validate_plugin( string $plugin ): int|WP_Error
- Since
- 2.5.0
- Source
wp-admin/includes/plugin.php:1109
Description
Checks that the main plugin file exists and is a valid plugin. See validate_file().
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 2.5.0
- 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
$pluginstring- Path to the plugin file relative to the plugins directory.
Return value
int|WP_Error- 0 on success, WP_Error on failure.
Performance profile
How much work a call to validate_plugin() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 13–25
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 2
Reads or writes the filesystem via file_exists().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 42.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
2 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- filesystemfilesystem access
file_exists()called directly - cacheobject cache
wp_cache_get()one call below validate_plugin()
Further down the call graph this can also reach hook, option, serialize, query and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.
What one call costs · 4 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost validate_plugin() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
validate_file() | 13 | validate_file(), __() |
!validate_file() && file_exists() && isset($installed_plugins[$plugin]) | 18 | validate_file(), file_exists(), get_plugins() |
!validate_file() && !file_exists() | 20 | validate_file(), file_exists(), __() |
!validate_file() && file_exists() && !isset($installed_plugins[$plugin]) | 25 | validate_file(), file_exists(), get_plugins(), __() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 42 instructions, 13–25 executed per call, 3 branches. The work does not change between versions.
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 · 4
- validate_file()Validates a file name and path against an allowed set of rules.
- __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
- get_plugins()Checks the plugins directory and retrieve all plugin files with plugin data.
- WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.
Used by · 2
- activate_plugin()Attempts activation of plugin in a "sandbox" and redirects on success.
- validate_active_plugins()Validates active plugins.
Source code
function validate_plugin( $plugin ) { if ( validate_file( $plugin ) ) { return new WP_Error( 'plugin_invalid', __( 'Invalid plugin path.' ) ); } if ( ! file_exists( WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/' . $plugin ) ) { return new WP_Error( 'plugin_not_found', __( 'Plugin file does not exist.' ) ); } $installed_plugins = get_plugins(); if ( ! isset( $installed_plugins[ $plugin ] ) ) { return new WP_Error( 'no_plugin_header', __( 'The plugin does not have a valid header.' ) ); } return 0;}Changelog
Introduced in 2.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 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-admin/includes/plugin.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.