Notum, a headless CMS development agency and Strapi’s Enterprise Partner, announced the release of its open-source Strapi Smart Populate Plugin.
(WorldFrontNews Editorial):- Brno, Jihomoravsky Sep 7, 2026 (Issuewire.com) – The Strapi Smart Populate Plugin expands the Strapi Plugins family to seven and tackles a common problem in large-scale Strapi builds: as Strapi dynamic zones grow, populate objects balloon into a Strapi-specific version of the classic N+1 query problem, slowing queries and complicating frontend code. Smart Populate replaces manual populate configuration with a single keyword, letting Strapi load only the components a page actually needs. The plugin adds:
- Automatic populate resolution for dynamic zones, components, and first-level relations, replacing hand-built populate objects with a single “smart” keyword
- Support for both the Document Service API and Strapi’s REST API
- Configurable overrides for relations that need to go deeper than one level
- A built-in warning banner in Strapi’s Content Type Builder that flags components whose overrides may be out of date
- TypeScript helpers that keep populate queries type-safe without extra setup
“Smart Populate grew out of the same production work as our Headless CMS Kubernetes Plugin: once you’re running Strapi at scale, populate objects and infrastructure end up being the two things that quietly become unmanageable. This closes one of those gaps for every team building large page builders on Strapi,” said Ondej Janoík, CEO and Co-founder of Notum.
“Most populate-deep plugins just load everything and hope it’s fast enough. We wanted the opposite: check what’s actually on the page first, then build the populate object for that, nothing more,” said Libor íha, Software Developer at Notum.
More information about the plugin is available at: https://www.notum.tech/blog/strapi-smart-populate-plugin
About Notum Technologies
Notum is a headless CMS development agency and Strapi’s first globally listed Enterprise Partner. We build, migrate, and maintain enterprise-grade platforms for teams that can’t afford to get it wrong, trusted by companies including AXA, Siemens, Scenic Group, Konica Minolta, Lokalise, and even Strapi’s own website. To learn more, visit notum.tech.
About Strapi
Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS: 100% JavaScript / TypeScript, extensible, and fully customizable. Strapi enables developers to build modern websites and applications by providing a customizable API out of the box and giving them the freedom to use their favorite tools. Content teams use Strapi to autonomously manage all types of content and distribute it across channels, including websites, mobile apps, and connected devices. To learn more, visit strapi.io.
Strapi is venture-backed by Accel, CRV, Flex Capital, Index Ventures, and Stride.VCs, as well as notable angel investors and open-source experts.
