WP_Query::get_posts(): WP_Post[]|int[]

Description

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Return value

WP_Post[]|int[]

Array of post objects or post IDs.

Performance profile

How much work a call to WP_Query::get_posts() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_post().

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with how much data it finds.

Instructions

471–571

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 3349.

Plugin surface

35 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'pre_get_posts', 'wp_allow_query_attachment_by_filename', 'posts_search' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksdo_action_ref_array()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()called directly
• querycontent queryget_post()called directly
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_get_last_changed()called directly
• serializeserialisationserialize()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach transient. That is the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 32 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost WP_Query::get_posts() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

This body has more branch combinations than are worth enumerating, so the table covers the outcomes found first rather than every one that exists.

Hooks and filters fired · 40

40 hooks fire while WP_Query::get_posts() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   do_action( pre_get_posts )actionline 1910 (+16 into the body)

   Fires after the query variable object is created, but before the actual query is run.

2. 2
   apply_filters( wp_allow_query_attachment_by_filename )filterline 1925 (+31 into the body)

   Filters whether an attachment query should include filenames or not.

3. 3
   apply_filters( posts_search )filterline 2291 (+397 into the body)

   Filters the search SQL that is used in the WHERE clause of WP_Query.

4. 4
   apply_filters( posts_search_orderby )filterline 2566 (+672 into the body)

   Filters the ORDER BY used when ordering search results.

5. 5
   apply_filters( posts_where )filterline 2788 (+894 into the body)

   Filters the WHERE clause of the query.

6. 6
   apply_filters( posts_join )filterline 2798 (+904 into the body)

   Filters the JOIN clause of the query.

7. 7
   apply_filters( comment_feed_join )filterline 2839 (+945 into the body)

   Filters the JOIN clause of the comments feed query before sending.

8. 8
   apply_filters( comment_feed_where )filterline 2849 (+955 into the body)

   Filters the WHERE clause of the comments feed query before sending.

9. 9
   apply_filters( comment_feed_groupby )filterline 2859 (+965 into the body)

   Filters the GROUP BY clause of the comments feed query before sending.

10. 10
    apply_filters( comment_feed_orderby )filterline 2869 (+975 into the body)

    Filters the ORDER BY clause of the comments feed query before sending.

11. 11
    apply_filters( comment_feed_limits )filterline 2879 (+985 into the body)

    Filters the LIMIT clause of the comments feed query before sending.

12. 12
    apply_filters( posts_where_paged )filterline 2939 (+1045 into the body)

    Filters the WHERE clause of the query.

13. 13
    apply_filters( posts_groupby )filterline 2949 (+1055 into the body)

    Filters the GROUP BY clause of the query.

14. 14
    apply_filters( posts_join_paged )filterline 2961 (+1067 into the body)

    Filters the JOIN clause of the query.

15. 15
    apply_filters( posts_orderby )filterline 2971 (+1077 into the body)

    Filters the ORDER BY clause of the query.

16. 16
    apply_filters( posts_distinct )filterline 2981 (+1087 into the body)

    Filters the DISTINCT clause of the query.

17. 17
    apply_filters( post_limits )filterline 2991 (+1097 into the body)

    Filters the LIMIT clause of the query.

18. 18
    apply_filters( posts_fields )filterline 3001 (+1107 into the body)

    Filters the SELECT clause of the query.

19. 19
    apply_filters( posts_clauses )filterline 3024 (+1130 into the body)

    Filters all query clauses at once, for convenience.

20. 20
    do_action( posts_selection )actionline 3044 (+1150 into the body)

    Fires to announce the query's current selection parameters.

21. 21
    apply_filters( posts_where_request )filterline 3061 (+1167 into the body)

    Filters the WHERE clause of the query.

22. 22
    apply_filters( posts_groupby_request )filterline 3073 (+1179 into the body)

    Filters the GROUP BY clause of the query.

23. 23
    apply_filters( posts_join_request )filterline 3085 (+1191 into the body)

    Filters the JOIN clause of the query.

24. 24
    apply_filters( posts_orderby_request )filterline 3097 (+1203 into the body)

    Filters the ORDER BY clause of the query.

25. 25
    apply_filters( posts_distinct_request )filterline 3109 (+1215 into the body)

    Filters the DISTINCT clause of the query.

26. 26
    apply_filters( posts_fields_request )filterline 3121 (+1227 into the body)

    Filters the SELECT clause of the query.

27. 27
    apply_filters( post_limits_request )filterline 3133 (+1239 into the body)

    Filters the LIMIT clause of the query.

28. 28
    apply_filters( posts_clauses_request )filterline 3158 (+1264 into the body)

    Filters all query clauses at once, for convenience.

29. 29
    apply_filters( posts_request )filterline 3211 (+1317 into the body)

    Filters the completed SQL query before sending.

30. 30
    apply_filters( posts_pre_query )filterline 3230 (+1336 into the body)

    Filters the posts array before the query takes place.

31. 31
    apply_filters( split_the_query )filterline 3408 (+1514 into the body)

    Filters whether to split the query.

32. 32
    apply_filters( posts_request_ids )filterline 3430 (+1536 into the body)

    Filters the Post IDs SQL request before sending.

33. 33
    apply_filters( posts_results )filterline 3476 (+1582 into the body)

    Filters the raw post results array, prior to status checks.

34. 34
    apply_filters( comment_feed_join )filterline 3481 (+1587 into the body)

    Filters the JOIN clause of the comments feed query before sending.

35. 35
    apply_filters( comment_feed_where )filterline 3484 (+1590 into the body)

    Filters the WHERE clause of the comments feed query before sending.

36. 36
    apply_filters( comment_feed_groupby )filterline 3487 (+1593 into the body)

    Filters the GROUP BY clause of the comments feed query before sending.

37. 37
    apply_filters( comment_feed_orderby )filterline 3491 (+1597 into the body)

    Filters the ORDER BY clause of the comments feed query before sending.

38. 38
    apply_filters( comment_feed_limits )filterline 3495 (+1601 into the body)

    Filters the LIMIT clause of the comments feed query before sending.

39. 39
    apply_filters( the_preview )filterline 3570 (+1676 into the body)

    Filters the single post for preview mode.

40. 40
    apply_filters( the_posts )filterline 3633 (+1739 into the body)

    Filters the array of retrieved posts after they've been fetched and internally processed.

Uses · 58

• do_action_ref_array()Calls the callback functions that have been added to an action hook, specifying arguments in an array.
• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
• remove_all_filters()Removes all of the callback functions from a filter hook.
• _deprecated_argument()Marks a function argument as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• get_option()Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
• absint()Converts a value to non-negative integer.
• get_post_type_object()Retrieves a post type object by name.
• sanitize_title_for_query()Sanitizes a title with the 'query' context.
• get_page_by_path()Retrieves a page given its path.
• wp_basename()i18n-friendly version of basename().
• get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.

Used by · 1

• WP_Query::query()Sets up the WordPress query by parsing query string.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

1894	public function get_posts() {1895		global $wpdb;1896 1897		$this->parse_query();1898 1899		/**1900		 * Fires after the query variable object is created, but before the actual query is run.1901		 *1902		 * Note: If using conditional tags, use the method versions within the passed instance1903		 * (e.g. $this->is_main_query() instead of is_main_query()). This is because the functions1904		 * like is_main_query() test against the global $wp_query instance, not the passed one.1905		 *1906		 * @since 2.0.01907		 *1908		 * @param WP_Query $query The WP_Query instance (passed by reference).1909		 */1910		do_action_ref_array( 'pre_get_posts', array( &$this ) );1911 1912		// Locally scoped reference for easy of use.1913		$query_vars = &$this->query_vars;1914 1915		// Fill again in case 'pre_get_posts' unset some vars.1916		$query_vars = $this->fill_query_vars( $query_vars );1917 1918		/**1919		 * Filters whether an attachment query should include filenames or not.1920		 *1921		 * @since 6.0.31922		 *1923		 * @param bool $allow_query_attachment_by_filename Whether or not to include filenames.1924		 */1925		$this->allow_query_attachment_by_filename = apply_filters( 'wp_allow_query_attachment_by_filename', false );1926		remove_all_filters( 'wp_allow_query_attachment_by_filename' );1927 1928		// Parse meta query.1929		$this->meta_query = new WP_Meta_Query();1930		$this->meta_query->parse_query_vars( $query_vars );1931 1932		// Set a flag if a 'pre_get_posts' hook changed the query vars.1933		$hash = md5( serialize( $this->query_vars ) );1934		if ( $hash !== $this->query_vars_hash ) {1935			$this->query_vars_changed = true;1936			$this->query_vars_hash    = $hash;1937		}1938		unset( $hash );1939 1940		// First let's clear some variables.1941		$distinct         = '';1942		$whichauthor      = '';1943		$whichmimetype    = '';1944		$where            = '';1945		$limits           = '';1946		$join             = '';1947		$search           = '';1948		$groupby          = '';1949		$post_status_join = false;1950		$page             = 1;1951 1952		if ( isset( $query_vars['caller_get_posts'] ) ) {1953			_deprecated_argument(1954				'WP_Query',1955				'3.1.0',1956				sprintf(1957					/* translators: 1: caller_get_posts, 2: ignore_sticky_posts */1958					__( '%1$s is deprecated. Use %2$s instead.' ),1959					'<code>caller_get_posts</code>',1960					'<code>ignore_sticky_posts</code>'1961				)1962			);1963 1964			if ( ! isset( $query_vars['ignore_sticky_posts'] ) ) {1965				$query_vars['ignore_sticky_posts'] = $query_vars['caller_get_posts'];1966			}1967		}1968 1969		if ( ! isset( $query_vars['ignore_sticky_posts'] ) ) {1970			$query_vars['ignore_sticky_posts'] = false;1971		}1972 1973		if ( ! isset( $query_vars['suppress_filters'] ) ) {

Changelog

Introduced in 1.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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