refactor: remove ASCII/LQIP image-preview experiment, add spinner

CONTENT_MODEL.md

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ Taxonomy labels applied to posts. Source: `src/collections/Tags.ts`.
 
 ### 5) Media
 
-Image uploads with auto-generated preview data. Source: `src/collections/Media.ts`.
+Image uploads managed by Payload. Source: `src/collections/Media.ts`.
 
 **Access:** public read; write requires authentication.
 
@@ -99,12 +99,6 @@ Image uploads with auto-generated preview data. Source: `src/collections/Media.t
 
 - `alt` — text, required
 - `caption` — textarea
-- `lqip` — text, read-only; legacy AVIF data-URL placeholder written during the PR #140 → #246 deploy window. Transitional: will be removed once all documents have a populated `preview`. Tracked in #246.
-- `preview` — group field (auto-generated content-aware preview, populated on upload or by backfill) with sub-fields:
-  - `color` — text, read-only; dominant color as `#rrggbb`
-  - `ascii` — text, read-only; 24×12 luminance halftone (288 chars, row-major)
-
-Both `lqip` and `preview` hooks (`generateLqipHook`, `generatePreviewHook`) run on `beforeChange`. The `preview` fields are canonical post-PR-#140; `lqip` is dual-written only during the cutover window.
 
 ---
 

migrations/20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { MigrateUpArgs, MigrateDownArgs, sql } from '@payloadcms/db-postgres'
+
+/**
+ * Database Migration: Drop Media lqip + preview columns
+ *
+ * Removes the columns backing the now-deleted image-preview experiment from
+ * the `media` table:
+ *
+ *  - `lqip`          — legacy AVIF low-quality-image-placeholder data URL
+ *  - `preview_color` — dominant color (`#rrggbb`) for the ASCII preview
+ *  - `preview_ascii` — 24×12 luminance halftone (288 chars)
+ *
+ * The ASCII/LQIP placeholder experiment was removed (issue #441); heroes now
+ * render plain `next/image` with a CSS spinner, so none of these columns have
+ * a consumer. This also completes #246's "drop the lqip column".
+ *
+ * Uses DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS for idempotency — safe to run against databases
+ * where the columns were never added (e.g. a fresh DB created with
+ * `push: true`) or were already dropped manually.
+ *
+ * The existing add-column migrations (20260425_220000_add_media_lqip,
+ * 20260428_010142_add_media_preview) are intentionally left untouched; this is
+ * a new forward migration layered on top of them.
+ *
+ * Down migration: re-adds the three columns as nullable varchars (reversible
+ * shape-wise; the previously-stored placeholder values are not restored).
+ */
+
+export async function up({ db }: MigrateUpArgs): Promise<void> {
+  await db.execute(sql`
+    ALTER TABLE "media"
+      DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS "lqip",
+      DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS "preview_color",
+      DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS "preview_ascii";
+  `)
+}
+
+export async function down({ db }: MigrateDownArgs): Promise<void> {
+  await db.execute(sql`
+    ALTER TABLE "media"
+      ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS "lqip" varchar,
+      ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS "preview_color" varchar,
+      ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS "preview_ascii" varchar;
+  `)
+}

migrations/index.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import * as migration_20260425_220000_add_media_lqip from './20260425_220000_add
 import * as migration_20260428_010142_add_media_preview from './20260428_010142_add_media_preview';
 import * as migration_20260517_184638_dedicated_date_modified from './20260517_184638_dedicated_date_modified';
 import * as migration_20260519_000221_add_posts_schema_type_and_steps from './20260519_000221_add_posts_schema_type_and_steps';
+import * as migration_20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview from './20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview';
 
 export const migrations = [
   {
@@ -84,4 +85,9 @@ export const migrations = [
     down: migration_20260519_000221_add_posts_schema_type_and_steps.down,
     name: '20260519_000221_add_posts_schema_type_and_steps',
   },
+  {
+    up: migration_20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview.up,
+    down: migration_20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview.down,
+    name: '20260601_000000_drop_media_lqip_preview',
+  },
 ];

package.json

@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@
     "test:e2e": "playwright test",
     "test:e2e:ui": "playwright test --ui",
     "test:e2e:debug": "playwright test --debug",
-    "backfill:lqip": "tsx scripts/backfill-lqip.ts",
-    "backfill:previews": "tsx scripts/backfill-previews.ts",
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit"
   },
   "dependencies": {