Title: WP_REST_Post_Format_Search_Handler::search_items
Published: December 9, 2020
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_REST_Post_Format_Search_Handler::search_items( WP_REST_Request $request ): array

## In this article

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

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

Searches the post formats for a given search request.

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

 `$request`[WP_REST_Request](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_request/)
required

Full REST request.

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

 array Associative array containing found IDs and total count for the matching search
results.

 * `ids` string[]
 * Array containing slugs for the matching post formats.
 * `total` int
 * Total count for the matching search results.

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

    ```php
    public function search_items( WP_REST_Request $request ) {
    	$format_strings = get_post_format_strings();
    	$format_slugs   = array_keys( $format_strings );

    	$query_args = array();

    	if ( ! empty( $request['search'] ) ) {
    		$query_args['search'] = $request['search'];
    	}

    	/**
    	 * Filters the query arguments for a REST API post format search request.
    	 *
    	 * Enables adding extra arguments or setting defaults for a post format search request.
    	 *
    	 * @since 5.6.0
    	 *
    	 * @param array           $query_args Key value array of query var to query value.
    	 * @param WP_REST_Request $request    The request used.
    	 */
    	$query_args = apply_filters( 'rest_post_format_search_query', $query_args, $request );

    	$found_ids = array();
    	foreach ( $format_slugs as $format_slug ) {
    		if ( ! empty( $query_args['search'] ) ) {
    			$format_string       = get_post_format_string( $format_slug );
    			$format_slug_match   = stripos( $format_slug, $query_args['search'] ) !== false;
    			$format_string_match = stripos( $format_string, $query_args['search'] ) !== false;
    			if ( ! $format_slug_match && ! $format_string_match ) {
    				continue;
    			}
    		}

    		$format_link = get_post_format_link( $format_slug );
    		if ( $format_link ) {
    			$found_ids[] = $format_slug;
    		}
    	}

    	$page     = (int) $request['page'];
    	$per_page = (int) $request['per_page'];

    	return array(
    		self::RESULT_IDS   => array_slice( $found_ids, ( $page - 1 ) * $per_page, $per_page ),
    		self::RESULT_TOTAL => count( $found_ids ),
    	);
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/rest-api/search/class-wp-rest-post-format-search-handler.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/rest-api/search/class-wp-rest-post-format-search-handler.php#L41)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/rest-api/search/class-wp-rest-post-format-search-handler.php#L41-L87)

## 󠀁[Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_post_format_search_handler/search_items/?output_format=md#hooks)󠁿

 [apply_filters( ‘rest_post_format_search_query’, array $query_args, WP_REST_Request $request )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/rest_post_format_search_query/)

Filters the query arguments for a REST API post format search request.

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

| Uses | Description | 
| [get_post_format_strings()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_post_format_strings/)`wp-includes/post-formats.php` |

Returns an array of post format slugs to their translated and pretty display versions

  | 
| [get_post_format_string()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_post_format_string/)`wp-includes/post-formats.php` |

Returns a pretty, translated version of a post format slug

  | 
| [get_post_format_link()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_post_format_link/)`wp-includes/post-formats.php` |

Returns a link to a post format index.

  | 
| [apply_filters()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/apply_filters/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` |

Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

  |

[Show 1 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_post_format_search_handler/search_items/?output_format=md#)
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## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_post_format_search_handler/search_items/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [5.6.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.6.0/) | Introduced. |

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