Integrating Custom Field Types With the WordPress REST API

Last updated Oct 13, 2022

Integrating Custom Field Types With the WordPress REST API

Since version 5.11, Advanced Custom Fields has included support for viewing and updating custom fields via the WordPress REST API. The integration works for the default ACF field types, as well as the majority of custom field types registered by other plugins. However, depending on how the custom field types are registered, some extra code might be required to fully integrate them with the REST API.

This doc will cover adding a custom field type to the REST API, adding or modifying a field type schema, and removing a field type from the REST API.

Adding a Custom Field Type to the REST API

Field types registered by first creating a new field type class that extends the acf_field class, and then registering that class using the acf_register_field_type() function, should work with the REST API automatically. However, this is only true provided that the new field type class extending acf_field does not set the show_in_rest property to false.

class hfm_font_size extends acf_field {

    // Set $show_in_rest to true to allow the field to show up in the REST API.
    // This field is also set as true by default in the acf_field class.
    public $show_in_rest = false;

    ...

For field types that are not registered with acf_register_field_type(), such as field types that just construct themselves inside the acf/include_field_types action hook, it is possible to include them in the REST API by using the acf/rest/get_fields filter as shown below:

add_filter( 'acf/rest/get_fields', function ( $fields, $resource, $http_method ) {
    if ( ! is_array( $fields ) ) {
        return $fields;
    }

    // Get our field type by the field name.
    $field_type = acf_get_field_type( 'font_size' );

    // If our field hasn't been registered and initialized by ACF, do so now.
    if ( ! $field_type instanceof acf_field ) {
        // Initialize the class containing our custom field type. If there are any constructor args, you will need to pass those in as well.
        $field = new hfm_font_size();
        acf_register_field_type( $field );
    }

    // Get the field array (by the field name) and add it to the array of fields supported by REST.
    $fields[] = acf_get_field( 'font_size');

    return $fields;
}, 10, 3 );

The above example adds a custom font_size field type to the REST API. It does this by retrieving the field type from ACF, constructing the hfm_font_size class that extends acf_field if it wasn’t already, and then adds the field to the array of fields that are available to the REST API.

Adding or Updating Schema for Custom Field Types

By default, ACF will add a basic schema for custom field types extending the acf_field class. It does this in the acf_field::get_rest_schema() method, which can be overridden in the class extending acf_field:

class hfm_font_size extends acf_field {

    // override the default acf_field::get_rest_schema() method
    public function get_rest_schema( array $field ) {
        $schema = array(
            'type'     => array( 'int', 'null' ),
            'required' => true,
        );

        if ( isset( $field['default_value'] ) && '' !== $field['default_value'] ) {
            $schema['default'] = $field['default_value'];
        }

        return $schema;
    }

    …
}

Additionally, you can set the schema by using the acf/rest/get_field_schema filter. For more information on that, see “Controlling a Field’s Schema” in Extending the REST API System.

Excluding a Field Type From the REST API

If the field type was registered with acf_register_field_type() and extends the acf_field class, you can use the $show_in_rest property to prevent that field type from showing up in the REST API:

class hfm_font_size extends acf_field {

    // Set $show_in_rest to false to prevent it from showing up in the REST API.
    public $show_in_rest = false;

    ...
}

Much like registering fields, it is also possible to exclude a field type using the acf/rest/get_fields filter:

add_filter( 'acf/rest/get_fields', function ( $fields, $resource, $http_method ) {
    if ( ! is_array( $fields ) ) {
        return $fields;
    }

    foreach ( $fields as $field_key => $field_array ) {
        if ( 'font_size'  === $field_array['name'] ) {
            unset( $fields[ $field_key ] );
        }
    }

    return $fields;
}, 10, 3 );