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Set initial value of reference field to current document in Sanity schema

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Last updated: Dec 1, 2025
Hi all! We’re trying to figure out a way to include redirects as part of our schema. My initial thought is to reference a redirect document type, one of the fields being a reference to the current document. Is there a way to set the initial value from the current document?
AI Update

Yes, you can absolutely set initial values from the current document when creating a referenced redirect document! The key is using parameterized Initial Value Templates defined in your schema.templates configuration.

Configuration in sanity.config.ts

Define your parameterized template in the schema.templates array in your Sanity config:

// sanity.config.ts
import {defineConfig} from 'sanity'

export default defineConfig({
  // ...rest of config
  schema: {
    templates: (prev) => [
      ...prev,
      {
        id: 'redirect-from-document',
        title: 'Create Redirect',
        schemaType: 'redirect',
        parameters: [
          {name: 'sourceDocId', type: 'string'}
        ],
        value: (params) => ({
          sourceDocument: {
            _type: 'reference',
            _ref: params.sourceDocId
          }
        })
      }
    ]
  }
})

Schema Definition

Your redirect schema might look like:

defineType({
  name: 'redirect',
  type: 'document',
  fields: [
    defineField({
      name: 'sourceDocument',
      type: 'reference',
      to: [{type: 'page'}, {type: 'post'}] // whatever types you're redirecting from
    }),
    defineField({
      name: 'targetUrl',
      type: 'url'
    })
  ]
})

Using the Template in Structure Builder

To trigger this template from within a document's context, you can use the Structure Builder to pass the current document's ID as a parameter:

// structure.ts
export const structure = (S) =>
  S.list()
    .title('Content')
    .items([
      S.documentTypeListItem('page').child((pageId) =>
        S.document()
          .schemaType('page')
          .documentId(pageId)
          .views([
            S.view.form(),
            S.view.component(() => /* your custom view */).title('Redirects')
          ])
      ),
      // ... other items
    ])

Within a custom document action or view, you can create a new redirect using the template:

.initialValueTemplates([
  S.initialValueTemplateItem('redirect-from-document', {sourceDocId: documentId})
])

Async Values with Additional Data

If you need to fetch additional data from the parent document (not just the reference), you can make the value function async:

{
  id: 'redirect-from-document',
  title: 'Create Redirect',
  schemaType: 'redirect',
  parameters: [
    {name: 'sourceDocId', type: 'string'}
  ],
  value: async (params, context) => {
    const client = context.getClient({apiVersion: '2024-11-01'})
    const sourceDoc = await client.fetch(
      `*[_id == $id][0]{_id, slug}`,
      {id: params.sourceDocId}
    )
    
    return {
      sourceDocument: {_type: 'reference', _ref: params.sourceDocId},
      // Pre-populate other fields based on the source doc
      oldSlug: sourceDoc?.slug?.current
    }
  }
}

The context parameter provides access to getClient, currentUser, schema, dataset, and projectId, giving you full flexibility to build sophisticated initialization logic based on the parent document's data.

This approach ensures that when creating a redirect from a specific document's context, the reference is automatically populated, making the editorial workflow much smoother!

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