Relation widget shows "No {{fields.name}}" when collapsed and search results always return "No options"

[roycifer]

Describe the bug

Relation widget shows "No {{fields.name}}" when collapsed and search results always return "No options".

To Reproduce

1. Go to a relation widget.
2. See collapsed state shows "No {{fields.name}}".
3. Expand relation widget.
4. See value does exist in the selected dropdown value.
5. Focus into search and attempt to search for an entry
6. See that all searches return "No options".

Expected behavior

Collapsed state of relation widget should show the selected entry. Relation widget should also return results when searching within the field (when there are matching results).

Screenshots

Applicable Versions:

• Decap CMS version: 3.8.0
• Git provider: GitHub
• OS: macOS Sequoia 15.5
• Browser version Chromium Version 135.0.7049.95 (Official Build, ungoogled-chromium) (arm64)

• Node.JS version: n/a

CMS configuration

show_preview_links: false
editor:
  preview: false

backend:
  name: git-gateway
  branch: main # Branch to update (optional; defaults to master)

media_folder: "assets/images" # Media files will be stored in the repo under images/uploads
public_folder: "/images"

collections:
  - label: "Homepage"
    name: "homepage"
    files:
      - label: "Homepage"
        name: "homepage"
        file: "content/_index.md"
        fields:
          - {label: "Title", name: title, widget: string}
          - {label: "Profile Photo", name: profile_photo, widget: image, choose_url: false}
          - {label: "Bio", name: body, widget: markdown}
          - label: "Top Posts"
            name: "top_posts"
            widget: "list"
            summary: '{{title}}'
            fields:
              - label: "Post"
                name: "featured_entries"
                widget: "relation"
                collection: "entries"
                max: 4
                search_fields: ["title", "publications", "topics"]
                display_fields: ["{{title}}"]
                value_field: "{{slug}}"
          - {label: "Instagram Heading", name: ig_heading, widget: string}
          - {label: "Instagram Embed", name: ig_embed, widget: code}
      # - label: "Margarita Time Bibliography"
      #   name: "margarita-time-bibliography"
      #   file: "content/margarita-time-bibliography.md"
      #   fields:
      #     - {label: "Title", name: title, widget: string}
      #     - {label: "Body", name: body, widget: markdown}
  - name: "entries" # Used in routes, e.g., /admin/collections/blog
    label: "Entries" # Used in the UI
    folder: "content/entries" # The path to the folder where the documents are stored
    create: true # Allow users to create new documents in this collection
    filter: {field: "headless"}
    slug: "{{year}}-{{month}}-{{day}}-{{slug}}" # Filename template, e.g., YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
    sortable_fields: ['title', 'date']
    summary: "{{title}} - {{month}}/{{day}}/{{year}}"
    fields: # The fields for each document, usually in front matter
      - {label: "Title", name: "title", widget: "string"}
      - {label: "Publish Date", name: "date", widget: "datetime"}
      # - {label: "Draft", name: "draft", widget: "boolean", default: true}
      - {label: "Featured Image", name: "thumbnail", widget: "image", choose_url: false}
      - {label: "Link", name: "link", widget: "string", required: false}
      - {label: "Publication", name: "publications", widget: "string", required: false}
      - {label: "Category", name: "topics", widget: "string"}
      - {label: "Body", name: body, widget: markdown, required: false}
  - name: "pages" # Used in routes, e.g., /admin/collections/blog
    label: "Pages" # Used in the UI
    folder: "content/pages" # The path to the folder where the documents are stored
    create: true # Allow users to create new documents in this collection
    filter: {field: "headless"}
    slug: "{{title}}" # Filename template, e.g., YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
    sortable_fields: ['title', 'date']
    summary: "{{title}}"
    fields: # The fields for each document, usually in front matter
      - {label: "Title", name: title, widget: string}
      - {label: "Publish Date", name: "date", widget: "hidden"}
      - {label: "Body", name: body, widget: markdown}
  - label: "Contact"
    name: "contact"
    files:
      - label: "Contact"
        name: "contact"
        file: "content/contact.md"
        fields:
          - {label: "Title", name: title, widget: string}
          - {label: "Body", name: body, widget: markdown}
  - label: "Config"
    name: "config"
    files:
      - label: "Config"
        name: "config"
        file: "config.toml"
        fields:
          - label: "Params"
            name: params
            widget: object
            fields:
              - {label: "SEO Title", name: seo_title, widget: string}
              - {label: "SEO Description", name: seo_description, widget: text}
              - {label: "SEO Image", name: "thumbnail", widget: "image", choose_url: false}
          - label: "Menu"
            name: menu
            widget: object
            fields:
              - label: "Main"
                name: main
                widget: list
                fields:
                  - {label: "Name", name: name, widget: string}
                  - {label: "Identifier", name: identifier, widget: string}
                  - {label: "URL", name: url, widget: string}
                  - {label: "Order", name: weight, widget: number}
  # - name: "posts" # Used in routes, e.g., /admin/collections/blog
  #   label: "Posts" # Used in the UI
  #   folder: "content/posts" # The path to the folder where the documents are stored
  #   create: false # Allow users to create new documents in this collection
  #   slug: "/{{year}}/{{month}}/{{day}}/{{slug}}" # Filename template, e.g., YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
  #   fields: # The fields for each document, usually in front matter
  #     - {label: "Title", name: "title", widget: "string"}
  #     - {label: "Author", name: "author", widget: "string"}
  #     - {label: "Publish Date", name: "date", widget: "datetime"}
  #     - {label: "Featured Image", name: "thumbnail", widget: "image"}
  #     - {label: "URL", name: "url", widget: "string"}
  #     - {label: "Category", name: "topics", widget: "string"}

Additional context

This was not an issue when my client last made an update on 7/6/2025. Could this be related to #7497 ?

[martinjagodic]

@roycifer does this happen on older versions too?

[roycifer]

@martinjagodic how can I load an older version? I am using the unpkg CDN and my admin/index.html (below) is actually specifying 3.0.0 but decap uses 3.8.0 (as shown in the previous screenshots). and as far as I know, this started happening after 7/6/2025.

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
  <title>Content Manager</title>
  <script src="https://identity.netlify.com/v1/netlify-identity-widget.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Include the script that builds the page and powers Netlify CMS -->
  <script src="https://unpkg.com/decap-cms@^3.0.0/dist/decap-cms.js"></script>
  <script>
    if (window.netlifyIdentity) {
      window.netlifyIdentity.on("init", user => {
        if (!user) {
          window.netlifyIdentity.on("login", () => {
            document.location.href = "/admin/";
          });
        }
      });
    }
  </script>
</body>
</html>

[martinjagodic]

you can use a specific version by omitting ^ from version. For example, decap-cms@3.6.0 will always stay on 3.6.0

[roycifer]

thanks @martinjagodic... I can confirm the relation widget typeahead works with the previous version 3.7.2.

[martinjagodic]

Introduced with #7497

[demshy]

Should be fixed in 3.8.1 that was just released

[roycifer]

the latest 3.8.2 returns results but they are just the default set (same set every search).

3.8.2 with search term "inside":

3.8.2 with search term "martini":

compare to 3.7.1...

3.7.1 with search term "inside":

3.7.1 with search term "martini:

[BiaDrab]

Hi @roycifer

I'm working on a school assignment where we’re asked to contribute to existing open-source projects. I found this issue really interesting and would like to try to fix it as part of my coursework.

Would it be possible for you (or someone from the team) to assign me to this issue so I can start working on it?

Thanks a lot!