Title: WP_Plugin_Dependencies::has_circular_dependency
Published: April 3, 2024
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_Plugin_Dependencies::has_circular_dependency( string $plugin_file ): bool

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#changelog)

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

Determines whether the plugin has a circular dependency.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/has_circular_dependency/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$plugin_file`stringrequired

The plugin’s filepath, relative to the plugins directory.

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

 bool Whether the plugin has a circular dependency.

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

    ```php
    public static function has_circular_dependency( $plugin_file ) {
    	if ( ! is_array( self::$circular_dependencies_slugs ) ) {
    		self::get_circular_dependencies();
    	}

    	if ( ! empty( self::$circular_dependencies_slugs ) ) {
    		$slug = self::convert_to_slug( $plugin_file );

    		if ( in_array( $slug, self::$circular_dependencies_slugs, true ) ) {
    			return true;
    		}
    	}

    	return false;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-plugin-dependencies.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-plugin-dependencies.php#L259)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-plugin-dependencies.php#L259-L273)

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

| Uses | Description | 
| [WP_Plugin_Dependencies::get_circular_dependencies()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/get_circular_dependencies/)`wp-includes/class-wp-plugin-dependencies.php` |

Gets circular dependency data.

  | 
| [WP_Plugin_Dependencies::convert_to_slug()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugin_dependencies/convert_to_slug/)`wp-includes/class-wp-plugin-dependencies.php` |

Converts a plugin filepath to a slug.

  |

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Plugins_List_Table::single_row()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_plugins_list_table/single_row/)`wp-admin/includes/class-wp-plugins-list-table.php` |  |

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

| Version | Description | 
| [6.5.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/6.5.0/) | Introduced. |

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