payloadcms/payload · error · Error

Localization is not enabled in payload config

Error message

Localization is not enabled in payload config

What it means

Precondition error from `migratePostgresLocalizeStatus`: the migration converts per-document `_status` into per-locale `_status`, which is only meaningful when Payload's `localization` config is enabled. If `payload.config.localization` is undefined, the migration cannot know the locale set and aborts.

Source

Thrown at packages/drizzle/src/postgres/predefinedMigrations/localize-status/index.ts:38

  const schemaName = db.schemaName ?? 'public'

  if (!collectionSlug && !globalSlug) {
    throw new Error('Either collectionSlug or globalSlug must be provided')
  }

  if (collectionSlug && globalSlug) {
    throw new Error('Cannot provide both collectionSlug and globalSlug')
  }

  const entitySlug = collectionSlug || globalSlug
  // Convert camelCase slugs to snake_case and add version prefix/suffix
  const versionsTable = collectionSlug
    ? `_${toSnakeCase(collectionSlug)}_v`
    : `_${toSnakeCase(globalSlug!)}_v`
  const localesTable = `${versionsTable}_locales`

  if (!payload.config.localization) {
    throw new Error('Localization is not enabled in payload config')
  }

  // Check if versions are enabled on this collection/global
  let entityConfig
  if (collectionSlug) {
    const collection = payload.config.collections.find((c) => c.slug === collectionSlug)
    if (collection) {
      entityConfig = collection
    }
  } else if (globalSlug) {
    const global = payload.config.globals.find((g) => g.slug === globalSlug)
    if (global) {
      entityConfig = global
    }
  }

  if (!entityConfig) {
    throw new Error(

View on GitHub (pinned to 00c58b35c0)

Solutions

1. Enable localization in `payload.config.ts` (`localization: { locales: [...], defaultLocale: '...' }`) before running this migration.
2. Skip this migration entirely for environments that do not use localization.
3. Confirm you actually need per-locale status; if not, do not run `migratePostgresLocalizeStatus`.

Example fix

// payload.config.ts — before: no localization key
// after:
export default buildConfig({
  localization: { locales: [{ code: 'en' }, { code: 'fr' }], defaultLocale: 'en' },
  // ...
})

if (!payload.config.localization) {
  payload.logger.info('Localization not enabled; skipping localize-status migration.')
} else {
  await migratePostgresLocalizeStatus({ collectionSlug, db, payload, sql })
}

const isLocalizationEnabled = (p): boolean => Boolean(p?.config?.localization)

null

When it happens

Trigger: Running the localize-status predefined migration against a Payload config that has no `localization` block (or where it was removed/disabled), for an entity that nonetheless has versions enabled.

Common situations: Running the migration in a test/CI config without localization; migrating before enabling localization in `payload.config.ts`; environments that intentionally run without localization but pulled in the predefined migration script.

Related errors

• Either collectionSlug or globalSlug must be provided
• Cannot provide both collectionSlug and globalSlug
• ${collectionSlug ? 'Collection' : 'Global'} not found: ${col
• Migration aborted: version__status column not found in ${ver
• Localization is not enabled in payload config

AI-assisted analysis of payloadcms/payload@00c58b35c0 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e42887532323d975. Report an issue: GitHub.