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WordPress

author_can( int|WP_Post $post, string $capability, mixed $args ): bool

Since
2.9.0, 5.3.0
Source
wp-includes/capabilities.php:973
Returns whether the author of the supplied post has the specified capability.

Description

This function also accepts an ID of an object to check against if the capability is a meta capability. Meta capabilities such as edit_post and edit_user are capabilities used by the map_meta_cap() function to map to primitive capabilities that a user or role has, such as edit_posts and edit_others_posts.

Example usage:

author_can( $post, 'edit_posts' );
author_can( $post, 'edit_post', $post->ID );
author_can( $post, 'edit_post_meta', $post->ID, $meta_key );

Compatibility

WordPress
since 5.3.0
PHP
7.4–8.6-dev
  • 6.7.7
  • 6.8.8
  • 6.9.7
  • 7.0.4
  • 7.1.0

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

Parameters

$postint|WP_Post
Post ID or post object.
$capabilitystring
Capability name.
$argsmixed
Optional further parameters, typically starting with an object ID.

Return value

bool
Whether the post author has the given capability.

Performance profile

How much work a call to author_can() 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
Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions
9–21

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 23.

Plugin surface
None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by
0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

  • querycontent queryget_post()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach hook, option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 3 distinct outcomes

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

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
always9get_post()
always16get_post(), get_userdata()
always21get_post(), get_userdata(), ->has_cap()

Across PHP versions

PHPCompiledExecutedBranchesNotes
8.6-dev239–212
8.5239–212
8.4239–212
8.3239–212
8.2239–212
8.1239–2121 more instruction than PHP 7.4
7.4229–202

An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.

Uses · 2

Source code

View on Trac View on GitHub 

function author_can( $post, $capability, ...$args ) {	$post = get_post( $post );	if ( ! $post ) {		return false;	} 	$author = get_userdata( $post->post_author ); 	if ( ! $author ) {		return false;	} 	return $author->has_cap( $capability, ...$args );}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.9.0. 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.

5.3.0
Formalized the existing and already documented ...$args parameter by adding it to the function signature.from the docblock
2.9.0
Introduced.from the docblock

About this page

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