"or" filters on localized relationship fields only return matches for a single locale

[matteocollina]

Describe the Bug

I have a collection Documents with a 1-N relationship to Revisions.

The field revisions.name is localized with two locales (e.g., it and en).

• Filtering documents that have revisions in locale A works ✅
• Filtering documents that have revisions in locale B works ✅

But combining both conditions with or only returns documents that match one of the locales (seemingly the default) ❌

It looks like and/or filters don’t behave correctly when applied to localized subfields inside related documents.

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://dev.daygbk4qgwfks.amplifyapp.com/api/documents

Reproduction Steps

Example response (GET /documents)

{
  "docs": [
    {   // Document with only locale B revision
      "id": 1,
      "revisions": {
        "docs": [
          {
            "id": 11,
            "name": { "en": "Revision one" }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {   // Document with both locales
      "id": 2,
      "revisions": {
        "docs": [
          {
            "id": 12,
            "name": { "it": "Revisione due", "en": "Revision two" }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {   // Document with only locale A revision
      "id": 3,
      "revisions": {
        "docs": [
          {
            "id": 14,
            "name": { "it": "Revisione tre" }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

✅ Working queries

• Only locale A (example it):

{
  "and": [
    { "status": { "equals": "distributed" } },
    { "revisions.name.it": { "exists": true } }
  ]
}

✅ Working queries

• Only locale B (example en):

{
  "and": [
    { "status": { "equals": "distributed" } },
    { "revisions.name.en": { "exists": true } }
  ]
}

❌ Failing query (unexpected result)

{
  "and": [
    { "status": { "equals": "distributed" } },
    {
      "or": [
        { "revisions.name.it": { "exists": true } },
        { "revisions.name.en": { "exists": true } }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

Not sure

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 20.18.3
  npm: 10.8.2
  Yarn: 1.22.22
  pnpm: 10.13.1
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.49.1
  next: 15.3.0
  @payloadcms/db-mongodb: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/db-postgres: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/email-nodemailer: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview-react: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/payload-cloud: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-cloud-storage: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-form-builder: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-nested-docs: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-redirects: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-search: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-seo: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/storage-s3: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.49.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.49.1
  react: 19.1.0
  react-dom: 19.1.0
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jul 14 11:30:30 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6020
  Available memory (MB): 16384
  Available CPU cores: 12

[github-actions]

Please add a reproduction in order for us to be able to investigate.

Depending on the quality of reproduction steps, this issue may be closed if no reproduction is provided.

Why was this issue marked with the invalid-reproduction label?

To be able to investigate, we need access to a reproduction to identify what triggered the issue. We prefer a link to a public GitHub repository created with create-payload-app@latest -t blank or a forked/branched version of this repository with tests added (more info in the reproduction-guide).

To make sure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible, please make sure that the reproduction is as minimal as possible. This means that you should remove unnecessary code, files, and dependencies that do not contribute to the issue. Ensure your reproduction does not depend on secrets, 3rd party registries, private dependencies, or any other data that cannot be made public. Avoid a reproduction including a whole monorepo (unless relevant to the issue). The easier it is to reproduce the issue, the quicker we can help.

Please test your reproduction against the latest version of Payload to make sure your issue has not already been fixed.

I added a link, why was it still marked?

Ensure the link is pointing to a codebase that is accessible (e.g. not a private repository). "example.com", "n/a", "will add later", etc. are not acceptable links -- we need to see a public codebase. See the above section for accepted links.

Useful Resources

• Reproduction Guide
• Contributing to Payload

[denolfe]

@matteocollina Your env info output multiple db adapters, which one is actually in use here? Mongo or Postgres?

[matteocollina]

@denolfe Postgres