The following field is invalid: Categories

[xxRockOnxx]

Describe the Bug

I just created a brand new app and ran it.

npx create-payload-app -t ecommerce
cd <name of project>
npm run dev

Here is the console error:

[02:31:49] INFO: Seeding database...
[02:31:49] INFO: — Clearing collections and globals...
[02:31:49] INFO: — Seeding customer and customer data...
[02:31:49] INFO: — Seeding media...
[02:31:50] INFO: — Seeding variant types and options...
[02:31:50] INFO: — Seeding products...
[02:31:50] ERROR: The following field is invalid: Categories
    message: "Error seeding data"
    err: {
      "type": "ValidationError",
      "message": "The following field is invalid: Categories",
      "stack":
          ValidationError: The following field is invalid: Categories
              at beforeChange (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./node_modules/payload/dist/fields/hooks/beforeChange/index.js:47:15)
              at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
              at async createOperation (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./node_modules/payload/dist/collections/operations/create.js:160:35)
              at async seed (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./src/endpoints/seed/index.ts:228:24)
              at async POST (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./src/app/(app)/next/seed/route.ts:40:9)
              at async AppRouteRouteModule.do (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-route.runtime.dev.js:5:38696)
              at async AppRouteRouteModule.handle (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-route.runtime.dev.js:5:45978)
              at async responseGenerator (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./node_modules/next/dist/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader/index.js?name=app%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&page=%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&appPaths=&pagePath=private-next-app-dir%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute.ts&appDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload%2Fsrc%2Fapp&pageExtensions=tsx&pageExtensions=ts&pageExtensions=jsx&pageExtensions=js&rootDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload&isDev=true&tsconfigPath=tsconfig.json&basePath=&assetPrefix=&nextConfigOutput=&preferredRegion=&middlewareConfig=e30%3D&isGlobalNotFoundEnabled=!:206:38)
              at async AppRouteRouteModule.handleResponse (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/compiled/next-server/app-route.runtime.dev.js:1:187565)
              at async handleResponse (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./node_modules/next/dist/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader/index.js?name=app%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&page=%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&appPaths=&pagePath=private-next-app-dir%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute.ts&appDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload%2Fsrc%2Fapp&pageExtensions=tsx&pageExtensions=ts&pageExtensions=jsx&pageExtensions=js&rootDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload&isDev=true&tsconfigPath=tsconfig.json&basePath=&assetPrefix=&nextConfigOutput=&preferredRegion=&middlewareConfig=e30%3D&isGlobalNotFoundEnabled=!:268:32)
              at async handler (webpack-internal:///(rsc)/./node_modules/next/dist/build/webpack/loaders/next-app-loader/index.js?name=app%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&page=%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute&appPaths=&pagePath=private-next-app-dir%2F(app)%2Fnext%2Fseed%2Froute.ts&appDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload%2Fsrc%2Fapp&pageExtensions=tsx&pageExtensions=ts&pageExtensions=jsx&pageExtensions=js&rootDir=%2Fhome%2Ffinn%2Fprojects%2Fmdepot-payload&isDev=true&tsconfigPath=tsconfig.json&basePath=&assetPrefix=&nextConfigOutput=&preferredRegion=&middlewareConfig=e30%3D&isGlobalNotFoundEnabled=!:320:13)
              at async DevServer.renderToResponseWithComponentsImpl (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1422:9)
              at async DevServer.renderPageComponent (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1474:24)
              at async DevServer.renderToResponseImpl (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1514:32)
              at async DevServer.pipeImpl (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:1025:25)
              at async NextNodeServer.handleCatchallRenderRequest (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/next-server.js:393:17)
              at async DevServer.handleRequestImpl (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/base-server.js:916:17)
              at async /home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/dev/next-dev-server.js:399:20
              at async Span.traceAsyncFn (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/trace/trace.js:157:20)
              at async DevServer.handleRequest (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/dev/next-dev-server.js:395:24)
              at async invokeRender (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:240:21)
              at async handleRequest (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:437:24)
              at async requestHandlerImpl (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:485:13)
              at async Server.requestListener (/home/finn/projects/mdepot-payload/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/start-server.js:226:13)
      "data": {
        "collection": "products",
        "errors": [
          {
            "label": "Categories",
            "message": "This relationship field has the following invalid relationships: undefined 0",
            "path": "categories"
          }
        ]
      },
      "isOperational": true,
      "isPublic": false,
      "status": 400,
      "name": "ValidationError"
    }
 POST /next/seed 500 in 2932ms

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/templates/ecommerce

Reproduction Steps

npx create-payload-app -t ecommerce
cd <name of project>
npm run dev

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

Not sure

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 20.18.0
  npm: 10.8.2
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: N/A
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.59.1
  next: 15.5.5
  @payloadcms/db-postgres: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/drizzle: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/email-nodemailer: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview-react: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-form-builder: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-seo: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.59.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.59.1
  react: 19.2.0
  react-dom: 19.2.0
Operating System:
  Platform: linux
  Arch: x64
  Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon, 06 Oct 2025 18:48:29 +0000
  Available memory (MB): 31936
  Available CPU cores: 12