Title: wp_allow_comment
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# wp_allow_comment( array $commentdata, bool $wp_error = false ): int|string|󠀁[WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/)󠁿

## In this article

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

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

Validates whether this comment is allowed to be made.

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

 `$commentdata`arrayrequired

Contains information on the comment.

`$wp_error`booloptional

When true, a disallowed comment will result in the function returning a [WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/)
object, rather than executing [wp_die()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_die/).

More Arguments from wp_die( … $args )

Arguments to control behavior. If `$args` is an integer, then it is treated as the
response code.

 * `response` int
 * The HTTP response code. Default 200 for Ajax requests, 500 otherwise.
 * `link_url` string
 * A URL to include a link to. Only works in combination with $link_text.
 * `link_text` string
 * A label for the link to include. Only works in combination with $link_url.
 * `back_link` bool
 * Whether to include a link to go back. Default false.
 * `text_direction` string
 * The text direction. This is only useful internally, when WordPress is still loading
   and the site’s locale is not set up yet. Accepts `'rtl'` and `'ltr'`.
    Default
   is the value of [is_rtl()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/is_rtl/).
 * `charset` string
 * Character set of the HTML output. Default `'utf-8'`.
 * `code` string
 * Error code to use. Default is `'wp_die'`, or the main error code if $message 
   is a [WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/).
 * `exit` bool
 * Whether to exit the process after completion. Default true.

Default:`false`

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

 int|string|[WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/)
Allowed comments return the approval status (`0|1|'spam'|'trash'`).
 If `$wp_error`
is true, disallowed comments return a [WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/).

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

    ```php
    function wp_allow_comment( $commentdata, $wp_error = false ) {
    	global $wpdb;

    	/*
    	 * Simple duplicate check.
    	 * expected_slashed ($comment_post_ID, $comment_author, $comment_author_email, $comment_content)
    	 */
    	$dupe = $wpdb->prepare(
    		"SELECT comment_ID FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_post_ID = %d AND comment_parent = %s AND comment_approved != 'trash' AND ( comment_author = %s ",
    		wp_unslash( $commentdata['comment_post_ID'] ),
    		wp_unslash( $commentdata['comment_parent'] ),
    		wp_unslash( $commentdata['comment_author'] )
    	);
    	if ( $commentdata['comment_author_email'] ) {
    		$dupe .= $wpdb->prepare(
    			'AND comment_author_email = %s ',
    			wp_unslash( $commentdata['comment_author_email'] )
    		);
    	}
    	$dupe .= $wpdb->prepare(
    		') AND comment_content = %s LIMIT 1',
    		wp_unslash( $commentdata['comment_content'] )
    	);

    	$dupe_id = $wpdb->get_var( $dupe );

    	/**
    	 * Filters the ID, if any, of the duplicate comment found when creating a new comment.
    	 *
    	 * Return an empty value from this filter to allow what WP considers a duplicate comment.
    	 *
    	 * @since 4.4.0
    	 *
    	 * @param int   $dupe_id     ID of the comment identified as a duplicate.
    	 * @param array $commentdata Data for the comment being created.
    	 */
    	$dupe_id = apply_filters( 'duplicate_comment_id', $dupe_id, $commentdata );

    	if ( $dupe_id ) {
    		/**
    		 * Fires immediately after a duplicate comment is detected.
    		 *
    		 * @since 3.0.0
    		 *
    		 * @param array $commentdata Comment data.
    		 */
    		do_action( 'comment_duplicate_trigger', $commentdata );

    		/**
    		 * Filters duplicate comment error message.
    		 *
    		 * @since 5.2.0
    		 *
    		 * @param string $comment_duplicate_message Duplicate comment error message.
    		 */
    		$comment_duplicate_message = apply_filters( 'comment_duplicate_message', __( 'Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!' ) );

    		if ( $wp_error ) {
    			return new WP_Error( 'comment_duplicate', $comment_duplicate_message, 409 );
    		} else {
    			if ( wp_doing_ajax() ) {
    				die( $comment_duplicate_message );
    			}

    			wp_die( $comment_duplicate_message, 409 );
    		}
    	}

    	/**
    	 * Fires immediately before a comment is marked approved.
    	 *
    	 * Allows checking for comment flooding.
    	 *
    	 * @since 2.3.0
    	 * @since 4.7.0 The `$avoid_die` parameter was added.
    	 * @since 5.5.0 The `$avoid_die` parameter was renamed to `$wp_error`.
    	 *
    	 * @param string $comment_author_ip    Comment author's IP address.
    	 * @param string $comment_author_email Comment author's email.
    	 * @param string $comment_date_gmt     GMT date the comment was posted.
    	 * @param bool   $wp_error             Whether to return a WP_Error object instead of executing
    	 *                                     wp_die() or die() if a comment flood is occurring.
    	 */
    	do_action(
    		'check_comment_flood',
    		$commentdata['comment_author_IP'],
    		$commentdata['comment_author_email'],
    		$commentdata['comment_date_gmt'],
    		$wp_error
    	);

    	/**
    	 * Filters whether a comment is part of a comment flood.
    	 *
    	 * The default check is wp_check_comment_flood(). See check_comment_flood_db().
    	 *
    	 * @since 4.7.0
    	 * @since 5.5.0 The `$avoid_die` parameter was renamed to `$wp_error`.
    	 *
    	 * @param bool   $is_flood             Is a comment flooding occurring? Default false.
    	 * @param string $comment_author_ip    Comment author's IP address.
    	 * @param string $comment_author_email Comment author's email.
    	 * @param string $comment_date_gmt     GMT date the comment was posted.
    	 * @param bool   $wp_error             Whether to return a WP_Error object instead of executing
    	 *                                     wp_die() or die() if a comment flood is occurring.
    	 */
    	$is_flood = apply_filters(
    		'wp_is_comment_flood',
    		false,
    		$commentdata['comment_author_IP'],
    		$commentdata['comment_author_email'],
    		$commentdata['comment_date_gmt'],
    		$wp_error
    	);

    	if ( $is_flood ) {
    		/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/comment-template.php */
    		$comment_flood_message = apply_filters( 'comment_flood_message', __( 'You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.' ) );

    		return new WP_Error( 'comment_flood', $comment_flood_message, 429 );
    	}

    	return wp_check_comment_data( $commentdata );
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/comment.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/comment.php#L691)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/comment.php#L691-L814)

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

 [do_action( ‘check_comment_flood’, string $comment_author_ip, string $comment_author_email, string $comment_date_gmt, bool $wp_error )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/check_comment_flood/)

Fires immediately before a comment is marked approved.

 [apply_filters( ‘comment_duplicate_message’, string $comment_duplicate_message )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/comment_duplicate_message/)

Filters duplicate comment error message.

 [do_action( ‘comment_duplicate_trigger’, array $commentdata )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/comment_duplicate_trigger/)

Fires immediately after a duplicate comment is detected.

 [apply_filters( ‘comment_flood_message’, string $comment_flood_message )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/comment_flood_message/)

Filters the comment flood error message.

 [apply_filters( ‘duplicate_comment_id’, int $dupe_id, array $commentdata )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/duplicate_comment_id/)

Filters the ID, if any, of the duplicate comment found when creating a new comment.

 [apply_filters( ‘wp_is_comment_flood’, bool $is_flood, string $comment_author_ip, string $comment_author_email, string $comment_date_gmt, bool $wp_error )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/wp_is_comment_flood/)

Filters whether a comment is part of a comment flood.

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

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

Checks whether comment data passes internal checks or has disallowed content.

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

Determines whether the current request is a WordPress Ajax request.

  | 
| [__()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Retrieves the translation of $text.

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

Removes slashes from a string or recursively removes slashes from strings within an array.

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

Kills WordPress execution and displays HTML page with an error message.

  | 
| [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.

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

Calls the callback functions that have been added to an action hook.

  | 
| [wpdb::get_var()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/get_var/)`wp-includes/class-wpdb.php` |

Retrieves one value from the database.

  | 
| [wpdb::prepare()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/prepare/)`wp-includes/class-wpdb.php` |

Prepares a SQL query for safe execution.

  | 
| [WP_Error::__construct()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/__construct/)`wp-includes/class-wp-error.php` |

Initializes the error.

  |

[Show 8 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_allow_comment/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_allow_comment/?output_format=md#)

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_REST_Comments_Controller::create_item()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_rest_comments_controller/create_item/)`wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-comments-controller.php` |

Creates a comment.

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

Adds a new comment to the database.

  |

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

| Version | Description | 
| [5.5.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.5.0/) | The `$avoid_die` parameter was renamed to `$wp_error`. | 
| [4.7.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/4.7.0/) | The `$avoid_die` parameter was added, allowing the function to return a [WP_Error](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_error/) object instead of dying. | 
| [2.0.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.0.0/) | Introduced. |

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