How to access _rawBlockContent nested inside array in Gatsby?

When working with blockContent (Portable Text) nested inside an array in Sanity with Gatsby, you're running into a common pattern where the _raw fields work differently than you might expect. Here's how to handle this:

Understanding _raw Fields with Nested Arrays

The gatsby-source-sanity plugin generates _raw fields only for top-level document fields, not for fields nested within arrays or objects. As you've discovered, when you have blockContent inside an array, you won't get individual _rawFieldName fields for those nested items.

Solution: Access via Parent _raw Field

Instead of looking for _rawBlockContent on individual array items, you need to:

1. Query the parent array's _raw field - For instance, if your array field is called sections, query _rawSections
2. Use resolveReferences to expand any references within that raw data

Here's an example query structure:

query MyPageQuery {
  sanityPage {
    sections {
      # Regular fields work fine here
      _key
      _type
    }
    # Access the raw blockContent through the parent array's _raw field
    _rawSections(resolveReferences: {maxDepth: 5})
  }
}

Working with the Data

In your component, you'd then access the blockContent like this:

const Page = ({ data }) => {
  const { sections, _rawSections } = data.sanityPage
  
  return (
    <>
      {_rawSections?.map((section, index) => {
        // Now you have access to the full raw blockContent
        if (section._type === 'textSection' && section.content) {
          return (
            <PortableText
              key={section._key}
              value={section.content} // This is your blockContent
            />
          )
        }
        return null
      })}
    </>
  )
}

Key Points

• "For instance, a field named body will be mapped to _rawBody" - but this only applies to document-level fields, not nested ones
• The resolveReferences parameter with maxDepth helps expand any referenced documents within your blockContent
• You access nested blockContent through the parent field's _raw version (like _rawSections for a sections array)
• The entire array structure is preserved in the _raw field, including all nested blockContent

This is the intended behavior of the plugin - raw fields are generated at the document root level to avoid excessive complexity in the GraphQL schema. By querying the parent array's _raw field, you get the complete nested structure including your blockContent elements.