depth is 5 unless configured otherwise.
• Works for all collections and single types (findOne and findMany).
• pIgnore prevents circular population and can significantly reduce response size and query time.
• Increasing depth may result in longer response times — use pIgnore to offset this.
• plugin::upload.file related field is always excluded to avoid bloated responses.
• admin::user (creator fields) can be excluded via skipCreatorFields config:

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  'strapi-v5-plugin-populate-deep': {
    config: {
      defaultDepth: 5,
      skipCreatorFields: true,
    },
  },
});

Contributors

Based on the original work by Barelydead. Original populate concept by tomnovotny7 (thread). Dynamic zone fix by tooonuch.