`group` fields render an empty `RenderFields` container — no children in the admin

Summary

Every group field renders its header and an empty .render-fields container. None of its child fields are rendered, in the server HTML or after hydration. Sibling fields outside the group render normally, and array, row, tabs and collapsible all render their children correctly. Only group is affected.

The field definitions and their values do reach the client — they appear in the serialized form state — so the schema is transmitted and the children are dropped at render time.

Reproduction

Minimal app: no plugins, no custom components, no hooks, empty import map.

// payload.config.ts
import { mongooseAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mongodb'
import { buildConfig } from 'payload'

export default buildConfig({
  secret: process.env.PAYLOAD_SECRET!,
  db: mongooseAdapter({ url: process.env.MONGODB_URI! }),
  admin: { user: 'users' },
  collections: [{ slug: 'users', auth: true, fields: [] }],
  globals: [
    {
      slug: 'group-repro',
      fields: [
        { name: 'before', type: 'text', label: 'Control field, outside the group' },
        {
          name: 'grp',
          type: 'group',
          label: 'Group with direct children',
          fields: [
            { name: 'x', type: 'text', label: 'Field X' },
            { name: 'y', type: 'text', label: 'Field Y' },
          ],
        },
      ],
    },
  ],
})

Open /admin/globals/group-repro.

Expected: inputs before, grp.x, grp.y.
Actual: only before. The group renders as:

<div class="group-field__wrap">
  <div class="group-field__header">
    <header><h3 class="group-field__title"><span class="field-label" for="field-grp">Group with direct children</span></h3></header>
  </div>
  <div class="render-fields render-fields--margins-small"></div>   <!-- empty -->
</div>

GroupField runs and calls RenderFields; RenderFields produces an empty list.

Evidence that the schema reaches the client

Comparing a working array child with a broken group child, in the raw server HTML:

arr.0.a     → <input name="arr.0.a" value="5"/>              (rendered)
              + "arr.0.a":{"value":5,"initialValue":5}        (form state)

grp.x       → "grp.x":{"value":7,"initialValue":7}            (form state only)
              no <input> anywhere

The group's _index-0 row entry is present in the form state too. The values are known; the fields are simply never rendered.

What was ruled out

Also checked: no console errors (so no React error boundary); /api/access returns an empty fields object for every collection and global — including for fields that render correctly, so it is not a discriminator; no overrides, resolutions or patches on any Payload package; and no CSP on the admin route.

Sibling container types (array, row, tabs, collapsible) render their children correctly in the same admin, on the same page.

Environment

• payload / @payloadcms/next / @payloadcms/ui / @payloadcms/db-mongodb / @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.88.0 (all aligned)
• next: 15.4.11
• react / react-dom: 19.2.8
• node: 26.5.1 (also reproduced on 22.x and 24.x)
• database: MongoDB Atlas
• OS: macOS (darwin 23.4.0)

Impact

Any setting modelled as a group becomes uneditable from the admin: the values are stored and applied correctly by the API, but no one can reach them through the UI. We have worked around it with dedicated ui field components that read and write through the REST API, which is workable but has to be repeated for every group.

Start at the admin GroupField component and its RenderFields call, then compare how array, row, tabs, and collapsible pass children to the renderer. Reproduce the minimal group configuration and verify that grp.x and grp.y render in both server HTML and after hydration, with the render-fields container no longer empty.