feat(richtext-lexical): add markdown transformer for upload nodes#15630
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GermanJablo merged 3 commits intopayloadcms:mainfrom Feb 19, 2026
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Upload nodes were silently dropped when converting Lexical content to markdown. This adds an ElementTransformer that outputs upload nodes as standard markdown image syntax when the value is populated:  For non-image uploads, it outputs a link instead: [document.pdf](/uploads/document.pdf) When the upload value is not populated (just an ID), a reference placeholder is output so the data is not silently lost: ![collection:id]() Fixes payloadcms#13086
GermanJablo
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Feb 19, 2026
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Test plan
- Verified that upload nodes with populated data (containing
url,alt,filename) produce valid markdown image syntax- Verified that non-image uploads produce link syntax
- Verified that non-populated uploads produce a reference placeholder instead of being dropped
Thank you. For next time, if possible, it would be very helpful to include the tests.
As a separate note, we've discussed internally with @AlessioGr how we can further improve the Markdown conversion experience in the future. Ideas to explore:
- Intelligent URL recognition (including Link Nodes, if possible).
- Do the same for internal links in LinkNode
- A new parameter in
convertLexicalToMarkdownthat allows adding or customizing transformers.
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🚀 This is included in version v3.78.0 |
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Problem
When converting Lexical rich text content to markdown using
convertLexicalToMarkdown, upload nodes (images and files) are completely stripped from the output. There's no markdown transformer registered for the upload feature, so the converter silently drops them.This means any content that includes uploaded images loses those images entirely when exported to markdown - which is unexpected since other node types like links, headings, and horizontal rules all have proper markdown transformers.
Fix
Added an
ElementTransformerfor upload nodes that handles three cases:Populated image uploads - outputs standard markdown image syntax:
Populated non-image uploads (PDFs, docs, etc.) - outputs a link:
Non-populated uploads (value is just an ID) - outputs a reference placeholder so the data isn't silently lost:
The transformer is registered in the
UploadFeatureserver configuration alongside the existing HTML converter.The import side (markdown -> Lexical) uses a never-matching regex because upload nodes should be created through the upload UI/drawer, not parsed from markdown text.
Test plan
url,alt,filename) produce valid markdown image syntaxFixes #13086