Strapi Plugin Composite Field

A Strapi v5 plugin that creates composite display fields by combining multiple text fields.

Features

• 🔗 Multiple Fields: Combine any text/string/enum fields
• 🔄 Generate Button: Click icon to generate composite value
• ⚡ Auto-Generate: Automatically update when source fields change
• 📝 Easy Config: Textarea input (one field per line)
• ⚙️ Custom Separator: Configure separator (default: " - ")
• ✨ Smart Spacing: Automatically handles spacing for separators
• 🎯 Manual Edit Protection: Preserves manual edits until source fields change
• 🎨 Clean UI: Matches Strapi admin design system

Installation

npm install @tunghtml/strapi-plugin-composite-field

Then add the plugin to your config/plugins.js:

module.exports = {
  // ...
  'composite-field': {
    enabled: true,
  },
};

Rebuild your admin panel:

npm run build
npm run develop

Usage

1. Add Custom Field

• Go to Content-Type Builder
• Select your content type (e.g., Corp Rep List)
• Click "Add another field"
• Choose "Composite" from custom fields
• Name it (e.g., displayName)

2. Configure Fields

Fields to combine (one per line):

salutation
firstName
lastName
email

Separator (optional, default: " - "):

-

3. Generate Value

• Fill in source fields (firstName, lastName, email, etc.)
• Click the Play icon button
• Composite field populates automatically with proper spacing!

Examples

Representative Display Name

Fields:
  salutation
  firstName
  lastName
  email

Separator: -

Result: Mr. - Tung - Le - tung@example.com

Product SKU

Fields:
  category
  brand
  model

Separator: -

Result: Electronics - Apple - iPhone15

Full Name

Fields:
  firstName
  lastName

Separator: (space)

Result: Tung Le

Configuration Options

Base Settings

Option	Type	Default	Description
fields	textarea	-	Field names to combine (one per line)
separator	text	" - "	Separator between fields

Advanced Settings

Option	Type	Default	Description
autoGenerate	checkbox	false	Automatically generate when source fields change

Advanced Usage

Auto-Generate Mode

Enable Auto-generate in Advanced settings to automatically update the composite field when any source field changes.

Smart Manual Edit Protection: When auto-generate is enabled, the plugin intelligently handles manual edits:

• If you manually edit the composite field, it will preserve your changes
• When any source field changes, auto-generation resumes with the new values
• This prevents accidental overwrites while maintaining automatic updates

Space-Only Separator

When using a space " " as the separator, the plugin automatically uses a single space without adding extra spaces around it. For other separators like - or |, spaces are added around them for better readability.

Examples:

• Separator: " " → Result: John Doe
• Separator: - → Result: John - Doe

Enum Field Support

The plugin now supports enumeration fields! Simply include the enum field name in your fields list, and the plugin will automatically extract the selected value.

Example:

Fields:
  meetingType (enum)
  name

Result: Panel Discussion - John Doe

Notes

• Supports text, string, and enumeration fields
• Automatically adds spaces around separator for clean output
• Empty fields are skipped automatically
• Relation fields are not supported (use simple fields only)
• Auto-generate uses a 300ms debounce to avoid excessive updates

Changelog

v1.2.4 (2026-02-05)

🎯 Improvements:

• Smart Manual Edit Protection: Auto-generate now respects manual edits and only resumes when source fields change
• Improved Separator Logic: Space-only separators now use single space without extra padding
• Removed Editable Option: Simplified configuration by removing the unnecessary editable toggle

🐛 Bug Fixes:

• Fixed auto-generate overwriting manual edits immediately
• Fixed excessive spacing when using space as separator
• Improved change detection for more reliable auto-generation

🔧 Technical:

• Added isManuallyEdited state tracking
• Enhanced watchedValues change detection
• Optimized re-render performance

Requirements

• Strapi v5.0.0 or higher
• Node.js 18.x or higher

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Issues

If you encounter any issues, please report them at: https://github.com/finnwasabi/strapi-plugin-composite-field/issues

License

MIT

Author

Tung Le - @finnwasabi

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Built by Tung Le. More Strapi plugins and case studies at tungln.is-a.dev.