Building Web Apps with WordPress, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10. WordPress REST API

In version 4.4 of WordPress, the REST API was introduced to the project, making WordPress more extensible than ever. The WordPress REST API makes it possible for developers to push and pull data to and from WordPress from outside WordPress. This allows you to create all kinds of cool and useful software applications that may not necessarily use the traditional WordPress UI but are powered by or integrated with WordPress. It allows you to communicate with other software applications regardless of the application programming language. Before we dig into the specifics of using the WordPress REST API, let’s quickly describe what we mean generally by “REST API.”

Note

This chapter covers much of the same content as WordPress’s detailed handbook on using the REST API. In some parts, we go into more detail or use examples that make more sense in the context of this book. Note that some things we cover briefly here are covered in more detail in the WordPress handbook.

What Is a REST API?

You might already know what a REST API is and even be surprised that one wasn’t built in to WordPress sooner. Let’s try to break it down Barney style—you know, that annoying big purple dinosaur that kids were once obsessed with, and that made parents want to gouge out their eyes and ears.

Note

Some refer to the WordPress REST API as the JSON REST API. We will leave off the “WordPress” in this chapter and just write REST API.

Let’s cover some of the ...