map_meta_cap( string $cap, int $user_id, mixed $args ): string[]

Description

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

Compatibility

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

Parameters

$capstring

Capability being checked.

$user_idint

User ID.

$argsmixed

Optional further parameters, typically starting with an object ID.

Return value

string[]

Primitive capabilities required of the user.

Performance profile

How much work a call to map_meta_cap() 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

15–102

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 1346.

Plugin surface

4 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'auth_{$object_type}_meta_{$meta_key}_for_{$object_subtype}', 'auth_{$object_type}_meta_{$meta_key}', 'auth_{$object_type}_{$object_subtype}_meta_{$meta_key}' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

3

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

What it touches

• querycontent queryget_post()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()called directly
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()one call below map_meta_cap()
• serializeserialisationmaybe_unserialize()one call below map_meta_cap()

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 · 45 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost map_meta_cap() 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 · 4

4 hooks fire while map_meta_cap() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( auth_{$object_type}_meta_{$meta_key}_for_{$object_subtype} )filterline 497 (+452 into the body)

   Filters whether the user is allowed to edit a specific meta key of a specific object type and subtype.

2. 2
   apply_filters( auth_{$object_type}_meta_{$meta_key} )filterline 518 (+473 into the body)

   Filters whether the user is allowed to edit a specific meta key of a specific object type.

3. 3
   do_action( auth_{$object_type}_{$object_subtype}_meta_{$meta_key} )filter_deprecatedline 542 (+497 into the body)

   Filters whether the user is allowed to edit meta for specific object types/subtypes.

4. 4
   apply_filters( map_meta_cap )filterline 879 (+834 into the body)

   Filters the primitive capabilities required of the given user to satisfy the capability being checked.

Uses · 24

• is_super_admin()Determines whether user is a site admin.
• is_multisite()Determines whether Multisite is enabled.
• user_can()Returns whether a particular user has the specified capability.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• _doing_it_wrong()Marks something as being incorrectly called.
• get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
• get_option()Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
• get_post_type_object()Retrieves a post type object by name.
• get_post_meta()Retrieves a post meta field for the given post ID.
• map_meta_cap()Maps a capability to the primitive capabilities required of the given user to satisfy the capability being checked.
• get_post_status_object()Retrieves a post status object by name.
• get_post_status()Retrieves the post status based on the post ID.

Used by · 3

• WP_Customize_Manager::grant_edit_post_capability_for_changeset()Re-maps 'edit_post' meta cap for a customize_changeset post to be the same as 'customize' maps.
• WP_User::has_cap()Returns whether the user has the specified capability.
• map_meta_cap()Maps a capability to the primitive capabilities required of the given user to satisfy the capability being checked.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

45function map_meta_cap( $cap, $user_id, ...$args ) {46	$caps = array();47 48	switch ( $cap ) {49		case 'remove_user':50			// In multisite the user must be a super admin to remove themselves.51			if ( isset( $args[0] ) && $user_id === (int) $args[0] && ! is_super_admin( $user_id ) ) {52				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';53			} else {54				$caps[] = 'remove_users';55			}56			break;57		case 'promote_user':58		case 'add_users':59			$caps[] = 'promote_users';60			break;61		case 'edit_user':62		case 'edit_users':63			// Non-existent users can't edit users, not even themselves.64			if ( $user_id < 1 ) {65				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';66				break;67			}68 69			// Allow user to edit themselves.70			if ( 'edit_user' === $cap && isset( $args[0] ) && $user_id === (int) $args[0] ) {71				break;72			}73 74			// In multisite the user must have manage_network_users caps. If editing a super admin, the user must be a super admin.75			if ( is_multisite() && ( ( ! is_super_admin( $user_id ) && 'edit_user' === $cap && is_super_admin( $args[0] ) ) || ! user_can( $user_id, 'manage_network_users' ) ) ) {76				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';77			} else {78				$caps[] = 'edit_users'; // edit_user maps to edit_users.79			}80			break;81		case 'delete_post':82		case 'delete_page':83			if ( ! isset( $args[0] ) ) {84				if ( 'delete_post' === $cap ) {85					/* translators: %s: Capability name. */86					$message = __( 'When checking for the %s capability, you must always check it against a specific post.' );87				} else {88					/* translators: %s: Capability name. */89					$message = __( 'When checking for the %s capability, you must always check it against a specific page.' );90				}91 92				_doing_it_wrong(93					__FUNCTION__,94					sprintf( $message, '<code>' . $cap . '</code>' ),95					'6.1.0'96				);97 98				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';99				break;100			}101 102			$post = get_post( $args[0] );103			if ( ! $post ) {104				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';105				break;106			}107 108			if ( 'revision' === $post->post_type ) {109				$caps[] = 'do_not_allow';110				break;111			}112 113			if ( (int) get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) === $post->ID114				|| (int) get_option( 'page_on_front' ) === $post->ID115			) {116				$caps[] = 'manage_options';117				break;118			}119 120			$post_type = get_post_type_object( $post->post_type );121			if ( ! $post_type ) {122				/* translators: 1: Post type, 2: Capability name. */123				$message = __( 'The post type %1$s is not registered, so it may not be reliable to check the capability %2$s against a post of that type.' );124

Changelog

Introduced in 2.0.0. 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 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/capabilities.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

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