The WordPress REST API plugin version 1.2 was released today after roughly nine months of development. Version 1.1 was released in June 2014 with the addition of taxonomies and terms routes and a focus on increasing test coverage for all endpoints.
Version 1.2 has test coverage for taxonomies and terms at 98%. Meta is 87% and all others are above 50% (Comments: 67%, Users: 60%, Posts: 54%). According to Rachel Baker, one of the lead developers on the project, said the team is shooting for >80% on the ‘develop’ branch.
Version 1.2 adds handling for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) OPTIONS requests, request hijacking, better errors, and a slew of bug fixes. This release received contributions from 29 people, and the full changelog for 1.2 is available on GitHub.
If you’re a developer who is currently using the WP REST API in one of your projects, you may be wondering about compatibility for updating to 1.2.
“Some internal functions were deprecated, but compatibility impact is really minor,” Baker said. All of these changes are noted in the changelog under “Deprecation warning” or “Compatibility warning.”
What’s Next for Version 2.0 of the WP REST API?
Version 1.2 is the last stop on the 1.x branch of the plugin. “We’ve been working hard over the past four months, with the aim of releasing a beta for version 2.0 next month,” Baker said in her release post.
“For existing code written for version 1.x we will issue a final 1.x release as a compatibility shim to seamlessly connect existing code to version 2.0.”
Developers are eager to find out when the WP REST API will land in WordPress core. There’s no set timeline, but the next release cycle of the plugin is geared toward polishing it up for prime time.
“The #1 goal of v2.0 is to merge into WP core,” Baker told the Tavern. In reply to a commenter inquiring about the time table, she said, “The timeline for that is ‘sometime in 2015.’ Our goal is to make the WP REST API too impressive to refuse.”
Version 2.0 development will focus on the following highlights:
- Route versioning and namespacing (for future core updates and plugins)
- Reducing the code to create custom endpoints
- Overall implementing feedback we received on version 1.0
The WP REST API team has outlined a Core Merging Plan for the API. Follow the checklist on GitHub to stay informed on the progress.
WordPress’s XML-RPC API is archaic. it’s difficult to work with, easy to abuse, and feels like development did 10 years ago. Why is a modern API taking so long to get into core? Really hope this gets added to core sooner rather than later – a modern API is needed so badly.