Media: Handle editor's media modal uploads with client-side pipeline

packages/media-utils/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
+-   Route uploads started from the editor's media modal through the client-side media pipeline instead of `async-upload.php`, so they are processed the same way as a file dropped on a block ([#82473](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/82473)).
 -   Declare `react-dom` and `@types/react-dom` as peer dependencies, forwarding the peers of `@wordpress/element`, so strict package managers such as Yarn PnP can resolve them ([#83765](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/83765)).
 
 ## 5.56.0 (2026-09-23)

packages/media-utils/src/components/media-upload/index.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n';
 import deprecated from '@wordpress/deprecated';
 import { select, dispatch } from '@wordpress/data';
 import { invalidateAttachmentResolutions } from '../../utils/invalidate-attachment-resolutions';
+import { installClientSideModalUploads } from '../../utils/client-side-modal-uploads';
 
 const DEFAULT_EMPTY_GALLERY = [];
 
@@ -565,6 +566,13 @@ class MediaUpload extends Component {
 	}
 
 	openModal() {
+		// Route the modal's own uploads through the client-side media
+		// pipeline when it is available, so a file uploaded here is processed
+		// the same way as one dropped on a block. Installed here rather than
+		// at import time because it patches `wp.Uploader`, which the media
+		// scripts only define once they have run.
+		installClientSideModalUploads();
+
 		const {
 			gallery = false,
 			featuredImageFlow,