After breaking my head, and pulling my hair, I was finally able to find a solution. I hate to say this, but making the API complex is such a foolish strategy. If the team is worried about performance, then they should allow for options and not completely disable it.
The solution.
- Install strapi-plugin-populate-deep - npm
- Build your admin
- Use /posts?populate=deep to get up to 5 levels deep of data. You can customize up to 10
Strapi, you have to strategize better, not get on the nerves of your users. A headless CMS should ideally simplify things, not complicate them.
Best of luck guys!