Title: WP_Block_Pattern_Categories_Registry::get_instance
Published: August 11, 2020
Last modified: August 20, 2026

---

# WP_Block_Pattern_Categories_Registry::get_instance(): 󠀁[WP_Block_Pattern_Categories_Registry](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/)󠁿

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Utility method to retrieve the main instance of the class.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

The instance will be created if it does not exist yet.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 [WP_Block_Pattern_Categories_Registry](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/)
The main instance.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public static function get_instance() {
    	if ( null === self::$instance ) {
    		self::$instance = new self();
    	}

    	return self::$instance;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-block-pattern-categories-registry.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.1/src/wp-includes/class-wp-block-pattern-categories-registry.php#L157)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.1/src/wp-includes/class-wp-block-pattern-categories-registry.php#L157-L163)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Used by | Description | 
| [_wp_get_entity_view_config_posttype_wp_block()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_wp_get_entity_view_config_posttype_wp_block/)`wp-includes/view-config.php` |

Provides the view configuration for the `wp_block` post type.

  | 
| [WP_REST_Block_Pattern_Categories_Controller::get_items()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_block_pattern_categories_controller/get_items/)`wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-block-pattern-categories-controller.php` |

Retrieves all block pattern categories.

  | 
| [register_block_pattern_category()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/register_block_pattern_category/)`wp-includes/block-patterns.php` |

Registers a new pattern category.

  | 
| [unregister_block_pattern_category()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/unregister_block_pattern_category/)`wp-includes/block-patterns.php` |

Unregisters a pattern category.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_block_pattern_categories_registry/get_instance/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [5.5.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.5.0/) | Introduced. |

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