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.