Pasting a copied blocks row renders the block blank until page refresh

Describe the Bug

Using a blocks field row's ... menu → Copy Row, then Paste Row onto a row whose field path + row index match the copied row (simplest case: pasting a copied row back over itself; also e.g. layout.0 in one document → layout.0 in another document whose blocks field has the same name), the pasted block's body renders completely blank: the block header stays, but every field inside disappears. In this repro the block contains a single richText field.

The document data is intact — saving works and a full page refresh restores the rendered fields — so it is purely an admin-UI render bug. But for editors it looks like the paste just wiped the block.

After Paste Row:

Same document after a full page refresh:

Root cause

Traced on 3.86.0; the code is identical on 4.0.0-canary.13. All in packages/ui/src/elements/ClipboardAction/mergeFormStateFromClipboard.ts:

1. On copy, reduceFormStateByPath strips customComponents from the clipboard payload (not serializable) but keeps lastRenderedPath.
2. On paste, mergeFormStateFromClipboard restores customComponents from existing form state only for array fields — hardcoded undefined for blocks:

   const customComponents = isArray ? formState[newPath]?.customComponents : undefined
   

3. On the next form-state request the server decides re-rendering via requiresRender = renderAllFields || !lastRenderedPath || lastRenderedPath !== path || ... (forms/fieldSchemasToFormState/renderField.ts). The pasted entries carry the stale lastRenderedPath from the clipboard; when source and target paths match it equals path, so the server never re-renders the field's components.
4. The client RichTextField fallback is return null, so the field (label included) renders nothing until a full page load re-renders all fields.

This also explains why the bug looks intermittent: pasting to a different row index or a differently-named blocks field self-heals after the next form-state round-trip (paths mismatch → re-render), while same-path pastes stay blank indefinitely.

Suggested fix

Strip lastRenderedPath (field-level, and row-level inside rows) in reduceFormStateByPath at copy time — verified locally via a patch on 3.86.0: pasted rows then re-render on the next form-state round-trip. (Trade-off: array pastes get one redundant server re-render even though their customComponents survive the merge; alternatives would be restoring customComponents for blocks in the merge, or clearing lastRenderedPath on merged entries at paste time.)

Also reproduces on Payload v4

Same scenario, same result on payload@4.0.0-canary.13 (all @payloadcms/* at 4.0.0-canary.13, next@16.2.6):

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/DarioSiroki/payload-paste-row-blank-repro

Reproduction Steps

1. pnpm install, cp .env.example .env (sqlite file DB, set any PAYLOAD_SECRET), pnpm dev
2. Open http://localhost:3000/admin, create the first admin user.
3. Go to Pages → create a new document. Under Layout, click Add Layout → Rich Text Block.
4. Type hello world into the block's Content rich-text editor and Save.
5. Reload the edit view and confirm the block renders the Content field with hello world.
6. Click the block row's ... actions menu → Copy Row.
7. Open the same ... menu again → Paste Row (pasting onto the same row, layout.0).
8. Bug: the block body goes blank — only the header (01, Rich Text Block, Untitled) remains; the Content field and its editor are gone.
9. Refresh the page — the Content field and hello world render again (data was never lost).

Which area(s) are affected?

area: ui

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 24.13.0
  npm: 11.6.2
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: 11.1.0
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.86.0
  next: 16.2.6
  @payloadcms/db-sqlite: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/drizzle: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.86.0
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.86.0
  react: 19.2.6
  react-dom: 19.2.6
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 25.5.0
  Available memory (MB): 32768
  Available CPU cores: 10

Start in packages/ui/src/elements/ClipboardAction/mergeFormStateFromClipboard.ts and trace the copied form state into forms/fieldSchemasToFormState/renderField.ts. Run the linked reproduction steps, focusing on copying and pasting the same blocks row. Done means the block fields render immediately after the next form-state round-trip and remain visible without a full page refresh.