support multiple namespaces in registerBlockCollection() #69656

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1. acketon

   added

   [Type] EnhancementA suggestion for improvement.A suggestion for improvement.

   on Mar 21, 2025
2. Mayank-Tripathi32 commented on Mar 21, 2025

   

   Mayank-Tripathi32

   on Mar 21, 2025

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   I see how this could be useful in your use case, but I'm not sure if it should be a part of block collections. It might be helpful to hear from others to see if they have a similar use case for this.
3. t-hamano

   added

   [Feature] Block APIAPI that allows to express the block paradigm.API that allows to express the block paradigm.

   [Package] Blocks/packages/blocks/packages/blocks

   on Mar 23, 2025
4. Mamaduka commented on Aug 1, 2025

   

   Mamaduka

   on Aug 1, 2025

   Last edited by Mamaduka

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   I think this is easy to resolve on the consumer side by calling registerBlockCollection inside the loop.

   [ 'myname', 'myname2' ].forEach( ( namespace ) => {
       registerBlockCollection( namespace, {
       	title: 'My Blocks',
       } );
   } );
5. Mamaduka

   added

   Needs DecisionNeeds a decision to be actionable or relevantNeeds a decision to be actionable or relevant

   on Aug 1, 2025
6. acketon commented on Aug 1, 2025

   

   acketon

   on Aug 1, 2025

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   I think this is easy to resolve on the consumer side by calling registerBlockCollection inside the loop.

   [ 'myname', 'myname2' ].forEach( ( namespace ) => {
   registerBlockCollection( namespace, {
   title: 'My Blocks',
   } );
   } );

   I don't see how this is different from calling registerBlockCollection() twice with different namesspaces but the same title. I've attempted that of course, but it results in multiple Block Collections being registered in the Block Inserter with different blocks from each namespace in each. They are not combined into a single Collection.

   Example:

   import { registerBlockCollection } from '@wordpress/blocks';
   
   // Register Block Collection for `bu` prefix in existing block names.
   registerBlockCollection( 'bu', {
   	title: 'BU: Blocks',
   } );
   
   // Register Block Collection for `editorial` prefix in existing block names.
   registerBlockCollection( 'editorial', {
   	title: 'BU: Blocks Editorial',
   } );
   
   // Register Block Collections for both `bu` and `editorial` namespaces.
   // This does not work, it creates two separate collections with the same name.
   [ 'bu', 'editorial' ].forEach( ( namespace ) => {
   	registerBlockCollection( namespace, {
   		title: 'My Blocks,
   	} );
   } );
   

   Results in:

   
7. acketon commented on Aug 1, 2025

   

   acketon

   on Aug 1, 2025

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   While I know my particular issue might be rarer, it's a frustrating issue as an organization that invested early in Block Development in 2019 against poorly documented guidance at the time which did not make clear that the namespace in a block is considered immutable. (https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-registration/#block-name) and so now with a plugin with 2 dozen blocks in use within the post content of thousands of pages we can't change the namespace of the existing blocks to be consistently prefixed for all blocks in the same plugin.

   Aside:
   Yes, I know and we have discussed using wp-cli to attempt a find/replace of old block namespaces across the network. It's possible, but a risky content change when dealing with thousands of WordPress sites and with instances of each block being used dozens to thousands of times in many of those sites.

   It is concerning that the WordPress docs on block registration is so light on providing guidance on the very real consequences of poorly thought out namespaces in blocks. It's not even clear that they can never be changed and need to be considered stable or immutable. (https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-registration/#block-name) (#40749)

   Block Collections would be very helpful in the block inserter to help organize blocks better and they work well if all of your blocks are in the same namespace. I do think they could be much more useful for everyone if people can create collections of blocks from multiple namespaces. Not just for my issue, but to have greater editorial control over the organization of blocks within a site in a large WordPress network with a lot of plugins adding blocks.

   As another example think of it this way:

   There are two ways to approach building lots of blocks to use in an organization. Either a single plugin with multiple blocks registered in it or separate plugin with 1 block per plugin (how @wordpress/scripts originally expected the architecture).

   If you pursue a single block === plugin approach and you are building many blocks you'd either have to have each block share the same prefix in their namespace such as: myblocks/some-block across multiple plugins in order to register a Collection with all of them grouped together. Alternatively if you name them with unique prefixed namespaces for each plugin you'd end up with separate Block Collections for each plugin with a single block in each.

   Are Block Collections meant to only be associated with a single namespace?
8. Mamaduka commented on Aug 11, 2025

   

   Mamaduka

   on Aug 11, 2025

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   Thanks for the clarification, @acketon!

   Are Block Collections meant to only be associated with a single namespace?

   As far as I know, collections are meant to be used with a single namespace. cc @gziolo
9. gziolo commented on Aug 12, 2025

   

   gziolo

   on Aug 12, 2025

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   Collections are associated with a unique namespace, see the reducer in the store:

   gutenberg/packages/blocks/src/store/reducer.js

   Lines 363 to 377 in 2826f74

   	export function collections( state = {}, action ) {
   	switch ( action.type ) {
   	case 'ADD_BLOCK_COLLECTION':
   	return {
   	...state,
   	[ action.namespace ]: {
   	title: action.title,
   	icon: action.icon,
   	},
   	};
   	case 'REMOVE_BLOCK_COLLECTION':
   	return omit( state, action.namespace );
   	}
   	return state;
   	}
10. youknowriad commented on Oct 6, 2026

    

    youknowriad

    on Oct 6, 2026

    Contributor

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    Thanks for the detailed explanation of your use case. Block collections are designed around one namespace each (see the blocks store reducer), and we don't plan to extend them to several namespaces. For mixed-prefix legacy blocks, a custom block category is the closest option today. Closing as not planned; we're sorry there isn't a cleaner path for blocks whose names can't change.
11. youknowriad

    closed this as completedon Oct 6, 2026