@fourlights/strapi-plugin-deep-copy

A strapi plugin providing deep copy functionality for nested entities.

The default behaviour in Strapi is to create a shallow copy when duplicating an entity. This means that any relations are lost and have to be duplicated separately and connected manually to the newly created entities.

This plugin provides a custom copy action when viewing an entity in the Strapi admin which clones the entity and all it's related models, and connects the newly created entities in the same way as the original.

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Table of Contents

• Installation
• Usage
• Compatibility
• Screenshot
• Advanced Usage
• Development

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Installation

npm install @fourlights/strapi-plugin-deep-copy @fourlights/strapi-plugin-deep-populate

_{Note: This plugin needs @fourlights/strapi-plugin-deep-populate to function.}

Then configure enabled the plugins in config/plugins.ts

{
  'deep-populate': { enabled: true },
  'deep-copy': { enabled: true, config: { /* see usage section */ } }
}

Compatibility

• Strapi v5 use v2.0 or later
• Strapi v4 use v1.0.3 - Source - Read Me

Screenshot

Comparison with normal clone

strapi-deepcopy-vs-native-clone.webm

Usage

After installation, add the contentTypes for which you want to enable creating a deep copy. Any content-types not listed here will not be copied. Relations to these content types will be the same as on the original entity.

Take a look at the following config:

{
  // ...
  'deep-populate': { enabled: true },
  'deep-copy': {
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      contentTypes: {
        'api::page.page': {
          enabled: true,
          showButtonInAdmin: true,
        },
        'api::section.section': {
          enabled: true,
          showButtonInAdmin: false,
        }
      },
    },
  },
  // ...
}

This config will enable the deep copy admin button for the api::page.page content type. If you choose the copy the api::page.page entity, any relations to api::section.section will be copied as well. With this config, the copy action can only be started from the api::page.page content type.

Any other relations which are not defined in this config will be set to the same value as on the original entity. For example, the strapi internal createdBy and updatedBy will not create a new copied user, but will be set to the same user as the original entity.

Advanced usage

Unique fields

By default, the plugin will append a random hex number (copy#) to any unique fields on the newly created entities. You can override this behaviour by providing a default value function, which is used for all non-specified unique fields.

For more control you can explicitly specify unique fields and provide a special value function for each field.

Note that the strapi instance is passed to these value resolve functions, so you can also use all strapi's tooling to generate the value.

{
  // ...
  'deep-copy': {
    // ...
    config: {
      // ...
      contentTypes: {
        'api::page.page': {
          // default value function for all implicit unique fields
          defaultUniqueFieldValue: (strapi, src, name) => `${src[name]} (${new Date().toIsoFormat()})`,
          // specify explicit unique fields
          uniqueFields: {
            slug: {
              value: (strapi, src, name) => slugify(`${src.title} (copy)`),
            }
          },
        },
      },
    },
    // ...
  },
  // ...
}

Editable fields

By default, all fields are copied from the original entity. However, you can also specify which fields should be editable from the admin before deep copying an entity. This follows a similar approach to the uniquefields, but with some extra functionality.

{
  // ...
  'deep-copy': {
    // ...
    config: {
      // ...
      contentTypes: {
        'api::page.page': {
          // ...
          editableFields: {
            slug: {
              required: true,  // optional, mark field as required for deep-copy when it's not actually required
              // initial value for the editable slug field
              initialValue: (strapi, src, name) => slugify(`${src[name]} (copy)`, { strict: true }),
              // optional button for filling the field using the currently available data for the new entity (so, original + other editable fields)
              fillButton: {
                label: 'Copy from title',
                value: (data) => slugify(data.title, { strict: true }),
              },
            },  
          }
        },
      },
    },
    // ...
  },
  // ...
}

Development

You can use the playground directory for a strapi instance which is configured to use the plugin.

In one terminal

npm run watch:link

Make sure the playground has the proper yalc configuration

npm run playground:install

Run playground

npm run playground

Login to the admin with

playground@example.com
Test1234