Wordpress publish_post hook not getting featured image and meta on first publish, but works on updating title

Question

I've been struggling to find a solution for this and I don't know if it's the Gutenberg editor or if it's the hook publish_post.

Hook:

function api_method($post_id) {
    // If this is just a revision, don't send request
    if ( wp_is_post_revision( $post_id ) ) {
        return;
    }

    // Get Post Object
    $post = get_post($post_id);

    open_log($post);

    $postData = array(
        'unit' => get_post_meta($post_id, 'open_unit', true),
        'abstract' => get_post_meta($post_id, 'open_abstract', true),
        'image'   => get_the_post_thumbnail_url($post, 'full'),
        'title' => get_the_title($post),
        'url' => get_the_permalink($post),
    );

    open_log($postData);

    $auth = base64_encode(get_option('open_up_username') . ':' . get_option('open_up_api_key'));

    $status = get_post_meta($post_id, 'open_active', true) ? 'active':'paused';
    $openUnit = get_post_meta($post_id, 'open_unit', true);
//  $postMeta = get_post_meta($post_id);

//  open_log($postMeta);

    $responseApi = wp_remote_post(OPEN_REMOTE_POST, array(
            'headers' => array('Authorization' => 'Basic ' . $auth),
            'body' => 'unit='.$openUnit.'&status='.$status.'&abstract='.get_post_meta($post_id, 'open_abstract', true).'&image='.get_the_post_thumbnail_url($post_id, 'full').'&title='.get_the_title($post).'&url='.get_the_permalink($post)
        )
    );

    $response = new WP_REST_Response($responseApi, 200);

    $body = wp_remote_retrieve_body($responseApi);

    $responseBody = ( ! is_wp_error( $response ) ) ? json_decode( $body, true ) : null;

    $unit = isset($responseBody['unit']) ? $responseBody['unit'] : '';

    open_log($responseBody);
    open_log($unit);

    $update = update_post_meta($post_id, 'open_unit', $unit);

    open_log($update);
}

I'm using the post meta, featured image and title to post to a third party API. The API verifies the data and then returns a unit hash which I store in the post meta open_unit.

I'm also logging the data and responses in a log.txt file, and I'm getting this on initial publish:

object(WP_Post)#4421 (24) {
  ["ID"]=>
  int(240)
  ["post_author"]=>
  string(1) "3"
  ["post_date"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 09:57:28"
  ["post_date_gmt"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 07:57:28"
  ["post_content"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_title"]=>
  string(11) "New post v3"
  ["post_excerpt"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_status"]=>
  string(7) "publish"
  ["comment_status"]=>
  string(4) "open"
  ["ping_status"]=>
  string(4) "open"
  ["post_password"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_name"]=>
  string(11) "new-post-v3"
  ["to_ping"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["pinged"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_modified"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 09:57:28"
  ["post_modified_gmt"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 07:57:28"
  ["post_content_filtered"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_parent"]=>
  int(0)
  ["guid"]=>
  string(31) "https://grace.open-up.it/?p=240"
  ["menu_order"]=>
  int(0)
  ["post_type"]=>
  string(4) "post"
  ["post_mime_type"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["comment_count"]=>
  string(1) "0"
  ["filter"]=>
  string(3) "raw"
}

array(5) {
  ["unit"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["abstract"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["image"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["title"]=>
  string(11) "New post v3"
  ["url"]=>
  string(45) "https://grace.open-up.it/recipes/new-post-v3/"
}

array(2) {
  ["success"]=>
  bool(false)
  ["message"]=>
  string(83) "Open Up - Si è verificato un problema con l'elaborazione dell'immagine in evidenza"
}

string(0) ""

int(1256)

The API is returning and saying that the image is invalid which is true because the image url is not showing in the $postData array.

After I edit the title and save, it logs below:

object(WP_Post)#4420 (24) {
  ["ID"]=>
  int(240)
  ["post_author"]=>
  string(1) "3"
  ["post_date"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 09:57:28"
  ["post_date_gmt"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 07:57:28"
  ["post_content"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_title"]=>
  string(12) "Edit post v3"
  ["post_excerpt"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_status"]=>
  string(7) "publish"
  ["comment_status"]=>
  string(4) "open"
  ["ping_status"]=>
  string(4) "open"
  ["post_password"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_name"]=>
  string(11) "new-post-v3"
  ["to_ping"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["pinged"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_modified"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 09:57:40"
  ["post_modified_gmt"]=>
  string(19) "2021-05-07 07:57:40"
  ["post_content_filtered"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["post_parent"]=>
  int(0)
  ["guid"]=>
  string(31) "https://grace.open-up.it/?p=240"
  ["menu_order"]=>
  int(0)
  ["post_type"]=>
  string(4) "post"
  ["post_mime_type"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["comment_count"]=>
  string(1) "0"
  ["filter"]=>
  string(3) "raw"
}

array(5) {
  ["unit"]=>
  string(0) ""
  ["abstract"]=>
  string(213) "Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."
  ["image"]=>
  string(79) "https://grace.open-up.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7540312530_37e709d2f4_b.jpg"
  ["title"]=>
  string(12) "Edit post v3"
  ["url"]=>
  string(45) "https://grace.open-up.it/recipes/new-post-v3/"
}

array(2) {
  ["success"]=>
  bool(true)
  ["unit"]=>
  string(36) "e12213d3-058b-40f9-b487-a1776470f37b"
}

string(36) "e12213d3-058b-40f9-b487-a1776470f37b"

bool(true)

I really am confused about how the Wordpress editor handles the state for publishing and confused why it's not returning the meta and featured image. I found this user having the same issue(I think) with the same hook and isn't resolved either https://stackoverflow.com/questions/35666305/get-featured-image-url-after-publishing

I have also done a recording of this https://share.getcloudapp.com/eDujbqJp

I hope someone can advise or give direction regarding this. Thank you in advance

Answer 1

I don't know if it's the Gutenberg editor or if it's the hook publish_post

The hook itself works, and if you used the old WordPress post editor, then the issue in question would not happen.

So you can say that it's the Gutenberg/block editor.

why it's not returning the meta and featured image

Because Gutenberg uses the REST API, and by the time the publish_post hook is fired (when wp_update_post() is called — see source), the post's featured image and other meta data have not yet been saved/processed.

How to fix the issue

If you're using WordPress 5.6 or later, then for what you're trying to do, you would want to use the wp_after_insert_post hook which works well with the old/classic editor and the Gutenberg/block editor.

Excerpt from https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/11/20/new-action-wp_after_insert_post-in-wordpress-5-6/:

New action wp_after_insert_post in WordPress 5.6.

The new action wp_after_insert_post has been added to WordPress 5.6 to allow theme and plugin developers to run custom code after a post and its terms and meta data have been updated.

The save_post and related actions have commonly been used for this purpose but these hooks can fire before terms and meta data are updated outside of the classic editor. (For example in the REST API, via the block editor, within the Customizer and when an auto-draft is created.)

The new action sends up to four parameters:

• $post_id The post ID has been updated, an integer.
• $post The full post object in its updated form, a WP_Post object.
• $updated Whether the post has been updated or not, a boolean.
• $post_before The full post object prior to the update, a WP_Post object. For new posts this is null.

And here's an example which mimics the publish_post hook, i.e. the // your code here part below would only run if the post is being published and is not already published (the post status is not already publish):

add_action( 'wp_after_insert_post', 'my_wp_after_insert_post', 10, 4 );
// Note: As of writing, the third parameter is actually named $update and not $updated.
function my_wp_after_insert_post( $post_id, $post, $update, $post_before ) {
    if ( 'publish' !== $post->post_status                           ||
        ( $post_before && 'publish' === $post_before->post_status ) ||
        wp_is_post_revision( $post_id )
    ) {
        return;
    }

    // your code here
}

Answer 2

{$new_status}_{$post->post_type} hook or publish_post fires when a post is transitioned from one status to another. At a moment this hook fires, no post meta is saved yet (on post creation).

If you need to use custom post meta, where saving callback usually attached to save_post hook, save_post also fires to soon.

I think it's better to try updated_post_meta hook, which fires immediately after updating metadata of a specific type.