[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #64423: Introduce register_content_type() API for declarative content modeling

[WordPress Trac]

#64423: Introduce register_content_type() API for declarative content modeling
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 Reporter:  whyisjake          |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  feature request    |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal             |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Posts, Post Types  |    Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal             |   Keywords:  has-patch has-unit-tests
  Focuses:                     |
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 This ticket proposes a new `register_content_type()` function that
 provides a higher-level, declarative API for registering custom post types
 with their associated meta fields in a single call.

 == Background ==

 Currently, registering a custom post type with structured data requires
 separate calls to `register_post_type()` and multiple calls to
 `register_post_meta()`. This pattern is verbose, error-prone, and requires
 developers to manually coordinate REST API schema generation across these
 separate registrations.

 See the full RFC:
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z8ei9vOsj_TvyApq1EKet9BhzA4zdm8uFPd9cXJWpJs/edit

 == Proposal ==

 Introduce `register_content_type()` which:

 * Registers a post type via `register_post_type()`
 * Registers meta fields via `register_post_meta()` for each declared field
 * Provides automatic REST API schema generation
 * Supports field type validation (string, integer, number, boolean, array,
 object)
 * Stores UI hints for potential editor/admin integrations

 == Example Usage ==

 {{{
 register_content_type( 'book', array(
     'labels'       => array( 'name' => 'Books' ),
     'public'       => true,
     'show_in_rest' => true,
     'fields'       => array(
         'isbn' => array(
             'type'     => 'string',
             'required' => true,
             'label'    => 'ISBN',
         ),
         'published_year' => array(
             'type'  => 'integer',
             'label' => 'Published Year',
         ),
     ),
 ) );
 }}}

 == New Functions ==

 * `register_content_type()` / `unregister_content_type()`
 * `content_type_exists()` / `get_content_type_object()` /
 `get_content_types()`
 * `get_content_type_fields()` / `get_content_type_field()`
 * `get_content_type_ui()` / `get_content_type_rest_schema()`
 * `validate_content_type_values()`

 == Try It ==

 [https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-
 url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/whyisjake/content-type-api-
 demo/main/blueprint.json Live demo in WordPress Playground] - includes a
 "Books" content type with sample data.

 == Implementation ==

 Pull request: https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/10617

 Files added:
 * `src/wp-includes/class-wp-content-type.php` - Core class
 * `src/wp-includes/content-type.php` - API functions
 * `tests/phpunit/tests/post/wpContentType.php` - Unit tests

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64423>
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