get_password_reset_key( WP_User $user ): string|WP_Error

Compatibility

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

Parameters

$userWP_User

User to retrieve password reset key for.

Return value

string|WP_Error

Password reset key on success. WP_Error on error.

Performance profile

How much work a call to get_password_reset_key() 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

Expensive

Sends mail via wp_mail().

Scaling

Constant

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

Instructions

12–71

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 89.

Plugin surface

3 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'retreive_password', 'retrieve_password', 'retrieve_password_key' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

2

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

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksdo_action_deprecated()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below get_password_reset_key()
• mailsends mailwp_mail()one call below get_password_reset_key()

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

What one call costs · 4 distinct outcomes

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

Hooks and filters fired · 3

3 hooks fire while get_password_reset_key() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   do_action( retreive_password )action_deprecatedline 2952 (+17 into the body)

   Fires before a new password is retrieved.

2. 2
   do_action( retrieve_password )actionline 2961 (+26 into the body)

   Fires before a new password is retrieved.

3. 3
   do_action( retrieve_password_key )actionline 2981 (+46 into the body)

   Fires when a password reset key is generated.

Uses · 9

• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• do_action_deprecated()Fires functions attached to a deprecated action hook.
• do_action()Calls the callback functions that have been added to an action hook.
• wp_is_password_reset_allowed_for_user()Checks if password reset is allowed for a specific user.
• is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
• wp_generate_password()Generates a random password drawn from the defined set of characters.
• wp_update_user()Updates a user in the database.
• WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.
• PasswordHash::__construct()

Used by · 2

• retrieve_password()Handles sending a password retrieval email to a user.
• wp_new_user_notification()Emails login credentials to a newly-registered user.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

2935function get_password_reset_key( $user ) {2936	global $wp_hasher;2937 2938	if ( ! ( $user instanceof WP_User ) ) {2939		return new WP_Error( 'invalidcombo', __( '<strong>Error:</strong> There is no account with that username or email address.' ) );2940	}2941 2942	/**2943	 * Fires before a new password is retrieved.2944	 *2945	 * Use the {@see 'retrieve_password'} hook instead.2946	 *2947	 * @since 1.5.02948	 * @deprecated 1.5.1 Misspelled. Use {@see 'retrieve_password'} hook instead.2949	 *2950	 * @param string $user_login The user login name.2951	 */2952	do_action_deprecated( 'retreive_password', array( $user->user_login ), '1.5.1', 'retrieve_password' );2953 2954	/**2955	 * Fires before a new password is retrieved.2956	 *2957	 * @since 1.5.12958	 *2959	 * @param string $user_login The user login name.2960	 */2961	do_action( 'retrieve_password', $user->user_login );2962 2963	$password_reset_allowed = wp_is_password_reset_allowed_for_user( $user );2964	if ( ! $password_reset_allowed ) {2965		return new WP_Error( 'no_password_reset', __( 'Password reset is not allowed for this user' ) );2966	} elseif ( is_wp_error( $password_reset_allowed ) ) {2967		return $password_reset_allowed;2968	}2969 2970	// Generate something random for a password reset key.2971	$key = wp_generate_password( 20, false );2972 2973	/**2974	 * Fires when a password reset key is generated.2975	 *2976	 * @since 2.5.02977	 *2978	 * @param string $user_login The username for the user.2979	 * @param string $key        The generated password reset key.2980	 */2981	do_action( 'retrieve_password_key', $user->user_login, $key );2982 2983	// Now insert the key, hashed, into the DB.2984	if ( empty( $wp_hasher ) ) {2985		require_once ABSPATH . WPINC . '/class-phpass.php';2986		$wp_hasher = new PasswordHash( 8, true );2987	}2988 2989	$hashed = time() . ':' . $wp_hasher->HashPassword( $key );2990 2991	$key_saved = wp_update_user(2992		array(2993			'ID'                  => $user->ID,2994			'user_activation_key' => $hashed,2995		)2996	);2997 2998	if ( is_wp_error( $key_saved ) ) {2999		return $key_saved;3000	}3001 3002	return $key;3003}

Changelog

Introduced in 4.4.0. 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 6.7.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/user.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.