Media file paths are stored as absolute, leading to broken links if project directory is moved

[sd44]

When media files are uploaded to a PayloadCMS instance using the default local file storage, the path to the media file appears to be stored as an absolute path. This becomes problematic if the entire project directory is moved to a different location on the filesystem, leading to "File missing on disk" errors when trying to access these media files via the API (e.g., /api/media/file/:filename).

[09:42:45] ERROR: File ohcard1.jpg for collection media is missing on the disk. Expected path: /home/userFoo/software/my-payload/public/media/ohcard1.jpg
⨯ upstream image response failed for http://localhost:3000/api/media/file/ohcard1.jpg?2025-05-09T06:56:27.755Z 500
[09:42:52] ERROR: File ohcard1.jpg for collection media is missing on the disk. Expected path: /home/userFoo/software/my-payload/public/media/ohcard1.jpg
⨯ upstream image response failed for http://localhost:3000/api/media/file/ohcard1.jpg?2025-05-09T06:56:27.755Z 500

Suggested Solution / Feature Request:

Provide a configuration option to allow users to specify whether media file paths should be stored and resolved relative to the project root (or a configurable media directory).

[matthijs166]

Have you tried setting the staticDir option?
https://payloadcms.com/docs/upload/overview#collection-upload-options

[sd44]

Thx, it's working now.

I changed staticDir in src/collections/Media.ts

   // staticDir: path.resolve(dirname, '../../public/media'),
    staticDir: 'public/media',