get_posts( array $args = null ): 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.

Parameters

$argsarrayoptional

Arguments to retrieve posts. See WP_Query::parse_query() for all available arguments.Default: null

• $numberpostsintdefault: 5

  Total number of posts to retrieve. Is an alias of $posts_per_page in WP_Query. Accepts -1 for all.

• $categoryint|stringdefault: 0

  Category ID or comma-separated list of IDs (this or any children). Is an alias of $cat in WP_Query.

• $includeint[]default: empty array

  An array of post IDs to retrieve, sticky posts will be included. Is an alias of $post__in in WP_Query.

• $excludeint[]default: empty array

  An array of post IDs not to retrieve.

• $suppress_filtersbooldefault: true

  Whether to suppress filters.

Return value

WP_Post[]|int[]

Array of post objects or post IDs.

Code examples

Every example is editable and runs in a real WordPress booted in your browser by WordPress Playground. Press Run, then edit the code: clicking away re-runs it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you do.

$latest = get_posts( array(
	'numberposts' => 5,
	'post_type'   => post_type_exists( 'book' ) ? 'book' : 'post',
) );

if ( ! $latest ) {
	echo 'Nothing matched.';
}

foreach ( $latest as $item ) {
	echo '- ', get_the_title( $item ), ' (', $item->post_type, ")\n";
}

$priced = get_posts( array(
	'post_type'   => 'post',
	'meta_key'    => 'price',
	'orderby'     => 'meta_value_num',
	'order'       => 'ASC',
	'numberposts' => 5,
) );

if ( ! $priced ) {
	echo 'No posts carry a price.';
}

foreach ( $priced as $item ) {
	echo get_the_title( $item ), ' costs ', get_post_meta( $item->ID, 'price', true ), "\n";
}

Performance profile

How much work a call to 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 ->query().

Scaling

Constant

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

Instructions

28–53

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 63.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

27

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

What it touches

• querycontent queryget_posts()this function does it
• sqldatabase query->query()called directly

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

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

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

Uses · 3

• wp_parse_args()Merges user defined arguments into defaults array.
• wp_parse_id_list()Cleans up an array, comma- or space-separated list of IDs.
• WP_Query::__construct()Constructor.

Used by · 27

• Featured_Content::get_featured_post_ids()Get featured post IDs
• Featured_Content::get_featured_posts()Get featured posts.
• Twenty_Fourteen_Ephemera_Widget::widget()Output the HTML for this widget.
• WP_Customize_Manager::get_changeset_posts()Gets changeset posts.
• WP_Customize_Nav_Menus::load_available_items_query()Performs the post_type and taxonomy queries for loading available menu items.
• WP_Query::get_posts()Retrieves an array of posts based on query variables.
• do_all_enclosures()Performs all enclosures.
• do_all_pingbacks()Performs all pingbacks.
• do_all_trackbacks()Performs all trackbacks.
• gallery_shortcode()Builds the Gallery shortcode output.
• get_boundary_post()Retrieves the boundary post.
• get_children()Retrieves all children of the post parent ID.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

2543function get_posts( $args = null ) {2544	$defaults = array(2545		'numberposts'      => 5,2546		'category'         => 0,2547		'orderby'          => 'date',2548		'order'            => 'DESC',2549		'include'          => array(),2550		'exclude'          => array(),2551		'meta_key'         => '',2552		'meta_value'       => '',2553		'post_type'        => 'post',2554		'suppress_filters' => true,2555	);2556 2557	$parsed_args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );2558	if ( empty( $parsed_args['post_status'] ) ) {2559		$parsed_args['post_status'] = ( 'attachment' === $parsed_args['post_type'] ) ? 'inherit' : 'publish';2560	}2561	if ( ! empty( $parsed_args['numberposts'] ) && empty( $parsed_args['posts_per_page'] ) ) {2562		$parsed_args['posts_per_page'] = $parsed_args['numberposts'];2563	}2564	if ( ! empty( $parsed_args['category'] ) ) {2565		$parsed_args['cat'] = $parsed_args['category'];2566	}2567	if ( ! empty( $parsed_args['include'] ) ) {2568		$incposts                      = wp_parse_id_list( $parsed_args['include'] );2569		$parsed_args['posts_per_page'] = count( $incposts );  // Only the number of posts included.2570		$parsed_args['post__in']       = $incposts;2571	} elseif ( ! empty( $parsed_args['exclude'] ) ) {2572		$parsed_args['post__not_in'] = wp_parse_id_list( $parsed_args['exclude'] );2573	}2574 2575	$parsed_args['ignore_sticky_posts'] = true;2576	$parsed_args['no_found_rows']       = true;2577 2578	$get_posts = new WP_Query();2579	return $get_posts->query( $parsed_args );2580}

Changelog

Introduced in 1.2.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 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 6.8.8 tag, from src/wp-includes/post.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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