Cache Public REST API Responses for Visitors
Stores the responses of public GET requests to the REST API (such as post lists used by headless front ends and block widgets) for a few minutes for logged-out visitors, and clears the cache when content changes.
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Code
// Route prefixes to cache, and for how long (seconds).
$wpide_rest_cache_routes = array( '/wp/v2/posts', '/wp/v2/pages', '/wp/v2/categories', '/wp/v2/tags', '/wp/v2/media' );
$wpide_rest_cache_ttl = 5 * MINUTE_IN_SECONDS;
$wpide_rest_cache_key = function ( WP_REST_Request $request ) use ( $wpide_rest_cache_routes ) {
if ( 'GET' !== $request->get_method() || is_user_logged_in() || isset( $request['_embed'] ) ) {
return '';
}
foreach ( $wpide_rest_cache_routes as $prefix ) {
if ( 0 === strpos( $request->get_route(), $prefix ) ) {
$params = $request->get_query_params();
ksort( $params );
return 'wpide_rest_' . (int) get_option( 'wpide_rest_cache_gen', 1 ) . '_' . md5( $request->get_route() . wp_json_encode( $params ) );
}
}
return '';
};
add_filter( 'rest_pre_dispatch', function ( $result, $server, $request ) use ( $wpide_rest_cache_key ) {
$key = $wpide_rest_cache_key( $request );
if ( null !== $result || ! $key ) {
return $result;
}
$cached = get_transient( $key );
if ( is_array( $cached ) ) {
$response = new WP_REST_Response( $cached['data'], $cached['status'] );
$response->set_headers( array_merge( $cached['headers'], array( 'X-WPIDE-Cache' => 'HIT' ) ) );
return $response;
}
return $result;
}, 10, 3 );
add_filter( 'rest_request_after_callbacks', function ( $response, $handler, $request ) use ( $wpide_rest_cache_key, $wpide_rest_cache_ttl ) {
$key = $wpide_rest_cache_key( $request );
if ( $key && $response instanceof WP_REST_Response && 200 === $response->get_status() ) {
$data = rest_get_server()->response_to_data( $response, false );
set_transient( $key, array( 'data' => $data, 'status' => 200, 'headers' => $response->get_headers() ), $wpide_rest_cache_ttl );
}
return $response;
}, 99, 3 );
$wpide_rest_cache_flush = function () {
update_option( 'wpide_rest_cache_gen', (int) get_option( 'wpide_rest_cache_gen', 1 ) + 1, false );
};
add_action( 'save_post', $wpide_rest_cache_flush );
add_action( 'deleted_post', $wpide_rest_cache_flush );
add_action( 'edited_term', $wpide_rest_cache_flush );
add_action( 'delete_attachment', $wpide_rest_cache_flush );
Notes
Only routes in $wpide_rest_cache_routes are cached and requests using _embed are skipped; with a persistent object cache the entries live in memory instead of the database.
How to add this snippet
- Install WPIDE on your WordPress site (it is free) and open Code Snippets.
- Use snippet above adds it from the library in one click. Or copy the code into a new snippet with the same code type.
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