Title: get_registered_metadata
Published: August 16, 2016
Last modified: May 20, 2026

---

# get_registered_metadata( string $object_type, int $object_id, string $meta_key = '' ): mixed

## In this article

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

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

Retrieves registered metadata for a specified object.

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

The results include both meta that is registered specifically for the object’s subtype
and meta that is registered for the entire object type.

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

 `$object_type`stringrequired

Type of object metadata is for. Accepts `'blog'`, `'post'`, `'comment'`, `'term'`,`'
user'`, or any other object type with an associated meta table.

`$object_id`intrequired

ID of the object the metadata is for.

`$meta_key`stringoptional

Registered metadata key. If not specified, retrieve all registered metadata for 
the specified object.

Default:`''`

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

 mixed A single value or array of values for a key if specified. An array of all
registered keys and values for an object ID if not. False if a given $meta_key is
not registered.

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

    ```php
    function get_registered_metadata( $object_type, $object_id, $meta_key = '' ) {
    	$object_subtype = get_object_subtype( $object_type, $object_id );

    	if ( ! empty( $meta_key ) ) {
    		if ( ! empty( $object_subtype ) && ! registered_meta_key_exists( $object_type, $meta_key, $object_subtype ) ) {
    			$object_subtype = '';
    		}

    		if ( ! registered_meta_key_exists( $object_type, $meta_key, $object_subtype ) ) {
    			return false;
    		}

    		$meta_keys     = get_registered_meta_keys( $object_type, $object_subtype );
    		$meta_key_data = $meta_keys[ $meta_key ];

    		$data = get_metadata( $object_type, $object_id, $meta_key, $meta_key_data['single'] );

    		return $data;
    	}

    	$data = get_metadata( $object_type, $object_id );
    	if ( ! $data ) {
    		return array();
    	}

    	$meta_keys = get_registered_meta_keys( $object_type );
    	if ( ! empty( $object_subtype ) ) {
    		$meta_keys = array_merge( $meta_keys, get_registered_meta_keys( $object_type, $object_subtype ) );
    	}

    	return array_intersect_key( $data, $meta_keys );
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/meta.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.0/src/wp-includes/meta.php#L1738)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.0/src/wp-includes/meta.php#L1738-L1769)

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

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

Returns the object subtype for a given object ID of a specific type.

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

Checks if a meta key is registered.

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

Retrieves a list of registered metadata args for an object type, keyed by their meta keys.

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

Retrieves the value of a metadata field for the specified object type and ID.

  |

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

| Version | Description | 
| [4.6.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/4.6.0/) | Introduced. |

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